Convenings

Upcoming Animating Democracy Events


Animating Democracy at the 2005 Americans for the Arts Convention
Today’s cultural leaders must work in complex environments to advance the arts as a powerful community development tool. Skilled advocates are leading the charge and shaping the discussions and are now recognized as key decision-makers. They are demonstrating how the arts can be used to solve problems in communities and are establishing partnerships with local, state, and national stakeholders to strengthen our nation’s neighborhoods and cities.

Building partnerships is at the core of Leading the Charge, the Americans for the Arts 2005 Annual Convention in Austin, TX. Join us June 11–13 to share your experiences in partnership building and engage in strategic sessions designed to advance your efforts to the next level. Participants will choose from a wide array of learning experiences, including educational workshops, interactive arts-based civic engagement activities, conversations with inspiring individuals through the Innovator Series, and facilitated dialogues. With plenty of time built in for networking with new colleagues and old friends during special events, peer group meetings, and neighborhood tours of Austin and the surrounding area, this is an experience not to miss.

Animating Democracy sessions, this year spread throughout the convention, feature case studies, artistic work, and interactive experiences designed to illuminate opportunities and best practices for linking the arts and civic engagement. At different times during the conference, attendees can explore the intersection of artistic imagination and the civic realm, and consider how to expand opportunities for both democratic participation and aesthetic experience in their own communities. Community partnerships, key success factors for cultural organizations seeking to raise their civic profile, are examined throughout these lively programs. Programmed for this year's convention are:

  • Light/ The Holocaust and Humanity Project: How Ballet Austin and its Partners Shined a LIGHT on Bigotry and Tolerance
    Learn what happened this spring when a dance theater work by choreographer Stephen Mills was at the center of a unique Holocaust education partnership designed to focus Austin’s attention on issues of the Holocaust. Ballet Austin, The University of Texas at Austin and the Holocaust Museum Houston alongside the Austin Independent School District, City of Austin and others collaborated to create a mix of art, education and public dialogue that asked citizens to consider personal and civic responsibilities when confronted with acts of bigotry and hate. Explore the possibilities and challenges for large cultural institutions in a mid-sized city to engage the community in arts-based civic dialogue.
  • Traces of the Trade: The Legacy of Northern Slavery and Film-based Dialogue on Race and Privilege
    In Traces of the Trade, documentary filmmaker Katrina Browne, a descendant of the largest-slave trading family in early America, films her family's journey along the Triangle Trade route, exploring themes of race, white privilege, and individual and collective responsibility. Participants will view and share responses to selected scenes and discuss how Traces in particular, and art in general, can be used to inspire dialogue in their own communities.
  • Civic Engagement through Art: How LAAs can Animate Democracy
    Animating Democracy fosters civic dialogue and engagement through arts and culture. In this session, see video clips of projects and hear about valuable lessons learned from Animating Democracy's first phase as well as what's ahead. Discuss with co-directors and peers how LAAs might themselves mount or support other cultural groups in arts-based civic engagement in their communities.

* Sessions topics are subject to change. Fore more information about the Americans for the Arts 2005 Convention, visit the convention website.