On September 29, the Prindle Institute hosted the 2025 Dorothy Garrett Martin Lecture in Values and Ethics with Dr. Andrew Westover, Eleanor M. Storza Deputy Director of Learning and Civic Engagement at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. In a talk titled Conflict in Public: The Art Museum Now, Westover invited the audience to think of museums not as quiet halls of masterpieces, but as vibrant civic spaces—places where art, ethics, and community life meet in sometimes joyful, sometimes uneasy conversation .

During their three-day visit to DePauw, Westover engaged with students across disciplines, visiting courses in philosophy, ethics, and non-profit management, and touring DePauw’s galleries at the Peeler Art Center. These conversations set the stage for the evening lecture, highlighting the many ways art can help us explore—and even embrace—ethical conflict.

Westover shared stories from curating picture book exhibitions and teaching with art that challenges, provokes, and connects. They explored how curators navigate competing narratives, manage conflict among visitors and institutions, and make space for disagreement as an essential part of public life .

The evening concluded with a lively discussion between Westover and Dr. Alex Richardson, Associate Director of the Prindle Institute for Ethics, who guided an open conversation about what it means to “do ethics in public.” Together, they reflected on art’s power to build empathy, invite dialogue, and remind us that meaningful encounters with beauty often require collisions of perspective and values.