Artist Talk: Christopher Phillips

Learn how powerful questions can open minds, build empathy, and uncover common ground in an interactive, thought-provoking talk. 

Hosted in partnership with Small School, an art-based, alternative education platform featuring prominent national and international visiting artists, join us for a series of stimulating and thought-provoking conversations on public art and the environment at Dix Park.

Featured Artist: Christopher Phillips

Talk Title: Artful Questioning — And how it Leads to More Fruitful Answers

For more than 30 years, Christopher Phillips has traveled the world bringing people together in both physical and virtual spaces to spark deeper thinking, creative questioning, and empathetic listening. His work builds connections and bridges between individuals and communities at a time when many in power seem intent on erecting both real and symbolic walls.

In this interactive presentation, Christopher will demonstrate how artfully crafted questions, explored with care, can lead to more meaningful and even “redemptive” answers. Participants will discover new insights about themselves and others, and begin to chart a personal map for what they hope to achieve in life while also uncovering unexpected common ground with people they may least expect. It is a skill set the world urgently needs, now more than ever.

Artist Bio

Christopher Phillips is an internationally recognized advocate for civil discourse and the founder of the global Socrates Café movement, along with related initiatives like Democracy Café, Constitution Café, Philosophers’ Club, and Café for Shakespeare. For more than three decades, he has brought people together in communities around the world—both in person and online—to explore life’s most meaningful questions and discover uncommon common ground.

An acclaimed author and scholar, Phillips has written several bestselling books, most recently Soul of Goodness, which features a foreword by Dr. Cornel West, who calls him “the greatest living embodiment of the Socratic spirit.” His work invites people of all backgrounds to think deeply, listen openly, and connect in ways that bridge divides and strengthen civic life.

While free to attend, space is limited. Registration is required.

This program is free to the public thanks to Dix Park Conservancy donors.