Paul Brach Lecture Series
Dorit Cypis is an artist, educator, and mediator. Her work, which explores themes of history, identity, and social relations, has been presented in diverse cultural contexts across the US and internationally since the 1980s. Moving fluidly between the studio and the street, Cypis’ career covers a varied landscape: performance, photography, and immersive media installation; curriculum development and teaching at colleges and universities; civic programs that engage conflict in order to build capacity for generative relations. At the core of all her work is an exploration of the artist’s role as creator, educator, mediator, and community-builder, asking the question: “Who am I to you?”
Cypis’ artwork has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, ICA/Boston, the International Center of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Banff Center for the Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Walker Art Center, Orange County Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as in various galleries and community centers. She has taught on identity and social relations at numerous colleges and universities internationally and has presented her “Diversity + Difference” skills training and conflict engagement programs to civic, cultural, and educational groups worldwide. Her essays on identity, social relations, and conflict have appeared in journals and books on art and mediation.
Cypis is the co-founder and educator of the North East Youth Council (NEYC), which was created in partnership with the Northeast Los Angeles Police Department, Community Relations Department. NEYC provides civic leadership skills for youth to guide development of projects that enhance their communities while improving their relations with police. She is the creator of “Race Talk,” a series of facilitated dialogues on race identity, and is a lead facilitator for “Days of Dialogue/The Future of Policing,” public dialogues held between communities and members of law enforcement across Los Angeles. A founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders, Cypis is past chair of the organization’s Middle East Initiative.