Artists at the Core | Participant Powered Experience | Bold Business Moves

Artists at the Core

Saturday Sessions, January 9

New Borders of Creativity – Transparent Transformation

Explore the making of performance-based work outside the conventional genre-specific process. Artists will engage in a dialogue with session participants about how a range of current issues and factors are affecting the creation of their work – ranging from the ongoing economic crisis, and the rapid expansion of technology-based tools and resources, to the impact of mass media communications and entertainment networks on audiences in the U.S. and globally. In this session, artists will offer a broad perspective on how new work continues to surface and be created in the ever shifting cultural climate of the 21st century.

Jazz in the 21st Century – America's Expanding Legacy [Special Focus: Jazz]

Feel the rhythm of the most rapidly changing movement in music today – the renaissance of jazz in America and its expanding global connections. . This session brings together an intergenerational mix of artists, agents/managers, presenters and producers who are in the process of re-imagining and synthesizing America's gift to the music world – the new breed of jazz. What do jazz artists need in order to grow and thrive as members of the performing arts community? What are their aspirations and who are their partners in this exciting era of cross-over and hybridization in the music industry? The dialogue will include NEA Jazz Masters, established younger artists, and emerging artists who are engaged in bringing vitality and visibility to one of this country's greatest legacies.

Artists, Scientists, and Greening the Planet [Special Focus: Greening and the Performing Arts]

Take action now to save our environment! Learn how to apply the power of the arts to transform how we think, how we feel, and how we behave in response to one of the most critical issues in the world today: global warming. How are artists working with each other and with colleagues from the sciences on climate change issues and bringing this important message to the public? This session will showcase the creation of new arts and science collaborations to bring greater public attention to the global effects of climate change and the need to take action.

Sunday Sessions, January 10

Devised Work – Adaptability, Hybridity and the Ensemble Process

Encounter the world of ensembles and independent artists using ensemble processes to devise work through the lens of grantees of Arts Presenters' Ensemble Theatre Collaborations program and the Under the Radar Festival and Symposium. What are the key characteristics of the field at this moment? How have ensemble theater companies sustained themselves over time? This session will provide an overview of what has been learned through convenings and interviews with ETC grantees and other practitioners, and from case studies commissioned to look at a diverse range of companies and their work.

Las Americas – Expanding Our Latin Connections [Special Focus: Latin American Arts and Culture]

Celebrate the emergence and expansion of the performing arts across Latin America and learn about new and expanded opportunities for collaborations and partnerships with our peers and colleagues from the Americas. This session will explore new and expanded support for the export of arts and culture by governments and public/private partnerships throughout various Latin American countries. Participants will explore strategies and plans to create new relationships and partnerships between U.S.-based agents/managers, producers, and presenters and their counterparts in Latin America.

Participant Powered Experience

Saturday Sessions, January 9

The Arts and The Creative Campus – Making the Case

Learn more about partnerships and collaborations that engage people on college campuses and in the surrounding community in making the performing arts an integral part of their life. How are artists working more effectively with a range of partners to make their creative process transparent and accessible to the community? What have we learned from the "creative campus" concept about empowering participants to value and engage in the arts? These and other questions will be explored in conjunction with an overview of case studies created by WolfBrown featuring the seven initial grantees of Arts Presenters' Creative Campus Innovations Program (funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation).

Sunday Sessions, January 10

Arts, Access and the Underserved – Coming Out of the Shadows

Embrace new strategies for attracting and absorbing those on the sidelines – individuals and communities that do not participate in the performing arts and the cultural life of the community due to geography, economic conditions, age, ethnic background or other barriers. What are some unique opportunities in this economic recession for artists and presenters to engage new audiences in the creative experience? The session will include an overview of findings and conclusions from the annual Bill Dawson Research Initiative focused this year on the work of MetLife Award-winning programs and others in the field who have successfully reached out to underserved communities.

Access Beyond Ramps and Seats: Why inclusive Programming is Not Risky Business

Discover how you can recharge your season with inclusive art, and learn how inclusive programming provides an opportunity for audience growth. Hear from artists and presenters who have experienced the important role of inclusion and universal design in their work. By re-examining your organization's commitment to access beyond physical accommodations, you can diversify your audience and your programming in innovative and unexpected ways. 

Got Jazz? A New Age of Audience Enlightenment [Special Focus: Jazz]

Discover some of the most successful ideas and strategies that artists, presenters, agents/managers, and producers are using to create entry points for audiences of all ages to experience jazz. There is a growing audience here and abroad for this unique American art form that has captivated the world. This session will explore new educational programs and resources that have been developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NEA Jazz Masters program, and other leaders in the field and what is still to be done to ensure a prominent place for jazz in our lives, across generations, and across socio-economic and geographic boundaries.

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Saturday Sessions, January 9

Artists, Agents, and Presenters – A Collaboration Equation for Success

Brainstorm with your colleagues to identify bold new strategies help artists, agents/managers, and presenters to set and achieve goals for success. The past year has caused key players in presenting and touring to re-evaluate, re-think and revise roles, responsibilities, and relationships. This session will explore some examples of collaboration, interdependence, and bold new strategies for strengthening and sustaining good relationships and trust between artists, their agents/managers, and presenters.

New Frontiers in Technology – What's Next?

Technology continues to have a major impact on our lives, but is our field poised to ride the next wave? What is the next wave? This session will bring together a cadre of techno-savants who are asking new questions and pioneering ways to effectively harness technology to better serve the needs of the presenting field.

Sunday Sessions, January 10

There's New Business – Models – In Show Business

Re-examine your business sense in the company of artists, agents/managers, presenters and stakeholders in the field to consider what works and what doesn't in revitalizing and sustaining the business of presenting. Learn how your peers are meeting challenges and opportunities in today's economy. Compare your own experience with the conclusions drawn by Arts Presenters' Task Force on Research and Knowledge Management regarding new business paradigms in our field. Ken Foster will set the stage for this lively discussion based upon his experience and dialogue with many of his colleagues in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Looking to the Future – Leaders Among Us

Determine what you need to know to develop or maintain your leadership skills for the future. What knowledge, skills and experiences do leaders need to have as successful members of the presenting field? How does our changing environment and the decade ahead change the call to leadership? The speaker will share her perspective on what is required to move forward, individually and as an organization, in these challenging times. The session also provides an opportunity to hear from alumni of Arts Presenters' Emerging Leadership institute who came together as part of Arts Presenters' new leadership initiative to explore the scope and nature of effective leadership competencies in today's presenting field.

At the "Tipping Point" – The Arts and Climate Change [Special Focus Session: Greening and the Performing Arts]

Join your colleagues in a new era of partnerships between artists, scientists, and businesses to tackle global warming and climate change. What can we – as artists, agent managers, and presenters – contribute to this important challenge? This session brings together Arts Presenters members and representatives from the science and business communities from the U.S, the U.K and other countries, all of whom are engaged in projects that address the need to reduce our carbon footprint through direct action. Learn how you and your organization can engage in this critical mission by integrating greening methods in your business model to address immediate and long-term environmental sustainability.

Town Hall (11:00am - 12:45pm)

Come together – a facilitated opportunity for all conference attendees, including featured speakers, facilitators, and discussants, from the professional development sessions. This session provides an opportunity for you to explore a new topic from the professional development sessions, or to explore a topic more deeply. It's also a great opportunity to share with your peers what's on your mind: ideas, insights, and issues that are of the utmost importance to you and your work.