A toast to the future of Brownsville

A discussion of the intersection of art and philosophy will kick off “Noche de Filosofia: A Brownsville Symposium,” set for 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Brownsville Musicians and Artists venue, located at 1045 E. Washington St., and hosted by the Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator.

“It’s an opportunity for people to vision the future of Brownsville,” said Christina Houle, AVAI program manager. “It’s an opportunity for them to hear how academic but also how community leaders, artists and politicians think about the future when they are taking action to have impact in the region. It is a chance for the people in the community to listen to those ways of working and to be inspired to create their own vision for the future.”

Philosophy Lecturer Christina Rawls will introduce the discussion.

“She is someone who thinks a lot about the intersection of art and philosophy,” Houle said. “How philosophy is used to contextualize what art can do and what sort of ideas should inform art, which is very similar to what we’re thinking about in this event, which is how do ideas lead art and how do ideas lead cultural accent and how do ideas lead civic engagement.”

Seven thought leaders from different career concentrations will conduct a round-table discussion, she said.

“Then we will break up into groups and each thought leader from the evening will have a group of four or five attendees, who are just the general public, and they will help them write their toast to the future of Brownsville,” Houle said.

The thought leaders are

–Veronica Rosenbaum, executive director of the Brownsville Wellness Coalition and Farmer’s Market manager;

–Jose Angel Gutierrez, a lawyer, educator, activist and co-founder of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) and the Raza Unida Party of Texas;

–Enriqueta Cisneros, a freelance journalist for the Rio Grande Guardian and author of “Birth of the Border”;

–Lourdes Flores, director of A Resource in Serving Equality (ARISE) and partner in The Land Use Colonia Housing Action (LUCHA);
–Queren Medina, owner of Thrifties;

— Josette A. Cruz, a Brownsville Artists and Musicians co-op member, educator and environmentalist; and

–Christopher Carmona, a UTRGV assistant professor in creative writing and Mexican American Studies, and Chicanx Beat Poet.

Admission is free.