Novelist and USC professor Viet Thanh Nguyen

I Was an Application Away From Law School

Viet Thanh Nguyen is a professor at the University of Southern California. His novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and he is also a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations. Before joining the Zócalo/The Music Center program “How Is Art A Weapon in War?,” Nguyen chatted with us in the green room about visiting the set of The Sympathizer, pho, and the best memorial about war.

April 28, 2023

Make Art Not War

Creative Expression Builds Consciousness—and Resistance—in Hearts and Minds

by Talib Jabbar | April 26, 2023

How do you mobilize art against war? Can artwork be co-opted by warmongers? And what, if anything, can we hope for in creating and consuming art about war?

These were some …

When Kids Make Art, a Richer Story of War Emerges

The Stone Soup Refugee Project Helps Young People Move Beyond Empathy

by Laura Moran | April 25, 2023

The sea is stormy, please help me!

My wings are small, please help me!

The butterflies are afraid, please help me!

My world is ignored, …

‘Guernica’ Did Nothing—Which Is Why It Still Matters

Picasso’s Masterpiece Teaches Us How Antiwar Art’s Power Lies in This Paradox

by David McCarthy | April 24, 2023

This month marks the anniversary of one of the many atrocities of the last century carried out in the cause of nationalism. On Monday, April 26, 1937, less than a …

Beachcombing

March 22, 2023

Christine LeBlanc-Payne is an artist, designer, and illustrator based in Connecticut.

For her Zócalo Sketchbook, LeBlanc-Payne draws inspiration from natural artifacts found on the beaches of Connecticut; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Costa Brava, …

Writer and Curator Helen Molesworth

I Would Cook Stevie Wonder Couscous

February 17, 2023

Helen Molesworth is a writer and curator based in Los Angeles. She is also a podcast host and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Clark Art Writing Prize. …

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