Americans for the Arts today announced its May 18–20 Annual Convention, bringing the creative field together in person for the first time since 2019. Through 22 sessions held in D.C.’s historic Omni Shoreham Hotel, participants will celebrate the transformative, collective strength of creative workers and cultural organizations across the United States; listen to and learn from creative leaders offering wisdom on the way forward; and better understand how the nonprofit arts field can build an equitable arts, culture, and creative economy together as we reemerge and rebuild from the pandemic.

Annual Convention will also feature the work of local artists, including artworks on display by photographers Steven Cummings and DeAndre McKnight, and artistic performances by 2020 DC Youth Poet Laureate Marjan Naderi, quartet Rogue Collective, and DC institution Crush Funk Brass.

Annual Convention is open to the press, and credentialed media should contact Inga Vitols to register. Due to pandemic-related health and safety measures, all attendees, including all press, must register in advance and be prepared to show proof of vaccination. There will be no on-site registration, and no exceptions will be made.

The full 2022 Annual Convention schedule can be viewed at convention.artsusa.org.

Keynotes and Featured Speakers

Thursday, May 19, 2022

• 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. ET: “Opening Keynote: Arts and Culture at a Crossroads”
  The opening keynote will feature remarks from author and playwright R. Eric Thomas and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Nolen V. Bivens will speak about the principles guiding Americans for the Arts forward and the transformative change the field is undergoing. The keynote will also feature the debut of the new Arts + Social Impact Explorer and a performance by D.C.’s own Crush Funk Brass.

• 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET: “The Role of Public Art and Civic Design in a Transforming Country”
  This presentation will feature the 2022 Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize for Public Art and Civic Design winner in dialogue with researcher and creative placemaking expert Juanita Hardy. The 2022 Leadership Award winners will also be announced, and the session will open with a poetry set delivered by former D.C. Youth Poet Laureate Marjan Naderi and collaborator Jack Schwarz.

Friday, May 20, 2022

• 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. ET: “Hopes, Dreams, and Goals as Part of the Americans for the Arts Strategic Realignment Process”
  Americans for the Arts staff and board members will be joined by facilitators from Hope Nation and Arts Consulting Group to share the steps that Americans for the Arts is taking to strategically realign the organization and plan for the future. Attendees will have the opportunity to not only weigh in on the future form and function of Americans for the Arts, but to share their own hopes, dreams, and goals for their organization and community. The session will feature the art of Coral Morphologic.

• 12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. ET: “Culture Bearers Transforming Communities”
  Co-recipients of the 2022 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities Charya Burt, a classical Cambodian dancer, and Christopher “Mad Dog” Thomas, a Chicago footwork street dancer, have a conversation about how their radically different dance forms function as cultural grounding and addressing and healing trauma in their communities. The presentation will be moderated by Roko Kawai, a dancer, choreographer, and youth worker. 

• 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET: “Closing Keynote: Onward Together”
  In this closing keynote, poet and Kennedy Center Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph brings the convention to close discusses what comes next for the field and for creative workers, how we progress humility and fortitude, and how we work to fix inequitable systems within our field and help a country heal. The session will also feature a performance by Rogue Collective, a DC-based, tech-infused string quartet.

Recorded content for Annual Convention will be made available in a limited-time, on-demand format from June 15 to September 15, 2022.

Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization that advances the arts and arts education advocacy in America. Based in Washington, D.C., it has a record of more than 60 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for everyone to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

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