Building youth civic power through the arts
BAR HARBOR — The College of the Atlantic 2026 Coffee & Conversation series continues with its second event on Tuesday, July 7, with The Civic Circle, featuring Washington-based writer Eliza Newlin Carney in discussion with COA T.A. Cox Chair in Studio Arts Neeraj Sebastian about her work to build youth civic power through the arts.
The event is free and takes place in person at the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Community Center at 9:30 a.m, with pastries and coffee provided. Registration is required at go.coa.edu/coffeeandconvo.
Eliza Newlin Carney is the founder and president of The Civic Circle, a civic education nonprofit that uses music and the arts to lift youth voices and empower students with civic skills. She launched the group in 2018 after 30 years as a writer, editor, and columnist covering democracy, election law, and politics at such publications as The American Prospect, CQ Roll Call and National Journal. She has taught journalism at George Washington’s School of Media and Public Affairs and has served on the board of several arts nonprofits, including Class Acts Arts (now Artivate). She produced a CD of original children’s songs, Love Flows Down, and at The Civic Circle is the principal writer of the program’s civic songs, assembly show, and curriculum. She is a longtime advocate of cultural and civic life in Silver Spring, where she has lived for more than three decades.
Neeraj Sebastian lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he moved to join the MFA in Studio Art program at University of North Carolina. During the two years of his studies, he said that the way he painted changed from working observationally to working from his imagination. His journey as a painter began when he took an introductory oil painting class at Fleisher Art Memorial, a community art center in Philadelphia. He focused on molecular and cell biology during and after his undergraduate studies, which he stated was a major shift. “But science is also a speculative process like painting and my past experience continues to inform my work today,” he said. He spent his childhood in Hamburg, Germany and Bangalore, India, before moving to Philadelphia. Before Greensboro, he was in Bangalore, and his time in the city continues to be a strong presence in my work.
The Coffee & Conversation series features discussions between invited guests and College of the Atlantic faculty members and trustees. The series hosts authors, entrepreneurs, scholars, artists, researchers, thought leaders, and more. Sessions are one hour long, and include a Q&A with the guests. Coffee and pastries are served.
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Event listing:
July 7, 2026
9:30 a.m.
Coffee & Conversation: The Civic Circle
Thomas S. Gates Jr. Community Center
College of the Atlantic
105 Eden Street
Bar Harbor
Free; registration required at go.coa.edu/coffeeandconvo