SATURDAY JUNE 25
AFTERNOON & EVENING

Urgency and Agency

Presented by Aaron Levy + Rick Lowe

Advances in social, political, and environmental justice require significant transformations in existing political and economic frameworks, but these transformations will only be achievable alongside a radical and imaginative rethinking of art and activism. Presenters will discuss ways that cultural organizations can create engaged programming and sustainable collaborations that cultivate critical and creative participation and socio-political advocacy. Speakers and attendees will share their practices and discuss their perceptions on the role of the artist and the cultural organization in society, the relationship of the individual to the collective, the importance and challenges of engaging in inter-cultural dialogue; and what we can each do at our respective organizations in response to the challenges our communities face.

Supporting Artists:

5 Models Other than Showing Work

Led by: Abby Satinsky w/ Kathleen Flynn,
Steve Liggett, sharon maidenberg + Linda Shearer

In this panel, leaders from Living Arts of Tulsa, Dieu Donné, and Threewalls will discuss their unique organizational and programming models. Dieu Donné is a workspace in New York City that introduces emerging and established artists, to the hand papermaking process. Dieu Donné’s unique and collaborative environment encourages innovation and often becomes a pivotal experience for a visiting artist. Living Arts of Tulsa is a 14,000 sq. ft. exhibition space in Tulsa, Oklahoma dedicated to the presentation and development of contemporary art forms. Their programs focus on newly evolving ideas and the relationship of art to other disciplines and fields of knowledge.Threewalls is a dynamic, Chicago-based organization that provides Chicago and regional artists with multiple platforms for professional development through residencies, exhibitions, publications, public programs, and partnerships.

Managing Institutional Memory

Presented by: Sylvie Fortin + Stuart Horodner

For many non-collecting arts organizations/publications that began in the 1970s, there is the ongoing issue of how institutional memory functions to honor the past while empowering present endeavors. The growth from grassroots organizations to 40 year old venues that are recognized leaders in the field means that many boards and staffs working now have inherited documentation and oral histories that run the range from well organized and technologically savvy to mile high boxes of old slides and overflowing folders. This panel will ask challenging questions about the ways that various histories can be understood, appreciated, and used effectively. For example: In what ways can institutional memory be an asset? A liability? If your institution’s past is a priority, what are you doing about it? Who owns your history and what voices speak for or against it? Where? How? Do you suffer from anniversary guilt and archive fever? We would like the discussion to focus on strategies that directors, curators, and board leaders are using to answer these questions.

Boards and Fundraising: How to Ask for Money

Presented by: Nancy lee, Larson Allen/Independent

Many boards accept the notion that they are responsible for ensuring the organization has adequate financial resources to deliver programs and further the mission. Acting on this responsibility is challenging for many, even when the need for more funds is so apparent. During this guided conversation participants will refresh their understanding of the board’s role in fundraising, hear how some of the pros talk about successful fund development and good practices, and share ideas about what has already worked and what might improve their board’s performance in bringing essential support to their organization.

Institutional Archiving Workshop

Presented by: Ed Cardoni + Paul Morris

In today’s data-driven climate, an organization’s history often begins when it goes online; moreover, archiving artists’ work is a key factor in preserving and transmitting our institutional knowledge. As technology changes rapidly, it is more important than ever for an organization to ensure that the integrity of its digital content, as well as the hardware that contains it, is preserved safely and remains accessible to its community. Digital archives are not simply a scholarly resource that demonstrates past achievements, they also offer a robust tool that can be used to meet current challenges faced by an organization. In this workshop, we will address issues of preservation, including archiving, indexing, and discoverability. We will focus on both conceptual and concrete approaches, addressing such issues as creating a content management system, generating potential income streams, and fostering artist and audience engagement. Group-wide conversation about the broader issues facing institutions today is encouraged.

Create Your Own

Self Organized / Larson Allen

Project Connect:
Future Conversations w/ Convening Network

Presented by: James Bewley

Project Connect, a new web platform, has been launched as part of this website. It represents an effort to promote conversation and collaboration among Initiative members post-convening. Ways to utilize this new tool are welcomed in this discussion, along with suggestions for growth and constructive ideas about the future of the Initiative network.

Regional Regranting: Alternative Exposure, The Idea Fund, The Propeller Fund, and Rocket Grants

Presented by: Diane Barber, Courtney Fink,
Kate Hackman, Shannon Stratton

This discussion will address the Regional Regranting program that partners Warhol with Initiative organizations in distributing funds to individual artists and collectives. Regional Regranting is currently happening in San Francisco (through Southern Exposure), Kansas City (through Charlotte Street Foundation in partnership with The Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, KS), Texas (through Aurora Picture Show, DiverseWorks and Project Row Houses) and Chicago (through threewalls in partnership with Gallery 400 at UIC). The panel will address today’s funding climate for individual artists, how the regranting program is seeding new artist-organized initiatives and making an impact on local visual arts ecologies, how Regional Regranting extends the reach of small organizations, and concerns and strategies for maintaining these programs once they are launched.

Swap Meet: Fundraising Ideas

Led by: Tod Lippy

An opportunity to meet and exchange particularly successful, unusual, or inventive fundraising strategies. Bring an example of a project or be inspired by others.

Sustainability for Executive Directors

Presented by: Nancy Lee, Larson Allen/Independent

Executive directors, responsible for the overall effectiveness and viability of the organization, often find it difficult to sustain their own passion, energy, health, and sanity. The challenges are unending: build and support the board, raise money, watch the bottom line, oversee staff, comply with rules and regulations — on top of developing and producing high quality programs and nurturing participation in them. What are some tools and practices EDs can use to work as effectively as possible and stay energized? Come ready to learn with and from your peers.

Pecha Kucha

Travel to Hotel / R&R

Relax at the hotel or a spot of your choosing

Travel to Dinner Destination

Buses leave promptly at 7PM

Dinner

Block party featuring a selection of fine food + wine trucks.

Buses Depart to Hotel

Buses begin to shuttle from Southern Exposure to Le Meridien