Arts Leadership Conference

Group Session A

• The Artist Within
  Marilyn Raichle
  Alzheimer’s – the word sparks fear – conjuring the image of a diminished life - overwhelming families and communities with stigma and anxiety for the future. Yet, as access to language may falter, the imagination can soar. (Anne Basting). This session introduces the audience to surprising, exhilarating and inspiring art created by persons living with dementia. It effortlessly connects us, confounding our expectations and introducing us to a hopeful path rooted in
  the simple truth that persons living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are Still Here – living with dignity, creativity and joy.

• Why Inclusion Matters and What it Looks Like: A Partnership Between Community Choirs and Homeless Service Organizations
  Brad Lister
  A partnership between a community choir and a homeless service organization inherently breaks down barriers that exist between members of the homeless community and the
  general population. This view is predicated on the belief, as some researchers have argued, that through singing, members of the homeless community regain their dignity. Further, singing alongside current members of a community choir reinforces this regained dignity among the homeless members as they participate in an equal, indistinct effort among other, non-homeless singers. Success in communal music-making exposes commonalities useful to both the homeless community and members of a community choir in interactions with similar populations outside of the choral environment.

• Color of Kindness, Anne Beffel
  Anne Beffel will present on several projects including Color of Kindness, a painting as social practice event that included conversations in response to the question “What color comes to mind when you think of kindness?” Her presentation was supported by  Michigan Council for Arts & Culture Professional Development Grant administered by the Copper Country Community Arts Center.

Group Session B

• We The People: How to Amplify Grassroots Movements for Social Change
  Cleo Barnett
  The Amplifier team will share a 30 minutes presentation to highlight how Amplifier was founded, the process and impact of our most globally recognized campaign, We The People, in addition to what we are focused on now. 

• Undocumented Immigrants Speaking to Power through Community-Based Theater: Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras’ “El Niño Dios Viene Pal’ Norte.”
  Christopher Goodson
  
  

Group Session C

• How the Arts Can Foster Educational Equity
  Elizabeth Coen and John (J.C.) Ignacio
  Elizabeth Coen and John (J.C.) Ignacio of the Learning Center Seattle (LCS) examine the critical role that arts professionals can play in bridging the achievement gap between socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the Pacific Northwest and their more privileged peers. Drawing from both research and experience in working at an Open Doors Youth Reengagement program they demonstrate that arts-focused pedagogy, a commitment to social justice, and the collaborative efforts of staff from different artistic disciplines are integral to successful educational programming. As part of this presentation, they also share creative strategies to empower students and foster a growth mindset.

• Young Blood
  Anne Everhart
  As recent college graduates of the arts, we’ve noticed a dichotomy in our field. Everyone wants to hire and attract young people, but nobody wants to watch them lead. Ask Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Emma Gonzales. During our educational and arts careers, we’ve been told how hard it will be to find a job, let alone in our field. And we’ve seen it happen, watching former classmates stop auditioning or doing shows whether through lack of work or funds. The people who seem to be doing well are the ones who were lucky enough to obtain an internship during or after college. However, these internships are usually unpaid or lack enough resources to make the experience accessible to everyone. If the arts are supposed to bring people together and strengthen communities, then every community should be able to join the process of making art. We will be discussing ways for arts programs of all sizes to get young artists into and positions of leadership through partnerships and programs to lessen the financial blow of taking on an internship as a young artist as well as ways to inclusively bring more “young blood” to the arts. Young people want to be in the room when decisions are being made, and we need to get them there. Working in arts leadership is a privilege, but it shouldn’t be.

Connecting Student Research and Community Benefit: Arts Ecosystem Research Project

• Presenters: Claudia Bach

Moving Through Social Justice: Movement-Based Strategies for Unpacking Social Justice for All Ages

• Brian J. Evans
• A Dance Theater Dream-shop for those practitioners of all walks interested in profound yet simple ways to open up their students to embracing differences and finding ways they ‘fit.’
  We’ll use our session time experiencing several simple dance theater activities that can be modified to fit your community and allow for avenues of discussion that will deepen your communities’ connection to the form, to themselves and one another. Social Justice and its working definition can be a daunting subject matter for anyone to integrate into the space. This session will provide concrete tools and entry points for those looking for opportunities to Awaken Joy through Movement. Will unpack multiple iterations for the subtle application of Social Justice concepts to the space’s environment, fundamental structures equitable communication and classroom set up, as well as more ‘conspicuous’ methods. Social Justice begins and ends with community. I Am Because We Are. This dream-shop hopes to build upon our innate human capacity for connection and to uncover ways through movement and the packing of an experience to create safer environments, empower our communities and strengthen the messages we show through the art of education!

Pursuing Equity for People of Color as a White Arts Leader

• Kelly Dylla
• All too often, white leaders look to arts leaders of color to speak up for decisions and policies that are unjust or inequitable. This session will give arts leaders tools for how to be strong advocates for equity in the arts ecosystem, particularly for people of color. We will look at the history of injustice for people of color in Seattle and the historic and current systemic racism in the national arts sector.  To move the needle to build an arts ecosystem for all artists, white arts leaders must consciously speak up about bias and give people of color more agency in artistic and financial decision-making. This workshop will give voice to concerns about speaking up, highlight examples to work through in small groups, and practice the right tone to set when providing feedback.  At the end of the workshop, participants will identify one situation they want to address in their work as an arts leader and steps that feel vulnerable but achievable to support equity for people of color in our arts ecosystem.

Creating Platforms for Social Change: A Teaching Artist Workshop

• Sam Van Waardhuizen
• In the conclusion to her article “Nurturing Student Activists in the Time of Trump”, Maggie Chiang charges: “When we help students explore and analyze exploitation, injustice, and danger in the world, we can also help them develop the knowledge and skills to change it.” In this interactive 90-minute workshop, participants will explore contemporary, decolonized methods of arts education that connect today’s turbulent issues with creative platforms of arts activism and expression. Working with the topic of “Displacement”, participants will create an arts focused lesson that incorporates the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards. Open to interpretation by any discipline (visual arts, performance, poetry, music, etc) at any grade level, this workshop will both model and provide a framework to practice culturally responsive methods of inquiry, ideation, and the creation of a curriculum piece with a social justice lens. “Teaching Artistry” will center the lived experiences, knowledge and ways of knowing within the participant community and their student population.

The InterPlay Way for Social Change and Authentic Community Building

• Xanne Sarka
• Movement, voice, storytelling and stillness--these four healing salves are our common human  birthright.  The expressive art form of InterPlay is a community building tool offering authentic connections through creative play and self-expression employing the four healing salves as the medium.  Ease, Freedom, Joy, Resilience, Authentic Connections, Empowerment, Unbounded Awareness--as these qualities awaken while InterPlaying, they start to awaken in our daily lives.  Our connections with self and others develop fresh inspiration and authenticity.  In surprising, fluid ways the InterPlay forms support individuals to break down barriers/walls of perceived differences and connect with each other’s humanity. On the surface, InterPlay seems like frivolous play.  On a deeper level, this art form is a conduit for “sneaky deep” transformation within oneself and in our connections with others.   In this session, you are invited to experience a facilitated workshop of the community building magic of the InterPlay forms.

Cognitive Restructuring: Leading through Change

• Rachel Parker

Arts and Homelessness from a Global Perspective

• Holly Jacobson

Disrupting Whiteness: How to Challenge the Norm in Arts Education

• S. Rebeqa Rivers

Tacoma Creates: A Case for Cultural Access Policy

• Rachel Betron

Leading through Podcasts and Creative Producing

• Ana Rusness-Petersen

Song, Dance, Magic & Medicine

• Namii