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Overview to the idea of the Art of Creative Resilience and the resonance that is possible between our arts and events sectors and community resilience.

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THE ART OF CREATIVE RESILIENCE is the conviction that artists and event professionals have the ability to be leaders and responders for their entire communities in times of crisis when suitably prepared. It recognizes that the same skills required to produce safe, accessible, sustainable live events are transferable to contexts requiring any combination of the development of temporary infrastructure, management of large groups of people, and support of community mental health and wellness.

Our nation's emergency response agencies have already identified the advantages of a "whole community approach" to preparedness that involves our arts and cultural workers. This reduces bottlenecks in the event of widespread disaster and increases the level of trust, local knowledge, and cross-cultural communications that are included in planning and response.

The potential impact of redeploying our creative sectors in support of community response and recovery, rather than shuttering their operations in times of emergency, is enormous. Pre-pandemic, arts and cultural production accounted for over $804 billion (4.3 percent) of the U.S. economy, an impact larger than the transportation, tourism, or agriculture sectors.

Now is the time for communities to proactively identify their needs, risks, and latent capabilities to lay the groundwork for a resilient future. Now is the time for governments to meaningfully invest in recovery and future resilience for our creative workers and organizations, including by creating new ecosystems of jobs, certifications, training, and service models that leverage the value they are capable of providing to their entire communities when suitably prepared.

Take the survey

Are you a current or aspiring arts or event worker, venue, organization, or small business? Take the 5-minute survey to demonstrate the value that creative industries can contribute to communities. Show our leaders that now is the time for meaningful investment in the future of our creative workers and organizations.

Please fill out both surveys if both apply!

About Us

We're also grateful to the following aligned and allied organizations alongside whom we work and continue to develop these ideas: the THE ART OF CREATIVE RESILIENCE is a concept coined by Majestic Collaborations, who also created this website. Our organization provides leadership expertise in arts resilience work, grant administration, and training that prioritizes sustainability, safety, community engagement, and accessibility. Our work has been highlighted in international publications to model creativity and the role of creatives in all phases of resilience. We are viewed as a leader in the national arts preparedness community, including through our experiential learning program The Art of Mass Gatherings. In collaboration with Performing Arts Readiness, we have developed various curricula presented in onsite workshops and online webinars about festival safety, event modifications and virtualizations, and related topics. Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) is a nationally recognized and respected non-profit initiative with experience managing and distributing grants to performing arts organizations to help them learn how to protect their assets, sustain operations, and be prepared for emergencies. PAR's work brings together knowledge of the performing arts and expertise in both emergency preparedness and cultural heritage to conduct community outreach and engagement and to develop informational resources for arts organizations.

National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER), the Event Safety Alliance, the Arts & Cultural Network for Emergency Preparedness, Warm Cookies of the Revolution, and many others.

Why arts & event workers

Artists have long leapt into the role of first responders for their communities in times of crisis. Here's why we believe in creating mechanisms for them to support broader community resilience initiatives through THE ART OF CREATIVE RESILIENCE.

1. They already possess skills, resources, and communications networks useful for intersectional work in community emergency response and resilience.

2. Emergency response agencies like FEMA already value arts and cultural workers as natural partners for equitable community-driven emergency response. See the FEMA "National Disaster Recovery Framework" or "Guide to Expanding Mitigation: Making the Connection with Arts & Culture" for more.

3. Performing arts events and live entertainment shape culture. Events build community and catalyze social transformation, making them important vectors for societal change.

4. Current practices often position arts and event professionals among the most economically vulnerable to disruption. Alternative revenue streams for this major workforce would permit them to continue to practice and increase their event production skills and expand their professional network, even in times of closure.

5. They're ready and willing to contribute to recovery and relief efforts. 83% of creative workers nationally say they are ready today to put their creative practice to use as part of pandemic recovery and 60% would like to support national recovery even by doing non-creative work, according to a survey by Americans for the Arts.

Are you one of them?

Help advocate for the creation of opportunities that leverage the value our creative industries can contribute to entire communities by filling out the survey that best matches your role:

The artwork pictured above was created by Denver-based artist Dion Harris for Majestic Collaborations and depicts the dual roles as event producers on "sunny days" and community responders in times of emergency proposed by the Art of Creative Resilience concept.

Envisioning a creative resilience ecosystem

What would a future look like where arts, culture, and event workers were active leaders in their community's resilience and emergency response work? Imagine if triage centers, pop-up community classrooms, shelter facilities, and safe outdoor service sites were designed with the same attentive care to design, crowd flow, emotional support, and resourceful adaptation that our arts and event workers bring daily to their jobs in the arts and entertainment.

