We recently hosted a community conversation, inspired by the Broadway-hit musical Back to the Future, that was centered around creative innovation for the future. This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience December 2nd, 2024 at The Art House. Please note, this is recording has been edited for clarity purposes only.
To learn more about Community Conversations visit https://hultcenter.org/community-engagement-programs/#community-conversations
About the Moderator and Panelist:
Justin Thibedeau
Justin moved to Eugene four years ago after taking a job with Connected Lane County, a youth-serving regional non-profit. He played a crucial role in the establishment of their Spark program, increasing out-of-school STEM learning for youth in Lane County, particularly for those furthest from opportunity. Now as Associate Director, Justin continues to enhance the program and expand the organization’s impact throughout the county. With extensive experience coordinating maker spaces and engineering labs, he empowers young people to explore STEM fields and computer science pathways through hands-on design challenges and innovative curricula. Justin’s dedication to youth education and community empowerment greatly contributes to the success of Connected Lane County, positively impacting the lives of numerous young individuals and their families.
John Park
John Park works at the intersection of creative pedagogy and technology. With communities migrating to an increasingly digital-dependent lifestyle, Park stresses the social, environmental and economic implications of this shift to the students in his classrooms and in the content of his own work. Through interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues in other creative fields, Park has also been developing a vocabulary that merges the disciplines of dance and music with his own practice of algorithmic art and experimental animation. These endeavors to liaise between performing arts fields plays a role in Park’s vision of an evolving creative practice where cultural and creative barriers will blur and crumble to the point where an artist will simply be someone who understands movement, timing, narrative and gesture with a fluidity in any medium.
Park received his MFA in Computer Art from SUNY Buffalo in 2006, and his BA in Multimedia Design from the University of Oregon in 2003. Park’s diverse background in photography, 3D modeling, experimental animation, computer programming and electronics hacking has led to a larger investigation of what the most appropriate uses of these technologies should be in today’s cultural climate.
Hiba Ali
Hiba Ali PhD shares their digital art in the form of immersive digital environments, sculpture-based installations, moving images, garments, and sound. They developed the term, digital somatics, to embody the body-mind-spirit connection to the principles of game design, worldbuilding and narrative storytelling. They use virtual reality, 3D animation and augmented reality to slow down time and create portals of solace and care and consider the digital portal as a liminal space where they call forth more loving and healing into our world. Their work has been presented in VBKÖ (Vienna), Deichtorhallen Internationale Kunst und Fotografie (Hamburg), re:publica (Berlin), Centre A (Vancouver), Horse Hospital, 15 Folds (London), Ars Electronica Festival, Onassis Stegi (Athens), Chicago Architecture Biennial (Chicago), Portland Art Museum (Portland), Interaccess, Trinity Video Square, Images Festival (Toronto), Alserkal Avenue (Dubai), Dhow Countries Music Academy (Zanzibar), Rehnsgatan 3 (Stockholm), Medrar for Contemporary Art (Cairo), UMAM D&R (Beirut), Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (Oberhausen), Belladonna, Index NYC (New York City), imc5533 (Istanbul) and File-Electronic Language International Festival (São Paulo.)
Parker Bracy
Parker was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, and attended Willamette High School. Parker started out as a program youth in Invention Lab before moving into additional roles as a mentor and as a part of our Agency. He looks forward to introducing STEM and garment manufacturing to underrepresented youth in our community. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, designing clothes, traveling the world, reading manga, and cooking.
Mitra Gruwell
Mitra Gruwell is an upcycle fashion/product designer, educator and consultant with a focus on business and program management, entrepreneurship and creative curriculum development. As the owner of Discard Upcycling, her mission is to make sustainable design using waste materials more accessible and affordable for both businesses and individuals. Mitra is the Board President and program manager/developer for nonprofit Viking Textile Maker Hub, offering education and access to industrial sewing skills and equipment, and she teaches workshops on machine operation and sewing, Textile Repair, Upcycling and Design Thinking. She is a Sustainability Commissioner for the City of Eugene, Master Recycler, the Fix-It Fair Coordinator as well at the Community Engagement Coordinator for local nonprofit the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts. Mitra is passionate about the arts and sustainability and the roles creativity and innovation play in creating a healthy and sustainable future for humanity and the planet alike.
