Historic New Harmony and the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art are partnering with Indianapolis art and design non-profit Big Car Collaborative to host "Social Alchemy: Culture and Community in Context" April 10-13. The symposium is free and is being offered online and in person at various locations in New Harmony, Indiana. Social Alchemy focuses on creative placemaking and social practice through the lens of utopia. 

The site of two utopian experiments in communal living, New Harmony is a town rich in beauty, culture, and history, making it the perfect location for people to reconnect with others through conversations about the roles of art, design, and place in society. Conversations led by more than 20 notable authors, artists, designers, researchers, and philosophers will look at the role of utopian thinking in the past, present, and future. 

Speakers include: 

• Emily St. John Mandel, author of the 2015 utopian/dystopian novel "Station Eleven," among other books and essays. "Station Eleven" has been translated into 33 languages and was adapted into an HBO series premiering in 2021 (virtual talk). 
• Maurice Broaddus, author of fiction centered on utopian and dystopian ideas through the genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and horror. 
• Darran Anderson, author of "Imaginary Cities (2015)," is an Irish writer focused on the intersections of urbanism, culture, technology, and politics (virtual talk). 
• Cara Courage, Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, scholar and author in the realms of art and placemaking and formerly of the Tate Modern in London (virtual talk). 

Silvia Rode, Director of USI’s Center for Communal Studies and Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Jennifer Greene, David L. Rice Library University Archivist, will present a session on Contemporary Utopias and Planned Communities. Additional speakers include Indiana writers Susan Neville, Adrian Matejka, and Matthew Graham (current poet laureate); Indiana artists and arts leaders from New Harmony, Columbus, Bloomington, and Indianapolis; leading architects, planners, and designers, and utopian/communal studies scholars. 

The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art’s current exhibition, "Visualizing Spaces," is presented in conjunction with the Social Alchemy Symposium. In "Visualizing Spaces," regionally and nationally recognized artists including Robert Burnier, Su A Chae, Nasreen Khan, Diego Morales-Portillo, Brenda Mallory, Deb Sokolow, and Janie Stamm examine themes around the search for utopia. The exhibition runs through April 23. 

The symposium is free, and attendees are welcome to join any parts of the conference in-person, online, or both. Please register to support communication and feedback. The schedule for the symposium and locations of presentations can be viewed here. 

The symposium, organized through a partnership between Big Car Collaborative, Historic New Harmony, and the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, is made possible by Indiana Humanities, the Efroymson Family Fund, and New America. Additional partners include the Indiana State Museum and PATTERN magazine.