Americans for the Arts’ 2022 Annual Convention will take place May 18-20, 2022, in Washington, D.C. The 2022 in-person event will be a simplified, shorter, and more accessible Annual Convention; recorded content from this in-person event also will be made available, for a fee, in a digital on-demand format in June 2022. More information on the event—including registration rates and support, session schedules, and safety protocols for the in-person gathering—will be available in early March.

Americans for the Arts continues to listen, evolve, and change as an organization. With feedback from the field about needed changes in the ways Americans for the Arts works and in commitment to working from our positions of power and privilege, for the 2022 Annual Convention Americans for the Arts:

• Will not seek any contributed funds to underwrite the conference expenses from local funders and will underwrite expenses for creating the event through general operating funds and partially subsidized registration fees for attendees.
   
• Will partially subsidize conference registration fees to about 50% of the actual cost, which will increase access and keep fees lower for all. The total anticipated subsidy from Americans for the Arts is approximately $400,000.
   
• Will provide an anticipated $50,000 in registration support, also from general operating funds, to supplement both in-person and digital attendance. Support will specifically focus on intentionally marginalized members of the field, in particular BIPOC people and people with disabilities, as well as local artists and attendees.
   
• Will provide complimentary registrations and an anticipated $50,000 total in honoraria for all presenters and presenting artists at the Annual Convention in recognition of their labor. These honoraria will be $200 for session presenters and $50 for roundtable presenters and will vary for artists/ensembles and keynotes (with a minimum of at least $500).

As part of this commitment, Americans for the Arts is conducting a substantially revised and more open and equitable session submission and selection process. This includes a public rating period through February 15, 2022, during which anyone can provide ratings on some or all of the 132 proposed sessions. These ratings will be used to directly inform sessions that are ultimately presented at the conference. To participate in the rating process, please click here.

If you have any questions, thoughts, comments, or concerns, please contact Clay Lord at [email protected].