Saturday, August 22, 2026
ARRAY Creative Campus
Come play! Join ARRAY and Love, Peace and Spades: Spades Academy™, a gathering that celebrates the joy and creativity found around the game table. Open to all experience levels, participants are invited to learn, relearn and share in beloved games that have brought families and communities together for generations.
Through friendly competition, conversation and collective discovery, you’ll explore the rich traditions behind card and table games often passed down as cherished cultural heirlooms. Whether you’re picking up a deck for the first time or returning to a favorite pastime, Spades Academy™ offers a welcoming space to laugh, strategize and experience the enduring power of play. Bring your curiosity, your game face and your community spirit. There’s always room at the table.
ARRAY @ PLAY is a summer storytelling series where gameplay is harnessed as a tool for strategy, connection and community-building, sparking belonging, engagement and joy. Hosted on ARRAY’s Creative Campus.
Panel Conversation:
“The Importance of Preserving Play” with:
DR. XHERCIS MÉNDEZ
Associate Professor of Women, Gender & Queer Studies, California State University Fullerton & Director of Education, Love, Peace & Spades™ & Founder, Listen Bridge Change Consulting.
KIMELIA WEATHERS-SMITH
Co-founder of Brilliant or BS?—a Black woman-owned bluffing trivia game featured in Essence, Oprah, and Good Housekeeping and curator of Blackout Game Night, a Los Angeles gathering dedicated to celebrating and amplifying games by Black game makers.
DR. NATHANIEL BRYAN
Educator and Founder of Black PlayCrit, a theoretical framework built on Critical Race Theory and Black Critical Theory that centers the play experiences of Black children. (virtual panelist)