Grand Rapids Launch · Release · Play Event for The Zone of Authenticity: Authentic Connection Cards

Name: Grand Rapids Launch · Release · Play Event for The Zone of Authenticity: Authentic Connection Cards
Start: 2026-01-31T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-31T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Fountain Street Church

Schedule

Sat Jan 31 2026 at 01:00 pm to 03:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Fountain Street Church | Grand Rapids, MI

Open-house style. Come say hello, play with the cards solo or together, and celebrate this project with the co-creators, Whitney and Camille! We'd love to celebrate connection and collaboration with you and see what's possible when we play, together.
Buying a deck is not required for attendance but decks will be available for purchase! There are a limited amount available so, you're welcome to pre-purchase at whitneydawn.com/zoa and pickup at this event.
ABOUT:
Originally part of the award-winning interactive installation The Zone of Authenticity (ArtPrize 2023), by Whitney Dawn Pyles, this deck has been reimagined and expanded in collaboration with published poet and artist Camille Newsom.
"The Zone of Authenticity: Authentic Connection Cards" exist to meet an increasingly essential need for honest, empathetic, human connection. Each card offers a core question, a “go deeper” prompt, and a nourishing affirmation across five unique categories. The cards support individuals, partners, families, groups, and teams in creating space to play, imagine, and soften – loosening the grip of shame and perfectionism, inviting vulnerability, and helping us uncover small, steadying truths that allow us to bloom… together.
DECK CREATOR/AUTHOR:
Whitney Dawn Pyles, ACC is a somatic coach and facilitator, dance and movement guide, award-winning artist, and adoptee on a mission to ease the loneliness epidemic. She believes we all deserve spaces to be who we are, that movement, presence, and play are powerful medicines, and that magic happens when we allow ourselves to show up authentically in all of our beautiful complexity. Learn about her coaching, community, and embodiment work at whitneydawn.com.
DECK ARTIST/DESIGNER:
Camille Newsom is a poet, artist, educator, and land steward who weaves creative practice and curiosity into her work. She is the author of This Suffering and Scrumptious World (Galileo Press, 2023) & Purgatory Junkie (Main Street Rag, 2025).