Senior TED Fellow Constance Hockaday is an artist and an organizational development leader.
Why you should listen
Hockaday's art connects communities, inspiring them to explore their environment. In 2011, she created a floating hotel and performance space just outside New York City, aiming to connect New Yorkers to the public waterways. The project attracted over 5,000 visitors, international press and critical acclaim. Her 2014 installation in the San Francisco Bay, titled "All These Darlings and Now Us," was described by the The New York Times as a “powerful commentary on the forces of technification and gentrification roiling San Francisco.” In 2020, Hockaday launched "Artists-In-Presidents," bringing together over 50 artists to rethink how leadership is displayed. Her latest work is the "Disaster Furniture Showroom," a project staged in a furniture store, responding to our most intimate ideas about disaster and climate change.
Hockaday holds an MFA in social practice and MA in conflict resolution. Her work has been supported by a range of organizations and she's been in residence at number of arts centers. She is a Senior TED Fellow and is currently the Director of Organizational and Leadership Development at findhelp.
Constance Hockaday’s TED Talk
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Live from TED2022
A New Era: Notes from Session 1 of TED Fellows Talks at TED2022
April 10, 2022
The TED Fellows program is built around a deep belief in and commitment to socially engaged innovation and human ingenuity. The mission: to shift the balance of power by supporting whole individuals, both personally and professionally. At Session 1 of TED Fellows talks at TED2022, 11 speakers and two performers shared world-changing ideas and innovations […]
Continue readingFellows Friday
Art that floats: A TED Fellow plans an immersive experience on a boat
October 24, 2014
Constance Hockaday makes large-scale installations on open water. Identifying as a Chilean-American queer artist, Hockaday creates spaces that celebrate creative freedom and counterculture communities while defying gentrification. Take the Floating Peep Show — in which out-of-work drag queens and exotic dancers performed in the hulls of sailboats in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Now, Hockaday plans to turn a […]
Continue readingLive from TEDGlobal
From a floating peepshow to a jaw-dropping medical demo: A recap of Fellows Session 2 at TEDGlobal 2014
October 7, 2014
In Session 2 of today’s Fellows Talks: a waterborne peep show in San Francisco, a triage app that saves lives, the architecture of death, and more! The session starts with Bill “Blinky” Sellanga performing “Usinibore” solo on acoustic guitar. “It was a song I wrote in 2008 in response to the post-election violence,” he says, […]
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