Amy Berk headshot

Amy Berk

Adjunct Professor

Biography

Amy Berk is an artist and art educator who taught at the San Francisco Art Institute since 2006, serving as Chair for the Contemporary Practice program from 2011 to 2013. She directs the award-winning City Studio program which engages underserved youth in their own neighborhoods through sequenced art classes that are both rigorous and joyous. In 1996, she co-founded the innovative Meridian Interns Program serving inner-city teens and has taught in the Post-Baccalaureate program at UCBX since 2004.  She has shown her work internationally, was one of the founders of the web journal stretcher.org and the artist group TWCDC.com.
 
Since 2019 she and Chris Treggiari have collaborated on ARTIVATE which creates opportunities for youth to explore art-making and citizenship in the public sphere. She is looking forward to bringing her experience and expertise to USF's College of Art and Design.  She remains committed to giving teens (and adults) a much-needed voice, a safe place in which to speak and helping them find the proper tools to do so.

Research Areas

  • Public practice
  • Contemporary art
  • Feminist art
  • Education in diverse communities
  • Art and activism

Appointments

  • Director, City Studio Program, San Francisco Art Institute
  • Program Director, Industrial Design Outreach (IDO)
  • Lead Artist/Teacher/Mentor, ARTIVATE

Education

  • San Francisco Art Institute, MFA in Painting/New Genres, 1995 
  • Wesleyan University, BA in Studio Art/English, 1989

Prior Experience

  • Director, City Studio Program, 500 Capp Street
  • Lead Artist/Teacher/Mentor, ARTIVATE
  • Program Chair/Contemporary Practice, San Francisco Art Institute

Awards & Distinctions

  • Artist in residence at New Pacific Studio, NZ
  • Gerbode Purchase Award
  • Market Street Art in Transit Poster Series Award

Selected Publications

  • Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA, Recoverings
  • Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA. cloaked
  • New Pacific Studio, Mount Bruce, New Zealand. Cloaked
  • Traywick Gallery, Berkeley, CA. it’s not easy being green
  • Museu da Republica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, holy cow! divine bovines