Grant #288

Culture and Its Discontents: A Public Conversation

April 2, 2018

Giving 100 students free tickets, free speech, free inspiration, free flowing ideas

Don’t you wish you could stop hating people so much? Don’t you wish other people could stop hating so much? Is there anywhere we can go to feel safe having a conversation with people whose ideas we fundamentally disagree with?

Try an excellent MUSEUM, says Nancy Spector, Artistic Director, and Chief Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim is home to “Culture And Its Discontents,” a provocative symposium starring some of the most interesting thinkers and writers of the moment.

It’s an enticing two days of panels and conversations exploring the many cultural divides that play out in public. A sampling of the speakers gives you a taste of the tart talk to come: Sally Kohn (author The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity), Alyssa Mastromonaco (White House Deputy of Staff for President Barack Obama, author Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?), Suzanne Nossel (Executive Director, PEN America), Danielle Citron (author Hate Crimes in Cyberspace), neuroscientist Molly Crocket, and our favorite guide to the far right, Melissa Ryan (founder of the newsletter Ctrl Alt-Right Delete).

Because it’s so important to include students in these discussions, our Awesome Without Borders grant will provide 100 tickets for young people at public colleges and universities in New York City.

The Guggenheim is a beacon of open spaces for experimentation and provocation in the midst of rising outrage and activism in America. The voices of young people will help museums remain open to new ideas, which is why we we’re buying their tickets to the symposium. More info on the program here: https://www.guggenheim.org/event/culture-and-its-discontents To register a free ticket for a student, use the code: GUGGAPRIL at checkout.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT AWESOMENESS!

After 11+ years, we’re signing off and closing applications for good. We’ve supported 571 projects with $571,000 in grant dollars. We’re so proud to have celebrated such incredible work. Please visit https://www.awesomefoundation.org/ for more information on other AWESOME chapters! And thanks for sharing so much awesomeness with us.

Cheers,
Team Awesome Without Borders