Our first Dialogue and Difference event went great! Our performer turnout was greater than expected and our dialogue afterwards  was so stimulating and exciting.

Below we have photos of our big night with videos of the performers and links to their respective websites.

Trish Smithwick spoke on behalf of a great friend doing work with Emergent Heart which raises money and tries to bring awareness to suicide prevention. She shared some music with the audience and showed them ways to get involved.

https://www.facebook.com/emergentheart   ||   http://www.emergentheart.com/

Trish is also is involved with a band locally at George Mason. She is the percussionist for the Charlie Bare Quartet. The bassist from the band and her played an improtutu concert for the audience to a song entitled, “Ol, White Well Run Dry”. The audience was given a brief background to the songs meaning: Charlie Bare (the bands leader) was a volunteer EMT when he witnessed a drug addict die in the hospital. This song helped him wrestled through what he witnessed:  a baby crying for her mom, the rest of the hospital not caring that an addict was dying. It was a difficult time, thus produced a difficult song. Through the lyrics you can hear his struggle.

https://www.facebook.com/charliebare

 Julio Ligorria graduated from Mason with a degree in Conflict Analysis. He has always had a passion for photography and has used photography as a means to communicate conflict and conflict transformation. He presented the conflict of domestic violence through photography and the cycle is has on many victims. He hopes that academia will use photography and art as a medium to explore conflict and use it as a tool to promote peace.

http://www.rule3photography.com/