Art Activating Hope (AAH) is a community-based art initiative promoting effective social change. The long-term projects approach life and art interchangeably. Some deal with time, memory, and loss while other projects capture moments of joy and shared experiences. Petunia co-founded the AAH Collaborative to nurture creative spaces for belonging and leads public workshops.

Petunia recently received their Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a teaching artist. She appreciates all the little things in life and enjoys spending time with loved ones and nature.

Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza (violin), Iva Casian-Lakoš (cello), and Daniel Anastasio (piano) are Unheard-of, a Brooklyn-based clarinet, violin, cello, and piano quartet dedicated to connecting new music to communities in New York and across the United States through the development and performance of adventurous programs using technology and interactive multimedia. Unheard-of is committed to the idea that new music belongs in every community and implements this mission through concerts and educational workshops throughout New York as well as on tour. Unheard-of originally began as a commissioning project by Ford and Daniel in 2014 to expand the chamber music repertoire for clarinet and piano. The group formed as a quartet in 2018 and has since grown into a nation-wide community across multiple artistic genres. With an approach that is open and welcoming of all voices, Unheard-of strives to be a vehicle for development and growth for voices novel and experienced, experimental and traditional, uncomfortable and accessible.

Nguyen’s composition, Ginger-Flavored Bubblegum, explores transcendence from grief by honoring poet, filmmaker, and artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha - who was murdered only a few days after the publication of her poetic autobiography, "Dictee." Using selections of poetry from “Dictee,” this expanded version explores grief using Unheard-of Ensemble, electronics, and videography by Phong Tran.

Helix by López Reyes and Maya is a piece that simulates a spiral from pre-Hispanic to contemporary times, contemplating the cycles and inheritance in women's collective trauma, which has determined the ways we have been shaped as individuals through generations. Ana E. López Reyes and Martha Maya look to break the cycles in women’s generational collective trauma. This work explores their backgrounds and relationships with this trauma, and how it impacts Latinx communities generationally. Musically, the piece also explores the idea of sonic loops that gradually change and break, expanding on the ideas that Ana and Maya explore visually.

Phillip Townsend recently received his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in modern and contemporary art of the African Diaspora, focusing on the politics of identity and representational strategies of BIPOC artists. He is a co-founder of the Austin-based curatorial collective, Neon Queen Collective.

Phillip is the Curator of Art at Art Galleries at Black Studies (AGBS) at The University of Texas at Austin.