Explore
Search results
Any city would be lucky to have an artist in its corner like 2016 Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence Theaster Gates, whose work embraces activism, cultural preservation, and community development. Since he began work on his now famed Dorchester Projects in 2009, Gates’s transformation of a once-neglected South Side neighborhood into a thriving cultural hub has yielded an en...
More than one-third of the world’s girls and women have experienced some form of violence in their lives, leading the World Health Organization to highlight “a global health problem of epidemic proportions.” In this year of unprecedented attention to women’s safety, we are increasingly aware of their vulnerability to sexual violation, trafficking and other forms of abuse....
What possibilities unfurl when a symphony reaches Skid Row? How does music create healing on a street corner? Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Vijay Gupta and internationally renowned soprano Camille Zamora are expanding access to classical music through their organizations Street Symphony and Sing for Hope, which bring music out of symphony halls and into the spaces of...
Two Jacksonians — and lifelong friends with very different perspectives — discuss their hopes for the future of their city. Join acclaimed author Kiese Laymon and the youngest mayor in Jackson’s history, Chokwe Lumumba, as they discuss their personal relationships to the city, its deeply rooted inequities, its rich cultural heritage, and the importance of civic and artisti...
How can Music Directors contribute solutions to challenges facing their communities today? Join a group of distinguished conductors who are artists, community leaders and cultural thinkers, for an enlightening conversation about musical citizenship. (This session is the culminating event of a symposium convened by Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence Yo-Yo Ma, on music and co...
From San Antonio to Boston, Los Angeles to Cincinnati, and thousands of communities between, the power of place is about unearthing collective purpose and capital — and how the Aspen Institute helps build that capital. Hear from visionaries who zero in on historical traumas to rebuild trust and a sense of community, from an expert tapping new sources of capital to fuel ent...
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more. Doors open at 2 p.m.
Born out of gospel, R&B, and jazz in late 1950s America, soul has permeated music culture so thoroughly that its influence can be heard everywhere from modern country music to rock and hip-hop. So what is it about soul, and how did it become a soundtrack to some of our nation’s most defining moments? The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik and Grammy Award-winning artists share —...
Afghanistan is a silent nation since the Taliban made it illegal to play, teach, or even listen to music earlier this year. Watch a performance by graduates of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), followed by a conversation with Marin Alsop and Renée Fleming, who supported the evacuation of 273 students and faculty from Kabul in December. David Rubenstein wi...
For Kate Levin of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul Minnesota, and Karen Brunwasser of FeelBeit (a community center that bridges divides between East and West Jerusalem), the arts aren’t just a supplement to life — they are a crucial balm to social division. Find out how institutions can harness the power of the arts to strengthen communities in th...
The spaces in which societies undertake to care for their citizens — ranging from health facilities and schools to prisons — have across time shaped fundamental architectural ideas. What do the spaces we build say about our priorities, including our commitment to equal access? What resources are needed to provide dignity and parity around key resources, including the most...
Perhaps it is because of her exceptional, inspiring approach to linking geography, environment, and community in her work that Chicago architect Jeanne Gang is one of the most celebrated architects in her adopted city of Chicago. Touted as being bold, ingenious, and courageous in her work, Gang employs the best of nature and sustainable practice throughout the structures s...
During a personal low point of loneliness and pain, David Brooks wanted to write his way to a better life. For five years, he did just that, researching and writing about people who’ve lived joyous and committed lives, exploring the wisdom they offer on finding purpose and living well. The result is his latest book, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. Brooks s...