An Interactive Conversation with Dana Gioia

In contemporary America, culture has become a mass-produced commodity, appreciation of the arts has become a status symbol, and a sense of dread about the future pervades almost all cultural output. We need beauty to inspire us more than ever, but every current seems to push against transcendence. Even something as apparently innate as beauty has to be learned and pursued.

In the spirit of that pursuit, the Scala Foundation invites you to join Dana Gioia and Margarita Mooney Suarez on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022, from noon—1 pm EST for an exclusive conversation focusing on themes in Dr. Mooney Suarez’s latest book, The Wounds of Beauty: Seven Dialogues on Art and Education.

The book explores the importance of beauty for human happiness, the relationship between faith and beauty, how to teach students to recognize beauty in all fields of knowledge, how to make beauty a part of our broader culture, and many other related issues.

Scala’s mission is to renew American culture through deepening an appreciation for beauty and promoting liberal arts education. Gioia, the former director of the National Endowment of the Arts, is an award-winning poet and a contributor to The Wounds of Beauty. This is a unique opportunity for Scala’s supporters and partners across the country to meet each other in an online conversation with Dana Gioia, one of Scala’s most influential collaborators.

You can RSVP by filling out the form on this page OR by sending an email to info@scalafoundation.org after which a Zoom link will be sent to you. When you RSVP, let us know if you have a specific question or topic you wish to discuss!