Working with each of the artists for Dialog:City continues to be an inspiring learning experience. There remains critical questions that face each of the projects. These questions reside within different layers of the conceptual, production, and presentation acts. Many of the pieces are new commissions, works that are responding to the conditions of a political election and convention city. In particular, Krzysztof Wodiczko’s process has been deeply reflective. Among our many exchanges, we have centered in part on the impact soldiers’ experience of trauma has on the people who are close to them. This secondary trauma has been an interest of Krzysztof’s and he has been engaged in significant research to quantify and qualify this emerging issue in mental health. As both of my parents work in the mental health field as a social worker and educator respectively- these exchanges have been of particular interest to me. Today, a NY Times article seemed timely. Check out the growing concern for the mental health of our soldiers. Whatever your perspective on the war, there remain significant issues and long term impact to our culture that we have yet to be able to articulate. Maybe, through Krzysztof’s dedication, we will begin to find an aesthetic language to do so.