Animating Democracy National Exchange on Art and Civic Dialogue. Flint, Michigan, October 9-12, 2003. This national conference will report the findings of the four-year Animating Democracy Initiative (ADI), a program of Americans for the Arts, supported by the Ford Foundation. The Exchange will explore the philosophical, practical and aesthetic aspects of arts and humanities activity that intends to stimulate civic dialogue on important contemporary issues. Through knowledge sharing, it aims to advance efforts in arts-based civic dialogue, civic engagement, and community building. The Exchange offers an opportunity for participants to: examine artistic and dialogue methodologies and philosophies that illuminate the challenges and opportunities of arts and humanities-based civic dialogue work; experience arts-based civic dialogue through modeling and engaging people actively in different approaches to dialogue and facilitation within individual sessions and in the overall design of the convening, as well as through a special production by Flint Youth Theatre; and get energized through peer interaction and exchange across artistic disciplines and between arts, humanities, and other fields such as libraries, journalism, and civic dialogue.