Now available
The Zone of Authenticity:
Authentic Connection Cards
These cards exist to meet an increasingly essential need for honest, empathetic, human connection.
Each of the 25 cards offers:
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a core question
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a deeper reflective or creative prompt
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an encouraging statement
The deck is organized across five categories (visioning, connecting, embodying, releasing, attuning).
It can be used solo or with others - by partners, families, friends, groups, teams, and strangers - to create space for self-reflection, play, creative inspiration, and meaningful connection.
*ships within the US & internationally*
*pickup & local delivery available in Grand Rapids, MI/Columbus, OH*
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“The words written and the images chosen are really right. They are right at that fine line between being wide open enough where you could pour anything into it and directed enough where people feel like they have something to grab ahold of. We use them at our house with our kids as opposed to, “Hey, how was your day?” We use them when my partner and I go out on check-in dates as a really authentic way of sharing and getting to conversations that work really nicely for us a couple."
Josh D., Michigan
Community Art Show & Celebration
with The Zone of Authenticity!
Join us for an evening of inspiration, imagination, color, and community.
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40+ artists showing 2D, 3D, and performance-based work
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Original artwork for viewing and sale
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Dance, live music, spoken word, live painting, flow arts, and more
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Experiential mini-workshops
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Henna, face painting, readings & vendors
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N/A bar by More or Less N/A Bottles & Beer
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Elevated food by Nourish Kitchen
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Treats by Mon Chêri Crêperie
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Expanded Zone of Authenticity installation
Come play. Buy art. Support artists. Make friends. Eat, drink, listen, watch & celebrate with us!
The Zone of Authenticity Podcast
This project is rooted in conversation and collaboration.
In this first episode, creator Whitney Dawn Pyles and deck artist/designer Camille Newsom reflect on the origins of The Zone of Authenticity, the collaborative creation of the Authentic Connection Cards, and the values that guide them.
How Did 'The Zone of Authenticity' begin?
Whitney speaking about the original installation at ArtPrize 2023.
What is The Zone of Authenticity?
The Zone of Authenticity is a flexible social art and connection project created by Whitney Dawn Pyles, with the Authentic Connection Cards developed in collaboration with artist and designer Camille Newsom.
Rather than existing in a single format, The Zone adapts to the people and spaces it meets. It can be:
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playing with a deck of Authentic Connection Cards
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a facilitated playshop or workshop
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a temporary installation or pop-up space
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a guided conversation within an existing event or program
Across all forms, the intention remains the same: to create space for honest expression, presence, empathy, and play without forcing outcomes or performance.
Each iteration is shaped in relationship with its context, allowing the work to remain responsive, human, and alive.
Where The Zone Lives
The Zone of Authenticity is designed to be woven into existing spaces, places, and groups, whether publicly and privately. It's meant to add moments of color, curiosity, and creativity, and connection.
So far, it has has taken shape and been shared in a range of contexts, including:
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festivals and outdoor gatherings
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community events and pop-up installations
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creative studios, restaurants, and gallery spaces
As the project continues to evolve, it is increasingly being invited into:
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retreats and immersive gatherings
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summits and conferences
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educational and professional spaces seeking more human-centered connection
Whether experienced through the cards, a facilitated workshop or playshop, or a temporary installation, The Zone adapts to its environment, meeting people where they are at while inviting reflection, presence, and play.
Our Team
Deck Artist/Designer/Facilitator
Camille Newsom
Camille Newsom (she/her) is a poet, artist, educator, and land steward who weaves creative practice, collaboration, and curiosity into her work. She is the author of This Suffering and Scrumptious World (Galileo Press, 2023) & Purgatory Junkie (Main Street Rag, 2025), enjoys typing custom poems for strangers on her typewriter, and facilitates Offers and Needs Markets with the intention of supporting local exchange and collective care.
She is the artist/designer on the deck and upcoming Facilitator Guide. She wants to live in a world with more silliness and play, and believes The Zone of Authenticity is an essential tool for uncovering our shared humanity thus bringing us closer to one another and to the many parts within ourselves.
Installation Artist/Creator/Facilitator
Whitney Dawn Pyles
Whitney Dawn Pyles, ACC (she/her) 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.
She initially created The Zone of Authenticity as a 3D found object collage and participatory art installation to convey a moment she was witnessing often in her group and 1 on 1 work - a moment of softening and remembering. The moment when someone realizes, maybe for the first time, that they are worthy of love and empathy as they are. The moment when someone can finally say to themselves, “I am already whole. I always have been.
Origins & Recognition
The Zone of Authenticity was originally created in 2023 as an interactive installation for ArtPrize, an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
During its three-week public exhibition in a major downtown thoroughfare, the installation engaged hundreds, likely thousands, of people of all ages through spontaneous interaction, facilitated experiences, and shared and solo moments of
play, creation, connection, and reflection.
It tied for first place as a Juried Winner in the Installation category.
Since that initial iteration, The Zone has continued to evolve beyond the installation; living on through the Authentic Connection Cards, facilitated workshops and playshops, and collaborative experiences shaped by the communities it meets.
Come in and bloom awhile...