What is the meaning of beauty in our lives and work, and does it have any relevance in the contemporary world? Writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn believed that beauty can change the world. Does that concept still hold currency? These questions are at the heart of “Conversations on Beauty: Does Art Matter?” a set of discussions among small groups of artists, designers, scientists, theologians and social scientists who examine the concept from different perspectives. 2011′s topics include Does Art Matter?
Creating the Whole Student:
Hosted by the Ilan-Lael Foundation
Held at the Mingei International Museum, San Diego, Ca
November 15, 2011
Our contemporary relince on technology and knowledge of the physical workd, the things we can measure, are training only half the person. This has a profound affect on the students’ view of themselves and where we are as a country.
Watch the Video:
Our Panelists:
Dr. John Eger, Lionel Van Deerling Endowed Chair, Professor of Communications, SDSU
Maestro Jung-Ho Pak, Orchestra Nova
Christine Brady – Founder, Colegio La Esperanza
James Hubbell – Artist, Environmentalist, Humanitarian
Does Art Matter:
Hosted by the Ilan-Lael Foundation
Held at the Neurosciences Institute, La Jolla, CA
May 3, 2011
Does Art Matter?
By James Hubbell
Does art really matter? I know for myself it is essential, for art and nature guided me out of the uncertainty of youth. I am sure it matters for creative people. But I wonder when at a baseball game with thousands of cheering fans, does it really matter?
Would we have lost anything is art just went away?
My question to the panelists: can you put into words your passion for art and can you see in art where it tips the balance in how others see and confront life?
If art is that process in humans where we come to inner terms with change, with what we do not yet comprehend; if it is the place where we give to the new patterns and rhythms that lift us past those that no longer work; then it is important, and we the public and the artist do ourselves a disservice when we do not take it seriously.
Watch the Video: Conversations May 2011
Our Panelists:
Kathi Diamant – author “Kafka’s Last Love”, performer, Kafka Scholar, SDSU
Klaus Floride – musician & original band member “Dead Kennedys”
Arline Fisch - Artist and Educator
James Hubbell - Artist and Humanitarian
John Malashock – Founder, Malashock Dance
Dr. Aniruhhd Patel, Senior Fellow, Neurosciences Institute
Dirk Sutro, Moderator

Beauty and the Built Environment
Co-hosted by Ilan-Lael Foundation & Mingei International Museum
October 2010 - Beauty and the Built Environment
Date: October 12, 2010
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm
Where: Mingei International Museum
1439 El Prado, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
Our Panelists:
Teddy Cruz; architect and professor, Visual Arts Department, UCSD
Richard Louv; journalist and author “Last Child In The Woods”
Andrew Spurlock; Landscape Architect
Julia Marciari-Alexander; Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, San Diego Museum of Art
James Hubbell; Artist and Humanitarian
Moderator: Dirk Sutro
View Past Videos:
The Purposeful Place, Richard Louv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RvVp_YLdRI
The Power of Words, Richard Louv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n-q2rs7bTM
Relational Aesthetics, Teddy Cruz, Julia Marciari-Alexander http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfVaV6ZNQ-M
Pessimistic Optimism, James Hubbell, Teddy Cruz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ-7T9LGzTw
Museums As Arbiters of Beauty, Julia Marciari-Alexander http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjJTqsdG7HE
Beauty’s Spectrum, James Hubbell, Martin Spurlock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYDEr6GMNw
Beauty Beyond the Facade, Teddy Cruz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqdL01C_sT0
Beauty and International, Intercultural, and Interpersonal Relations
June 22, 2010 San Diego Museum of ArtPanelists:
Stephan Haggard, Director, Korea-Pacific Program, UCSD
Dee Aker, Deputy Director, Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, USD
Sonja Quintanillas, Curator, Asian Art, San Diego Museum of Art
Robert Pincus; Art Critic and Book Editor, San Diego Union Tribune
Arthur Ollman, Director of School of Art, Design and Art History, SDSU
James Hubbell, Artist and Humanitarian
Moderator: Rebecca Morales Background Paper: Jacque Lynn Foltyn
No Videos Available
Beauty and Theology
February 2, 2010 Private ResidencePanelists:
Susie Babka, PhD
Natasha Bonilla Martinez
Rev. Alyce Smith Cooper
Rabbi Laurie Coskey
Richard Farson
Rev. Sam Greening
Dennis Howard
James Hubbell
Azim Khamisa
Rev. Carolyn Owen-Towle
Moderator: Rebecca Morales, PhD Background Paper: Susanne Sklar, PhD
View Videos:
Beauty and The Sabbath Ritual, Rabbi Laurie Coskey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWC2eG11YgA
Beauty is Not Pretty, panel discussion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1nm6VSUixE
Catholicism and Beauty, Susie Babka PhD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuiyLCUl9JU
The 20th Century Struggle With Beauty, James Hubbell and Natasha Bonilla Martinez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCpxzkDOh8
The Holy Kiss, Alyce Smith Cooper, Azim Khamisa, Rabbi Laurie Coskey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBCK8igLVF8
The Interconnectedness of Beauty, Dennis Howard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDG_FPSD6oY
The Meaning of Beauty, James Hubbell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5B_pT9Pgs0
When You See With Real Eyes You Realize, Azim Khamisa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJGMLmGUZvM