AARON DWORKIN

AARON DWORKIN

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Host of Arts Engines

Aaron Dworkin is a multifaceted artist and entrepreneur with passion for diversifying and amplifying the arts. Epitomizing how art, leadership, and diversity all play a vital role in advancing our society, Dwokin founded The Sphinx Organization, a non-profit organization that molds Black and Latinx classical musicians, and he serves on the advisory board for several prestigious arts organizations. Dworkin is an educator of both Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurial Leadership at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Aaron Dworkin, decorated in awards and accolades, continues to be a force in his community, driving the need for diversity, arts education, and leadership.

HERAKLEIDON MUSEUM · ELENI NOMIKOU & PANTELIS MITSIOU

HERAKLEIDON MUSEUM · ELENI NOMIKOU & PANTELIS MITSIOU

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General Manager & Communications Director
Herakleidon Museum, Athens

REEM BASSOUS

REEM BASSOUS

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Artist

The truth of the matter is that there are some people who are born to be creative and they're going to be artists. And the importance of fostering that is necessary, because if we each fulfill our purpose as humans, then society is better off for it. So in other words, if I had been anything else other than what I have become, I would have only been living up to half of my potential. And so that's really important to address that. I have a lot of students whose parents don't want them to be artists because it doesn't make money, but that means they're only living up to half of their potential because they're truly meant to be artists. And so society needs to shift this understanding on what is important.

CHRISTINA MOSSAIDES STRASSFIELD

CHRISTINA MOSSAIDES STRASSFIELD

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Museum Director & Chief Curator · Guild Hall of East Hampton

I think that what you're doing is definitely offering a service to so many people and letting them explore various forms of creativity and how you can use that creativity to enhance the world. I don't mean it in a highfalutin way, but I think that art does influence the world on many different levels. On a daily level, but on a more global level.

DAVID PALUMBO-LIU

DAVID PALUMBO-LIU

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Writer · Activist · Comparative Literature Professor

Students come in already knowing what they want to do. And so they've already excluded and taken out of consideration all sorts of options, which is exactly the opposite of what a university is supposed to do. It's supposed to give you a broad set of possible ways of thinking about life and training your mind and your talents. And so I like to open that up more for students.

PETER WELLER

PETER WELLER

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Actor, Art Historian & Director

Peter Weller is a renowned theater and Hollywood actor. His performance in films such as Robocop and Naked Lunch garnering him much critical and commercial success over the years. Unbeknownst to most, Weller has spent much of his time over the decades, honing his appreciation for the visual and musical arts through his studies of the Renaissance era. Earning a Masters in  Roman architecture from Syracuse University before moving onto a PHD in Renaissance art from UCLA, Weller has even penned numerous academic papers covering the era’s influence on modern art. Recently, Weller has even returned to the setting of RoboCop in Detroit, Michigan to deliver a lecture on “The Crisis in Beauty”. Peter has also contributed an essay to a music anthology The Creative Process has co-curated for Routledge Press. Weller’s essay details his memories of the late Miles Davis, who was both a friend and an inspiration.