This annual cultural festival is a public engagement event that showcases the human creative spirit. It is open platform where imaginative and innovative experts across diverse fields of human endeavor present their exciting projects and groundbreaking ideas to the general public.

FESTIVAL PAGE | REGISTRATION PAGE

The 2021 Torrance Festival of Ideas explores themes such as love, loss and human interconnectedness (Divine Charura), the subjectivity of data (Richard Blissett), the power of mindfulness (Kizmet Adams), aging and dying with humor (Melisa Taylor-Cahnmann), racial identity in minoritized groups (Sycarah Fisher), visual imagination (Adam Zeman), art and scientific discovery (Rebecca Kamen), musical development (Joan Koenig), surviving and thriving retirement and stroke (Jerry Gale), entrepreneurship (Susan Cohen), the reality of pain (Mark Johnson), the COVID-19 vaccine drive (Fred Quinn), beauty and authenticity (Rosanna Smith), empathy and innovation (Chris Denson), creativity and education (Simon James), Digital art (Pip Thornton), a refugee story of survival and renewal (Sideth Ung), Photography's Domino Effect (Laetitica Vancon), Breath Art (Shodekeh Talifero), Music as Religion (Harry Ballan), and Political Resistance through Art (Peter O’Connor). The Festival also showcases the important work of local non-profits including the Athens Area Arts Council, Books for Keeps, Athens Chautauqua Society, Love.Craft Athens, and Extra Special People.