Performing arts and live entertainment events are already catalysts for social transformation and community-building. What would events look like with this level of equity, accessibility, and sustainability conscientiously placed at the center? What would our cities and towns then become, with these values built into the heart of each audience experience?

This is part of the future that we envision. It is a future that creates stable and flexible alternative revenue streams for arts and event workers and small businesses, reducing the economic vulnerability of existing industry professionals and increasing the breadth and diversity of people for whom professional involvement in the arts becomes a feasible career consideration. It also strengthens capacity for equitable and community-driven disaster mitigation and response efforts.

What would we need to bring this vision to life? We've identified a few key areas where investment is needed to build a robust creative resilience ecosystem:

Training and certification programs for industry professionals, youth, and workers in other industries to gain event production and/or intersectional emergency preparedness skills.

Flexible job opportunities for arts and events workers to use their creative resilience skills to improve the safety, accessibility, sustainability, and equity of community services. In addition to supporting existing arts and events workers, the creation of stable alternative revenue streams in the industry also increases the breadth and diversity of the populations for whom professional involvement in the arts becomes a feasible career consideration, a critical element when it comes to expanding equitable participation within the arts.

Funding and training for infrastructure development for venues, festivals, arts organizations, and small businesses to enhance the safety, accessibility, and sustainability of their sites and programming and equip them for multi-functional use as community resilience hubs.

New evaluation metrics, surveys, and reports that center creative resilience as a community value, thus ensuring ongoing efforts to prioritize this work

If you're an arts or event professional, help lay the groundwork for this future by telling us what kinds of opportunities would benefit your practice in our 5-minute survey. Fill out the survey that best matches your role (you can fill out both if both apply):

These recommendations are based on our organizations' past experience producing experiential training for event workers and facilitating the development of arts-based emergency networks, including the Arts & Cultural Network for Emergency Preparedness in collaboration with Denver Arts & Venues and Colorado Creative Industries, as well as from the existing work of other allied organizations. Learn more about existing and proposed programs that advance the Art of Creative Resilience.

The art of creative resilience today

Our vision for a future where our communities are transformatively shaped by THE ART OF CREATIVE RESILIENCE is rooted in the seeds of existing practices. Here are a few of the current and proposed programs aligned at the intersections of arts and event production and emergency preparedness and response:

"The Cultural Placekeeping Guide" produced by CERF+ and South Arts for the National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER) guides arts organizations through the process of creating an emergency action network

The Arts & Cultural Network for Emergency Preparedness (ACNEP) is a regional network "to prepare people to produce extraordinary events by embracing the full complexity of a gathering." It is an initiative of Denver Arts & Venues and Colorado Creative Industries made possible thanks to a grant from Performing Arts Readiness and the support of Majestic Collaborations as circuit rider.

The Crisis Analysis & Mitigation coach training program by the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER) and the Air Institute is a remote learning program to train arts administrators in disaster mitigation and planning

Art-Train is a 3-hour workshop and technical assistance program from Springboard for the Arts to support artists and arts organizations in accessing ARPA funds to recover, rebuild, and reimagine more equitable systems.

The Art of Mass Gatherings is an experiential learning program by Majestic Collaborations that uses festivals as classrooms for arts and events workers to learn skills intersectional to event and emergency response

The Music Cities project by Sound Diplomacy conducts tailored evaluations and analysis of music and night-time economies to help cities better leverage their music economies to create more inclusive, prosperous music communities

The Event Safety Alliance regularly provides training, programming, and networking events related to the intersections of event preparedness and emergency response

The City of Vancouver, Canada has been doing great work in creative and integrative resilience planning, including hosting a Creative Lab in June 2019 to share new knowledge and approaches to disaster resilience through the arts ( view the video documentation)

The Urban Sustainability Directors Network's Resilience Hub initiative is one of a handful of grassroots organizations across the nation working to equip sites in a diversity of communities to become resilience hubs through infrastructure design and informal leadership training.

A number of cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and New York, have developed community resilience corps that activate residents to provide needed community services

We have also proposed our own program to various local and state governments in service of this vision. Are you working on an aligned project that isn't on this list? Learn more here or contact us if you'd like to bring this program to your region.
Let us know! You can also sign up for updates about the Art of Creative Resilience.

Thank You

We're excited to meet you! We're a small team but you can expect a reply within 1-3 days. You can also give our co-founder Matt Kowal a call at (303) 257-4747 for anything urgent!

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THE ART OF CREATIVE RESILIENCE is the conviction that artists and event professionals have the ability to be leaders and responders for their entire communities in times of crisis when suitably prepared.

