At Brooklyn Museum, a One-Day Symposium on Reimagining American Democracy

Creative Time and the Brooklyn Museum are presenting "In Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness: Reimagining American Democracy" on Friday, October 23. The full-day program brings artists, activists and scholars together for conversations, presentations, poetry and performance. It takes place 250 years after those three aspirations were written into the Declaration of Independence, and it asks who has benefited from the story of US democracy and how to build futures grounded in self-determination, dignity and freedom.

The day has three parts. "Life" looks at migration and movement histories with Mona Chalabi, Sky Hopinka, Paola Ramos and Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez. "Liberty" takes an abolitionist view of incarceration, with American Artist, Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, Mariame Kaba and Jackie Wang. "Pursuit of Happiness" is a run of 10-minute project presentations by Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne, Johanna Hedva, Dean Majd, Viva Ruiz, Qween Jean and Chelsea Manning. Poet Nicole Sealey contributes verse. Council Member Crystal Hudson gives opening remarks, and Bertha Vanayshun is the MC.

The program runs 11 AM to 5:30 PM in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium on the museum's third floor. Tickets are $30, or $18 for Brooklyn Museum Members, and ASL interpretation is provided. Accessibility requests can go to access@brooklynmuseum.org. The convening is part of Drawing America: US@250 and was co-curated by Celine Wong Katzman, Dr. Gervais Marsh and Margo Cohen Ristorucci.