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Art as Transformation: A Public Philosophy Project

2025-2026 public philosophy program

ART AS TRANSFORMATION

An interactive public philosophy program that explores the relationship between art, social commentary, human flourishing, and change.

boy singing on microphone with pop filter

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS

An innovative public philosophy program exploring the role of art in society & our everyday lives. Featuring a unique blend of live music, story, performance & media art, and community conversation, the program invites people to consider the nature and purpose(s) of art as social commentary, and its relationship to human flourishing and personal, civic, and cultural change.

Scheduled for 2026 (March 27th/28th or May 29th/30th)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

MAIN EVENT

Our “Art as Transformation” project is an innovative public philosophy program exploring the role of art in society and our everyday lives. Inspired by the ancient Greek concept of *eudaimonia, the program is structured around key philosophical inquiries that encourage thought and reflection and spark community conversation about art as social commentary, its power to catalyze personal, civic, and cultural change, and its relationship to human flourishing.

Interactive, multi-modal, and engaging, the project features local musicians performing a unique “mash-up” (composition) of music, inspired by historical and current events. Music will be accompanied by visual imagery and performance art that enlivens the stage, as a humanities scholar guides the audience through a rich tapestry of art, history, story, social commentary, and philosophy.

After the performance, a co-facilitated conversation with guest humanities scholars by a community facilitator and the program conductor will take place. Discussion will then be opened up to Q & A with the audience.

Finally, after the performance and community conversation, guests will be invited to commune at our program reception, enjoy continued conversation and thematic music by a guest DJ, and view original artwork from local artists who will be invited to submit and showcase pieces in response to local/national/worldwide issues as further platforms for consideration about art and eudaimonia.

*What is Eudaimonia?

An ancient Greek concept that appears in numerous philosophical texts that, depending on one’s interpretation, means something akin to: human flourishing, the good life, living well, and /or a state of being that can be achieved over the course of one’s life. The concept has withstood the test of time insofar as eudaimonia, its interpretations, and questions it elicits about what it is to live a good life remain relevant today. (In fact, aspects of eudaimonia are woven into the foundation of the Declaration of Independence and our U.S. Constitution!). However, the concept’s centrality, avenues for explicit cultivation, and its inclusion and general consideration in our daily discourse about life, politics, and culture have waned significantly. Our project aims to bring eudaimonia back to center stage — as a guiding light for our discourse and thinking about daily life — in ways that might help to recalibrate our aims and expectations about what it means to live well, and elucidate art and philosophy’s value and importance relative to this.

white and black Together We Create graffiti wall decor
Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash

What would it be like to live in a world with no art? Where we would be then?

PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES, OBJECTIVES & VALUE

Our “Art as Transformation” project serves an important role in thinking and discussion about what it means to live well & the role of art and philosophy in our everyday lives in relation to this.

What Our Program Offers
  • An immersive experience that brings to light the multi-modal and transformative nature of philosophy and art
  • A platform to explore and gain a more nuanced appreciation of art as social commentary & change in the arc of historical and contemporary life
  • An avenue for improved clarity and understanding about why art and philosophy are important and how they relate to human flourishing, and eudaimonia more broadly
  • An opportunity for considering and experiencing eudaimonia’s import and application to everyday life
What We Hope to Achieve

Our project aims to provide a space for people to experience the transformative nature of art and philosophy and consider these in relation to eudaimonia. It’s format and structure invites people into a world of deep connectivity — where art, philosophy, story, history, politics, and culture intertwine — in ways that we hope will inspire critical, creative thinking and reflection about the importance of art and philosophy to human flourishing and the good life, a renewed passion (or new interest) for tapping into our creative sides, and a “recalibration” of aims and expectations for how to live one’s daily life.

Why Our Project Matters

Art is more than just a picture on a wall, a poem in a book, or a divinely inspired wind-carved landscape. Art is a portal to worlds within and worlds beyond. It is a throughline to beauty and truth, and a vital source (and voice) of our humanity.

  • Art matters in itself and because of its relationship to human flourishing and eudaimonia.
  • Eudaimonia matters in itself and because the questions it elicits and things it asks us to consider are relevant today (despite its infrequent invite into daily discourse).
  • Our project matters because it brings eudaimonia back to center stage — as a guiding light for our discourse and thinking about daily life — in ways that might help to recalibrate our aims and expectations about what it means to live well, and elucidate art and philosophy’s value and importance relative to this.
white and red textile

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Inspired by the notion of eudaimonia, our program performances, narratives, and community conversation are structured around key philosophical inquiries that serve as anchoring entry points for critically examining our thinking about art & its value in our individual lives and society.

Some Questions We’ll Be Exploring
  • What would it be like to live in a world with no art? Where would we be then?
  • How has art been used to respond to social and cultural conditions, and inspire change?
  • What does art as social commentary look like?
  • What is the nature of art?
  • How are art & philosophy related? Where does aesthetics fit into this?
  • What’s the difference between propaganda and art?
  • What can art do that other forms of social commentary cannot?
  • How are art, philosophy, and eudaimonia related?
  • Why should we care about the arts?
a drawing of a man surrounded by other people

PROGRAM APPROACH

Enriching & Fostering Community

Embedded in our approach to and practice of philosophy in the community, we believe that philosophy has the ability to inspire and transform. This is perhaps most notably achieved when philosophy can reveal and invite us into that shared space or common ground of our humanity. Art is a beautiful and powerful medium by which to do this. In this way, in terms of format and structure, an added purpose of our project is to cultivate a sense of togetherness and provide a bridge for critically and creatively thinking about art in ways that can enrich, inspire, and transform us, and reinvigorate eudaimonia’s centrality in our daily inquiries about what it means to live life well.

  • Program Director & Facilitator – Marisa Diaz-Waian, Community Philosopher & Founder/Director of Merlin CCC
  • Program Co-Director – Christina Barbachano, Executive Director for the Holter Museum of Art
  • Program Co-Director & Panelist – Bob Schmitt, Civic Engagement Scholar & Musician
  • Program Conductor – Aaron Parrett, Philosopher, Artist, & Musician (TBD)
  • Panelist – Barry Ferst, Artist & Philosopher of Art
  • Panelist – Guest Scholar (TBD)
  • Panelist – Guest Scholar (TBD)
  • Musicians & PerformersTo be added soon
BONUS EVENTS

Outside of our main event (described above), bonus activities will also be scheduled in conjunction with the program, depending on funding availability. These include:

Guest art historian community conversation

A guest art historian will lead a community conversation on art as transformation on a subsequent day following the opening performance, allowing more time for exploration and discussion for community members in an alternative format.

Educational workshop for youth

A guest artist will lead an educational workshop for youth where kids will learn about and participate in the creation of a mural art project around a local issue. The project will highlight the historical importance of murals in protest and explore various philosophical queries.

Our “Art as Transformation” project is dedicated to David Spencer — Friend, Mentor, Lover of the Arts & Philosophy, Inspiration, Butterfly.

Marisa diaz-waian, merlin ccc founder & Director