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Produced by CERF+ and South Arts for the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER) to guide arts organizations through the process of creating an emergency action network

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Free online trainings to increase the capacity of event producers and arts leaders to keep people safe and prepare for and respond to emergencies.

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Greetings. The Performing Arts Readiness project offers free webinars, on-site training, and presentations at professional conferences on various topics related to emergency preparedness:

Fire and Emergency Protection Plan Development
Date & Time:May 20, 2021 at 2:00pm ETFree
Description:Participants in this webinar will be presented with the components of a Protection Plan and the process to follow for the development of a plan following guidelines provided by the National Fire Protection Association's Code for Protection of Cultural Resource Properties. Grounded in a vulnerability assessment, the planning process covers fire safety, security, construction considerations, prevention, special events, and recovery strategies. At the completion of this webinar, participants will have the tools needed to begin developing a comprehensive Protection Plan that is compliant with industry safety standards and best practices. In conjunction with emergency management plans, this Plan is a significant step towards a resilient organization.
Instructor:Chris Soliz
Registration Link:https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=2A3D4006-CB9E-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721

Health and Safety in the Performing Arts
Date & Time: May 25, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: Safety in the theater extends to crews, casts, and audience members as well as the venue. This includes performance and rehearsal spaces, shops, and other work spaces. It requires awareness, common sense, and perseverance to eliminate hazards and guard against carelessness. The goal of this free webinar is to ensure that a safe, healthy environment is maintained at all times. This includes the control and minimization of all known and potential hazards associated within creative, artistic, and performance development. These risks can be minimized and controlled through proper training, equipment, and use of appropriate precautions, restrictions, and established safe-work practices.
Instructor: Ellen Korpar
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=811159A8-9F91-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the February 9, 2021 session of this webinar is availablehere.

The Art of Mass Gatherings: Managing Modifications, Virtualizations, and Expectations
Date & Time: May 26, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Description: The performing arts sector is encountering an unprecedented challenge for hosting in-person events safely during this global pandemic, climate crises, and recession. Fortunately, these calamities offer the opportunity for artists and presenters to employ their creativity and ingenuity to develop new types of shared experiences. These free PAR webinar sessions will begin with a framework to help guide decision makers to either modify or virtualize their gatherings using case studies from Denver's 5 Points Jazz Festival (May 2020) and Alabama's Women in Jazz Festival (September 2020). Webinars will explore the experiences and hard-won wisdom related to re-opening venues, making audiences feel safe, and exploring new operational protocols for venues and artists.
Instructor: Molly North and Matthew Che Kowal
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=E9B622CB-3D92-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the September 22, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

Protecting Your Assets: Managing Legacy Materials for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: June 2, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: Is your organization's history in a basement, under water pipes, or next to the furnace and unorganized? Performing Arts Organizations often keep a variety of legacy materials, including business records, programs from performances, posters, props, and other artifacts. Using a series of case studies, this class will examine how to collect and organize both physical and digital arts-related materials so you can access these materials for future use. The class will give practical guidance that can be applied in any setting. By the end of the class, participants will be able to:
- Know the difference between records, collections, and series
- Decide when documents/collections are important, and when they are not
- Determine if and when collections should be treated as archival material
- Identify best practices for providing access to archival collections
- Understand archival language / vocabulary
- Identify model workflows for providing access to archival collections in non-archival settings
Instructor: Leigh Grinstead
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=9D0E76B9-A191-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the March 9, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

Networking for Disaster Management in the Performing Arts
Date & Time:June 3, 2021 at 1:00pm ETFree
Description:Emergency response and preparedness for performing arts organizations can be a difficult task for individual organizations. This free 2 hour webinar will demonstrate how working with multiple organizations in a network for disaster management can be accomplished. The history of networking for improved emergency preparedness in the cultural heritage, arts, and government sectors will be examined, with an exploration of existing networks. Case studies of the Pennsylvania Cultural Resilience Network and CultureAID in New York City will be presented to help guide you on how to start your own, or join an existing, cooperative disaster network. You will learn how to use the Cultural Placekeeping Guide to direct your networking efforts.
Instructors:Tom Clareson and Amy Schwartzman
Registration Link:https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=296DC788-0E93-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the December 10, 2020 session of this webinar ishere.

