The women of Transformazium (Leslie Stem, Dana Bishop-Root, and Ruthie Stringer) will discuss eight years of collaborative work that incorporates voices often underrepresented in the larger art world, such as young people, the elderly, communities of color, people from poor and working class backgrounds, and those outside of the university education system. Through an ongoing partnership with the Braddock Carnegie Library, located outside of Pittsburgh, Transformazium spearheads local projects such as “Neighborhood Conversation Starters” and the “Artist in the Library Series.” Transformazium asks: What is the real capacity of art and artists to impact neighborhood economies, and vice versa? How do we acknowledge systemic injustices and traumatic histories? And how can we approach these questions while also embracing aesthetic pleasure, idiosyncrasy, humor, discomfort, and even failure?

Presented in partnership with the Community Design Collaborative.