Roberta Ahmanson

Roberta Ahmanson is a writer and philanthropist whose public activities focus on the vital role the arts play in shaping human experience and the critical role of religion in public life. She is chairman of the board of the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City, a regular speaker at the International Arts Movement’s annual encounters, and a frequent speaker on the arts. The Ahmansons have sponsored a number of international art exhibitions, the most recent being “The Sacred Made Real” at the National Gallery, London, in the fall of 2009. Ahmanson is also chairman of the board of the Media Project and a contributor to Oxford University Press’s 2008 award-winning book, Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion. With her husband, Howard, she is a trustee of the private philanthropy Fieldstead and Company. Most recently, the Ahmansons received Arts Orange County’s 2010 Achievement Award for Outstanding Arts Philanthropist. The Ahmansons live in Orange County, California.

2012 Forum Sessions

Afternoon Workshops

The Shape of Things to Come

We build what we believe. That applies not only to buildings but to whole cities and nations. Our beliefs about the nature of the universe shape the mini-universes we build from our own homes to our communities, our nations, and the entire built environment of our planet. We now live in an urban world; more people now live in cities than in any other environment. And, the trend isn’t changing. If we build what we believe, we are building heaven or hell. History shows us the cities our beliefs have led us to build in the past. We need to examine our past to inform our choices today. As Christians, we have the resources to envision cities that bring human flourishing rather than servitude and despair. In this session we’ll examine the beliefs that lead to both.   

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