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Convention sessions were presented as moderated conversations among field leaders with ample opportunity for questions and exchange. Each session provided attendees with multiple perspectives on a topic, including both helpful frameworks and practical insight from successful programs. Many sessions featured multimedia illustrations, programmatic tools, and research readings for participants to take home. On Monday, we were pleased to present a full range of advocacy sessions, featuring arts resource guides to seldom-tapped federal programs, marketing techniques for branding cities as cultural destinations, information on state legislative initiatives yielding major local arts impact, e-advocacy tools, and the do's and don'ts of nonprofit activity in an election year.
Click on a link for a full description and list of presenters for each of the following sessions. If available, handouts have been provided for your information:
Convention Sessions
- Growing Up Diverse, Leading Diverse Organizations
- Leading Culturally Specific Organizations
- Regional Intersections in Economic Development
- Transnational Cultural Partnerships
- On the Move: Media Arts in Creative Communities
- Expanding Participation in the Arts
- Equity and Opportunity in Grantmaking
- Civic Tourism
- Dealing with Cultural Conflict in Art
- Cultural Displacement and Recovery
Advocacy Sessions
- E-Advocacy Clinic: How Desktop Lobbyists Can Be Effective
- Treasure Hunt: Finding Nontraditional Sources of Federal Funding for the Arts
- State Action. Local Impact. Legislative Initiatives and Referendums Impacting the Arts
- Local Strategies: How to Utilize the Arts to Market and Brand Your Community
- Rules of the Road in an Election Year
Growing Up Diverse, Leading Diverse Organizations
In 1973, Judith and Bryon McBride sought out the multicultural neighborhood of Sherman Park in Milwaukee to raise their ethnically diverse family. Growing up in Milwaukee, their children—Amy, Rebecca, Jonathan, and Mikle—were steeped in the aura and ethic of a racially and socio-economically diverse community in which they participated and thrived. Fast-forward more than 30 years. Rebecca is a professor at Sam Houston State University and an organizational diversity consultant, having just returned to the United States after seven years in Brazil. Amy is an arts administrator in Tacoma, WA, where she is an avid community builder. Jonathan founded his own publishing and marketing company in New York City, and Mikle teaches history on the front lines at Hawthorne High School in Los Angeles. Come here how their diverse upbringing shaped their professional priorities and their perception of community and culture.
Presenters: Amy McBride, Mikle McBride, Jonathan McBride, and Rebecca Bustamante
Presentor Handouts:
- From Merrill to Milwaukee (pdf, 1MB)
- Sherman Park 1 year later (pdf, 1MB)
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Leading Culturally Specific Organizations
In this lively conversation, museum leaders will focus on the development of culturally specific institutions, discuss specific challenges and opportunities, and also offer insights about leadership and community engagement approaches. Expect stunning visuals from each museum.
Presenters: Anan Ameri, National Arab American Museum; Juana Guzman, Mexican American Fine Arts Center and Museum; John Haworth, National Museum of the American Indian
Presenter Presentation:
- Powerpoint Presentation (pdf, 3MB)
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Regional Intersections in Economic Development
Rural, suburban, and urban arts leaders have a variety of strategies for economic and community development. They rarely have a chance to talk about how their work intersects. Come join an exploration of the regional intersections in arts economies. The conversation will continue in rural, suburban, and urban peer groups on Monday.
Presenters: Carlo Cuesta, Creation in Common; Dennis Buehler, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Robert Bush, Arts & Sciences Council of Charlotte/Mecklenburg
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Transnational Cultural Partnerships
Cultural exchange programs that began with a single project have now grown into longstanding transnational relationships between communities and artists. Come listen to stories about how they got started, the economic, community, and artistic partnerships that have flourished and consider the roles that citizens and artists play in furthering these collaborations.
Presenters: Wayne Lawson, director emeritus, Ohio Arts Council; Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles; Eileen Baker, City of Savannah Cultural Affairs; James Early, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Presenter Hand-out and Presentation:
- Cultural Exchange Notes (pdf, 381KB)
- Powerpoint Presentation (pdf, 1.5MB)
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On the Move: Media Arts in Creative Communities
Media is everywhere! Moving images and sounds carry into almost every aspect of our lives. Media is also now an integral part of our creative communities. We find it in museums, galleries, youth programs and community centers. Join with the National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) as we investigate the dynamic role media is playing in our changing communities.
Presenters will talk about what is currently happening in art spaces, youth networks, and community radio.
Presenters: Rhea Mokund, Listen Up!; Hannah Sassaman, Prometheus Radio Project; Will K. Wilkins, Real Art Ways
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Expanding Participation in the Arts
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program
This session will explore the techniques of folklore and ethnographic field research in reaching the full diversity of the arts community with highlights from successful programs. Audience members will engage in field work and community mapping exercises, interviewing each other about their impressions of where they live, their neighborhoods, and the kinds of cultural diversities found in their neighborhoods.
Presenters: Kathleen Mundell, Cultural Resources; Jens Lund, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission; Ruth Olson, Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures; Anne Pryor, Wisconsin Arts Board
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Equity and Opportunity in Grantmaking
Sponsored by The Wallace Foundation
Grantmaking professionals seeking to expand the reach of their funding dollars have been revisiting their approach to traditionally underserved populations, immigrant communities, and the informal arts. Three program officers from state and city arts agencies will discuss their efforts to reach out to audiences traditionally overlooked and newcomer communities. A representative of The Wallace Foundation will describe its support of pioneering strategies to broaden, deepen, and diversify participation in the arts, aligning goals and tactics with target populations. The RAND Corporation’s A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, will be discussed and distributed.
