Philippa Pham Hughes is a social sculptor, educator, speaker, and writer. Currently, she is a Social Practice Resident at The Kennedy Center, Visiting Artist For Arts & Civic Engagement at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and a Lecturer at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She is a contributing author on art and civic engagement in the forthcoming book, “An Empathy-Building Toolkit For Museums.”

She applies relational thinking and an aesthetic of care and delight to her work in democracy building, civic engagement, and repairing the social fabric of our country one creative conversation at a time. Philippa draws from the arts and humanities to design spaces for honest conversations across political, social, and cultural differences. She has produced hundreds of creative activations since 2007 for people who might not normally meet to engage with one another in unconventional and meaningful ways. She also curates multi-disciplinary art exhibits & experiences. These relational experiences build social capital, social cohesion, and social discourse. She is a curious and lateral thinker whose multi-disciplinary practice is informed by sociology, psychology, philosophy, political science, history, community organizing, design thinking, creative placemaking, art, and humanities.

Philippa speaks about harnessing the transformative power of art to strengthen human connection, repair the social fabric, increase civic engagement, and promote human flourishing. She has spoken widely, including SXSW, Cato Institute, TEDxAmericanUniversity, Davidson College Center For Civic Engagement, University of Michigan's Penny Stamps Speaker Series, Art & Democracy Day at Hopkins Bloomberg Center, Fort Worth Women's Policy Forum. Her work has been featured by artnet, CNN, PBS Newshour, CityLab, and The Washington Post. Philippa’s mission: to create a society in which all humans flourish.