
Jessica Helfand, Ellen McGirt|Audio
October 5, 2021
S9E11: Avery Willis Hoffman
Avery Willis Hoffman is a writer, director, producer and curator. Hoffman recently joined Brown University as the inaugural artistic director of the Brown Arts Institute.
She talked about how the arts can give a divided society a structure for working through difficult topics:
If you’re just at the school board meeting where people are yelling and screaming about this and that and they want to ban this book, that is a heated, intense environment. Now you take that same topic and you put it into an artistic space and people behave differently.
Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.
Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with everything going on at Design Observer.
Buy Self-Reliance, Jessica’s latest book
Subscribe to RaceAhead, Ellen’s regular newsletter on race and leadership for Fortune
If you enjoyed this conversation with Avery, you might want to check out Ellen’s and Jessica’s earlier conversation with Rosanne Somerson, president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
This season’s theme music is from Solar Echoes, by Nigel Stanford.
And a big thanks to this season’s sponsor, Mailchimp.
Observed
View all
Observed
By Jessica Helfand & Ellen McGirt
Related Posts

Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
The New Era of Design Leadership with Tony Bynum

Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
A Mastercard for Pigs? How Digital Infrastructure is Transforming Farming and Fighting Poverty

Civic Life
Ellen McGirt|Audio
DB|BD Season 12 Premiere: Designing for the Unknown – The Future of Cities is Climate Adaptive with Michael Eliason

Design As
Lee Moreau|Audio
Designing for the Future: A Conversation with Don Norman (Design As Finale)
Recent Posts
Runway modeler: Airport architect Sameedha Mahajan on sending ever-more people skyward The New Era of Design Leadership with Tony Bynum Head in the boughs: ‘Designed Forests’ author Dan Handel on the interspecies influences that shape our thickety relationship with nature A Mastercard for Pigs? How Digital Infrastructure is Transforming Farming and Fighting PovertyRelated Posts

Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
The New Era of Design Leadership with Tony Bynum

Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
A Mastercard for Pigs? How Digital Infrastructure is Transforming Farming and Fighting Poverty

Civic Life
Ellen McGirt|Audio
DB|BD Season 12 Premiere: Designing for the Unknown – The Future of Cities is Climate Adaptive with Michael Eliason

Design As
Lee Moreau|Audio