Presenters: Mayumi Tsutakawa, Washington State Arts Commission; Carolyn Bye, Metropolitan Regional Arts Commission in Saint Paul, MN; Lucero Arellano, California Arts Council; Catherine Fukushima, The Wallace Foundation
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As an extension of other "place-based" approaches such as cultural tourism, heritage tourism, and ecotourism, civic tourism provides a forum for communities to decide if and how the individual ingredients of "place" (cultural, built, and natural) may be integrated to create an appealing, dynamic, and distinctive community identity.
Presenters: Dan Shilling, Sharlot Hall Museum; Lenwood Sloan, Pennsylvania Office of Heritage Tourism; Trudy McNulty, Tourism Development Associates; David Plettner, The Cultural+Planning Group; Steven Nivin, City of San Antonio Economic Development
Presenter Hand-out:
- Dan Shilling, Powerpoint Presentation (pdf, 3MB)
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Dealing with Cultural Conflict in Art
Public art can play a key role in community development and civic identity. Yet the outbreaks of controversy that sometimes accompany public art projects often persuade community leaders, elected officials, funding agencies, and artists themselves that public art is simply "too hot to handle." This session explores ways to respond to such controversies that promote ongoing dialogue about cultural expression and civic vitality.
Presenters: Judy Baca, SPARC; and Erika Doss, University of Colorado at Boulder
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Cultural Displacement and Recovery
Long after the media moves on, arts and cultural leaders are on the frontlines of rebuilding communities after human-made and natural catastrophes. Hear the update on the hurricane-affected regions in New Orleans and across the South and learn how the story continues after September 11, hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, and the Grand Forks Flood.
Presenters: Shirley Trusty Corey, Arts Council of New Orleans; Radhika Subramaniam, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Michael Spring, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; Julie Dalgleish, Bush Foundation
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E-Advocacy Clinic: How Desktop Lobbyists Can Be Effective
Americans for the Arts Government Affairs and Grassroots Manager Justin Beland will show you how to make your electronic communications stand out so that your elected officials take notice. The E-Advocacy Clinic will be divided into three, 20-minute sessions of six people each for hands-on, personalized training. A sign-up sheet will be available in the Technology Center throughout the conference—sign up early and make your voice heard!
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Treasure Hunt: Finding Nontraditional Sources of Federal Funding for the Arts
The traditional sources of federal funding for the arts—the National Endowment for the Arts, the Office of Museum Services, and the National Endowment for the Humanities—are not the only source of federal funding for the arts. In this panel, Americans for the Arts Government Affairs staff will take you on a treasure hunt for innovative funding opportunities at the Departments of HUD, Education, Transportation, State, and Defense. The discussion will also include a look at earmarks. Moderated by Americans for the Arts Senior Director of Government Affairs Andy Finch and Americans for the Arts Director of Federal Affairs Narric Rome.
Presenters: Everett Powers, president of the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, SC; and Nancy Firfer, past mayor of Glenview, IL
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State Action. Local Impact. Legislative Initiatives and Referendums Impacting the Arts
Everyone has heard the phrase, "All politics is local." Another phrase should be added: "All Arts is local." Hear from statewide arts leaders on how their activities are directly affecting local arts agencies. Sheila Smith, executive director of the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, will discuss this organization’s unique partnerships with the hunters and anglers as they work toward passing a state constitutional amendment on arts funding. Dan Hunter, the executive director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, will talk about the multiyear process that was involved in getting $250 million for cultural facilities funding. Hear how this initiative went from a dream to a focal point of the legislative session. Moderated by Americans for the Arts Director of State Arts Policy Jay Dick.
Presenters: Shelia Smith, executive director of the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts; and Dan Hunter, executive director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities
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Local Strategies: How to Utilize the Arts to Market and Brand Your Community
Local elected officials and arts leaders in cities coast to coast are capitalizing on the limitless potential of positioning the arts as an effective and powerful marketing tool to retain residents, attract international tourism, and rebuild a city’s image and historical significance. Come learn about three very different approaches to leveraging the arts for branding purposes in the cities of Nashville, New Orleans, and Milwaukee. The city of Nashville, which adopted the label “Music City U.S.A.,” has utilized its renowned music community as an anchor to draw other diverse art forms to the city, as well as to establish venues like the new symphony center and a percent-for-art program. During challenging times, local arts leaders and elected officials in New Orleans have proposed legislative initiatives and undertaken creative steps to highlight and utilize the arts for rebuilding the city’s vast infrastructure and unique identity. The Spirit of Milwaukee is the local nonprofit organization that has been charged with branding Milwaukee as a cultural destination. Come hear how this organization has creatively used strong marketing efforts to educate the public, both locally and nationally, about Greater Milwaukee's many cultural, educational, historical, and scientific institutions. Moderated by Americans for the Arts Director of Local Arts Policy Lina Garcia.
Presenters: Norree Boyd, executive director of the Metro Nashville Arts Commission; Shirley Trusty Corey, president and CEO of the Arts Council of New Orleans; and Dean Amhaus, director of the Spirit of Milwaukee
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Rules of the Road in an Election Year
2006 marks an important election year with all federal congressional House seats, one-third of the United States Senate, and many gubernatorial, mayoral, state, and local legislative seats up for election across the country. Learn the Rules of the Road for what nonprofit organizations can and cannot do during an election year, including hosting candidate forums and town hall meetings, distributing voter guides, and conducting candidate survey questionnaires. You will also learn the lobbying rules on promoting and advertising ballot initiatives and referendums on the arts. Finally, learn more about the IRS’s recently released report, “Political Activity Compliance Initiative.” Moderated by Americans for the Arts Chief Counsel, Government and Public Affairs, Nina Ozlu, Esq.
Presenters: Hugh Webster, Esq., law firm of Webster, Chamberlain & Beane; and James Hudson, Esq., program director for the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest