The need for civic dialogue has never been as important as it is today. In the US and around the world, communities are facing complex problems. Finding solutions is contentious. How can art help bring people together across lines of difference to talk, listen, and understand the myriad forces shaping civic life? We bring you a conversation with Hank Willis Thomas, a boundary-spanning artist whose work grapples with hard truths. Our co-hosts are professors Sama Alshaibi and Jennifer Saracino. They speak with Hank about his exhibition, LOVERULES. The show has over 90 of his works, including photography, sculpture, installation, and printmaking, representing two decades of a socially-engaged art practice that invites audiences to look more carefully and act more collectively. In this episode, we learn why Hank believes all art is political; how he infuses a collaborative ethos to create opportunities for civic dialogue; and how to tap into the radical power of love to heal individuals and communities on the brink of crisis.

A recipient of numerous honors, including the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship (2019) and The Guggenheim Fellowship (2018), Hank Willis Thomas is influenced by social history and an unflinching concern for equality in all aspects of his creative practice. He co-founded For Freedoms an artist-led organization that models and increases creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. His artwork has been shown internationally and is collected by major museums across the nation. The exhibition LOVERULES can be viewed through June 21, 2025, at the University of Arizona Museum of Art, in partnership with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.

Have you ever wondered how art becomes activism? We bring you a conversation with curator and writer Elizabeth Ferrer, who takes us from the Chicano murals of her east Los Angeles childhood to groundbreaking exhibitions on Latinx photography. Guest hosts Gia Del Pino and Lizzy Guevara speak with Elizabeth about her retrospective on Louis Carlos Bernal, a trailblazing Chicano photographer who centered Mexican-American lives and traditions. Through striking, deeply human portraits, Bernal’s images challenge stereotypes and expand the canon of American photography. In this episode, learn about how photographs do more than reflect the culture as it is; how self-representation can dignify and transform how we see ourselves and our communities; and how images can transport the spirit of an individual subject into a cultural movement.

Elizabeth Ferrer recently curated the exhibition Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectiva, a landmark survey of one of the most significant American photographers of the twentieth century, which is on view through March 15, 2025 at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. The exhibition is accompanied by a book authored by Ferrer and co-published with Aperture, Louis Carlos Bernal: Monografía.

Music is everywhere. It’s in our cars, doctors’ offices, shopping malls, movies, and video games. There’s no question that music is ubiquitous, but is anyone really listening? What does it mean to truly listen? What happens when we tune in, not only to the soundwaves of music, but also the vibrations of community, the echoes of ancestors, and the whispers of dreams? For musician and storyteller Michael Mwenso, Black music is a portal to self-discovery and ancestral connection. It is a living, breathing language that bridges the past, present, and future. He sits down with artist Semoria Mosley for a conversation about the art of listening, a collective practice that promotes community, healing, and spirituality. Their conversation will change how you listen to music.

Michael Mwenso is a bandleader, co-founder of Electric Root, and EMMY Award winning creator. He devotes his energy to spreading the message of Black music to uplift, heal, and empower individuals and divided communities across the US.

This episode is co-hosted by Semoria Mosley, an artist and School of Art MFA student at the University of Arizona.