Americans for the Arts

It's the first day of the 2007 Americans for the Arts Convention! It's hot in Las Vegas and although the Flamingo Hotel can be a little confusing, we've all managed to navigate our ways through the casinos, crowds, and mirrored hallways (they all look the same and seem to take you back to where you started!) to our respective sessions. Speaking of navigating through challenges and obstacles, I'll be checking-in frequently to report back on my musings and reflections from Leadership Track sessions over the course of convention weekend. I'd like to share some thoughts on today's Cultural Leadership session...

So I decided to return to my hotel room to blog from bed.  Vegas is nothing if not exhausting, and I've already seen more fake bodies and drunken frat boys than one San Franciscan can handle. I suppose it's fitting since rumor has it Vegas IS the new Hollywood.  This rumor might also explain the trash items found by one of my colleagues underneath her bed at the Flamingo.  Fortunately for me, the Flamingo and Harrah's were booked by the time I got my act together to make a reservation so I'm reaping the benefits of a great Hotels.com deal at the Signature at MGM Grand.  Just a tip for your next trip to Vegas...

Anyhow, Risk and Reward is definitely the right theme for this conference.  It's risky enough just negotiating the Flamingo casino floor to get to your workshop of choice.  But all and all, it's the best kind of environment for an arts conference - chaotic, loud, unruly, fast, wildly varied in temperature, and challenging to navigate.  It makes you pay attention to where you are going (or staying) which is a fitting metaphor for the state of arts education (in case you haven't had the opportunity to hear Eric Booth so eloquently speak to this yet).

We at Americans for the Arts are having some fun about the office getting really excited about heading to Las Vegas for the Risk & Reward Annual Convention , so we started to kick around a list of "must see Vegas movies" to watch between now and the end of the month. Of course "Lucky You" is currently showing in a theater near you, but maybe you want to rent some of the movies below  {in no particular order....}

If the list below gets you excited, you will want to make sure you are registered for Convention before it closes this Friday, May 18.

• Casino. (1995). Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci. Martin Scorcese (Dir.) 
• The Cooler. (2003). William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin
• Viva Las Vegas. (1964). Elvis Presley. Gotta see The King in Vegas!
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The countdown to National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) 2007 has begun. Americans for the Arts is the online portal for arts organizations celebrating NAHM in their communities this October.

ArtsBlog and the NAHM online toolkit will provide you with up-to-date information, as well as tips and ideas on how you can take part in the only nation-wide celebration of the arts and humanities. Visitors to the website will be able to share their local activities on the national events