Night of Ideas, Washington, DC
Conference, Panel Discussion, Talk, Workshop
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
3500 R St NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 3:00pm – 10:00pm
Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, will present its free annual flagship installation in Washington, DC on Saturday, April 5th. This year’s theme, “Common Ground,” invites discussions on key challenges facing the U.S. and Europe today.
Washington, D.C. is a major cultural and historical hub for Black creativity and Afro-American heritage. Iconic institutions like the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Howard University, and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts (DESA) play a vital role in celebrating African-American contributions to the arts. Today, D.C. serves as a crucible for artistic innovation, exploring contemporary themes like Afrofuturism, social justice, and racial identity through diverse artistic expressions, from music and visual arts to theater and literature.
Held in collaboration with the Karsh Institute of Democracy and DESA, the 2025 edition of Night of Ideas continues these reflections by bringing together speakers to discuss current and pressing topics while offering impactful artistic actions and experiences under the theme “Youth in Action.”
The goal of this afternoon and evening is to foster multicultural and interdisciplinary dialogue by giving a voice to specialists from complementary fields. Panels open to a wide audience will be accompanied by intimate workshops and book signing sessions. High school students will also participate through musical and theatrical performances and live acts, while exploring the theme of democracy from a youth perspective.
This event is free and open to the public.
Mark your calendar for Night of Ideas on April 5, 2025, and visit nightofideas.org for the latest news and programming announcements.
Co-presented by Villa Albertine Washington, DC, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy.
Night of Ideas 2025 is presented by Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation thanks to the leadership support of the Judy & Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, and with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is coordinated worldwide by the Institut Français.
In partnership with
Albertine Foundation
Previously known as FACE Foundation, Albertine Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In close partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and its arts institution Villa Albertine, Albertine Foundation promotes artistic, literary, and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries thanks to corporate, foundation, and individual support.
Follow Albertine Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Institut français
The Institut français is responsible for France’s international cultural program. Supervised by both the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and by the Ministry of Culture, it promotes French culture abroad through cultural exchange initiatives. Operating in a space where the arts, intellectual exchange, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic partnerships interact and intersect, it is also responsible for promoting the French language and the sharing of works, artists, and ideas all over the world. The Institut français is one of Villa Albertine’s main French partners.
The Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation
The Foundation’s work has included underwriting of such public spaces as Washington’s Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Holocaust Museum; in New York, the new Statue of Liberty Museum; and in Chicago, as early supporters of the Obama Presidential Center. In connection to French culture and history, it has underwritten efforts at Notre Dame restoration, the Louvre Endowment, and to Holocaust studies including the 1988 Academy Award winning documentary, Hotel Terminus, the Life and Times of Klaus Barbie.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Duke Ellington School of the Arts (DESA) was established in 1974 by two trailblazing African-American artists and activists, Peggy Cooper-Cafritz and Mike Malone. Their vision was to provide equitable access to a life-changing arts education for the District’s talented youth, regardless of background or ability to pay.
To this day, DESA is the only public high school in DC to offer a dual curriculum integrating college-preparatory academics with pre-professional arts training in Dance, Instrumental Music, Cinematic Arts & Media Production, Museum Studies, Technical, Design & Production, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Vocal Music.
Nearly 50 years later, Ellington continues to nurture the next generation of scholar-artists and changemakers. Learn more about it here.
Karsh Institute of Democracy
The University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy is dedicated to a future in which democracy’s aspirations and reality are aligned.
The institute works tirelessly to understand, defend, and invigorate the institutions, practices, and cultural underpinnings that are the foundations of democracy. Through all its work—robust interdisciplinary scholarship, research and teaching, and vibrant programs and partnerships designed to engage the public and influence policy agendas—the Karsh Institute is shaping a thriving democratic future.
The Karsh Institute, which includes UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service and Equity Center, collaborates closely with schools and centers across UVA that also work to advance democracy, including the Center for Politics, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the School of Law, and the Miller Center of Public Affairs. Learn more about it here.
Related content