Creativity and Cultures in the Borderlands

Illustration: Dror Cohen for Mellon Foundation

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Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander led a discussion with guests whose mission-driven work connects us to the Borderlands.

Telling the American Story on Our Public Lands

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US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland joined Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander for a discussion about the reparative work Haaland leads on our public lands.

Telling the American Story  on Our Public Lands

Public Memory and Our Passing World

Illustration: Ibrahim Rayintakath for Mellon Foundation

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Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander and artist and designer Maya Lin explored the power of the arts and public memory in a time of climate change. 

Public Memory and  Our Passing World

Race and Revelation in Our American Stories

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How are race and identity driving conversations among Americans of all backgrounds in 2024, and what stories do they reveal about who we are as a vastly diverse country? 

We invite thinkers and educators, artists and activists, and poets and novelists to engage in dialogue with each other and with the broader community about our shared human experiences.

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Elizabeth Alexander led a discussion with guests that rejoiced in the American innovation of jazz—and the cultural creativity it has never ceased to generate throughout the world. 

American Jazz,  American Culture

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Events

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

Past events