In a deeply polarized country, one of the greatest and hardest acts of civic engagement is talking to people who don’t share our beliefs. But that’s exactly what we need to do if we want to solve the social and political problems our country faces and if we want to create a society in which everyone flourishes.
Strengthening our social bonds happens when we begin to care about each other again, when we are in relationship with one another. That begins with a conversation, so the Center for Civic Engagement and the Van Every/Smith Galleries have invited Philippa Pham Hughes to campus through the Center for Civic Engagement’s Community Leader in Residence program. Through this innovative program, the Center for Civic Engagement brings to campus community leaders from the greater Charlotte area and across the U.S. who are thought and practice leaders in issues impacting our communities. Hughes, a social practice artist, cultural strategist, and curator, will be on campus at various times during Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.
We Need To Talk: Repairing Our Social Fabric One Creative Conversation At a Time with Philippa Pham Hughes
Date & Time: September 30, 2024, 5:30pm
Location: Lilly Gallery, Chambers Building
This program is open to all, just show up and bring friends!
During this interactive conversation Hughes will share what she has learned from organizing such conversations since December 2016. She applies relational thinking, practical experience, and social science-based research to design space that invites honesty, curiosity, and understanding. She will share the ways in which she uses multi-media arts and culture as tools to spark and frame difficult dialogues.
Poet Thu Anh Nguyen will also join the conversation, creating a Dialogue Poem, helping to record participant engagement. We hope you will join us too!
Identifying our Pillars: Small Group Conversations + Meals with Philippa Pham Hughes
Breakfast Conversation
Date & Time: October 1, 2024, 9am-10am
Location: Sprinkle Room
Lunch Conversation
Date & Time: October 1, 2024, 11:05am-12:05pm
Location: Sprinkle Room
Afternoon Tea Conversation
Date & Time: October 1, 2024, 3pm-4pm
Location: Sprinkle Room
Dinner Conversation
Date & Time: October 1, 2024, 5:30pm
Location: Visual Arts Center, 2nd Floor Lounge
These conversations are limited to 12 people. The conversation will be graphically recorded by Marquia Humphries ’20. To join one of the conversations, fill out this form.
About the Artists
Philippa Pham Hughes is a Social Sculptor, Cultural Strategist, Curator. Currently, she is a Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins, Visiting Artist For Arts & Civic Engagement at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and a Lecturer at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She applies relational thinking and an aesthetic of care and delight to her work in democracy building, civic engagement, and repairing the social fabric of our country one creative conversation at a time. Philippa draws from the arts and humanities to design spaces for honest conversations across political, social, and cultural differences. She has produced hundreds of creative activations since 2007 for people who might not normally meet to engage with one another in unconventional and meaningful ways. She also curates multi-disciplinary art exhibits & experiences. These relational experiences build social capital, social cohesion, and social discourse. She is a curious and lateral thinker whose multi-disciplinary practice is informed by sociology, psychology, philosophy, political science, history, community organizing, design thinking, creative placemaking, art, and humanities. Philippa has spoken internationally, including SXSW, The Sphere Initiative at the Cato Institute, TEDxAmericanUniversity, Placemaking Week Amsterdam, University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Speaker Series, Sparkfest, Fort Worth Women’s Policy Forum. Her work has been featured by artnet, CNN, PBS Newshour, CityLab, and The Washington Post. Philippa’s mission: to create a society in which all humans flourish. Learn more at Bio — Philippa Pham Hughes (philippahughes.com).
Thu Anh Nguyen is a Vietnamese American immigrant poet, painter, and educator whose work centers equity, justice, and community. In her most recent work, Thu shapes poetry while listening to conversations about what makes a flourishing community. She also paints large-scale watercolors and is obsessed with flowers, their cultural symbolism and beauty. She has painted hundreds of floral protest posters for social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name. You may find examples of her work at thuanhnguyen.com