Crisis Communication and Reputation Management for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: June 11, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: You serve on the staff of a local performing arts organization. A press release was tweeted from a local environmental group stating that your theatre's plumbing system is leaching untreated waste into the community's waterway. While the press release is inaccurate, season ticket holders and donors are demanding answers. And, the organization's Twitter handle is blowing up. You have an interview with the editor of the state newspaper in five minutes. What do you say? What do you do?
As professionals rise through the ranks, they will face issues that thrust them into the spotlight and threaten organizational reputation. A recent study found that 9 in 10 business leaders (94%) admit that the executives in their organizations need more training in core communication disciplines, such as reputation management and strategic communication. Are you prepared? This class reviews elements of strategic communication that are essential before, during and after crisis events. It examines how your organization can best prepare to respond to crisis and restore organizational reputation.
Instructor: Kathleen Donohue Rennie
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=9B75E7B8-9490-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the November 11, 2020 session of this webinar is here.

Introduction to Festival Safety: The Art of Mass Gatherings Approach
Date & Time: June 15, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: Embracing a whole community approach to safety and preparedness means helping event producers master the art of mass gatherings. Gatherings like festivals, concerts and other special events are simultaneously powerful and vulnerable. They can be joyful, life-giving experiences, but they can also be a forum for disaster. They can elevate a community's sense of pride and identity, yet they can be a source of enormous waste and missed opportunities.
Topics covered:
- COVID-19 modifications
- Life safety, health and public welfare
- Legal concerns and emergency plans
- Weather emergencies
- Enhancing accessibility
- Mental and physical health first aid
- Crowd management
- Waste, water, and power systems
- Harm reduction, gender safety and trauma-informed practices
- Maximizing community engagement
Instructor: Matthew Che Kowal
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=F4D65965-3E92-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the March 15, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

Audience Re-engagement: Performing Arts Post-Pandemic
Date & Time: June 21, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: This webinar will address the need for Performing Arts organizations to acknowledge the Covid-related anxieties of returning audiences. Organizations that present live lectures, concerts, dance, and theater have found ways forward during the pandemic to minimize risk to their performers, presenters, and in-house staff. Now is the time to welcome back cautious audiences and demonstrate the steps taken to make their safety and comfort a top priority. The class will walk participants through an integrated marketing strategy with this one overarching goal in mind, talk through a variety of tactical options, and give concrete examples of how organizations can work together to give common voice to this overriding concern.
Instructor: Nancy Donner
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=F46F0ADC-54A8-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721

Safety and Security for Performing Arts
Date & Time: June 22, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: With the ever-changing nature of events, are you prepared for the unexpected? With audiences and Local Government agencies expecting more from you as an organizer, do you have plans in place to not only try and prevent, but also respond should any incident happen? Safety and Security are more important now than ever and more questions will be asked of you and what plans you have in place. This class will help event organizers and venues establish the key elements for prevention and responding to incidents of any shape or size. It will provide a background of what happens when things don't go as planned, and show that it doesn't matter what size or type of event you have, the basic principles are the same. We will look at what you would do in certain scenarios, and how even small adjustments to your venue can keep your event safer.
Instructor: Emma Stuart
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=3028842C-9590-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the March 11, 2021 session of this webinar is here.

Fire Safety and Preparedness for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time:June 25, 2021 at 2:00pm ETFree Description:Fire Safety is an essential element in the day to day preparedness of any organization, especially in the unique environment of the performing arts. In addition to sound emergency management principles, the application of National Fire Protection Association Standards (NFPA) will ensure that a comprehensive protection plan is developed in cooperation with appropriate emergency response partners. This free webinar will provide fire safety considerations and introduce best practices from the fire protection industry, which offers a road map to achieve fire safety benchmarks. Participants will learn how the Life Safety Code and the Code for Protection of Cultural Resource Properties can help you protect your patrons, staff, and facility.
Instructor:Chris Soliz
Registration Link:https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=E1F23F31-BD9B-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the December 9, 2020 session of this webinar ishere.

Road to Recovery - Performing Arts in the Post-Covid-19 World
Date & Time: June 28, 2021 at 2:00 ET
Price: Free
Description: The third webinar in a series of classes discussing the impact of Covid-19 on the Performing Arts. This webinar will focus on reopening planning in 2021/22. It discusses the steps required to prepare and new developments for reopening, as well as case studies on venues which have managed their own reopening. The webinar will also discuss the "new normal" in a post-Covid-19 world, and the impact to future events and gatherings.
This updated session is part of a continuing series of webinars on the topic. Attendance of the previous webinars is not necessary to take part in this session.
Instructor: Emma Stuart
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=84F58A10-B2A2-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the April 7, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

Introduction to Emergency Preparedness for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: June 29, 2021 at 2:00pm ET
Price: Free
Description: Localized emergencies, regional disasters, and catastrophic events can have a devastating impact on performing arts organizations where even a brief loss of business can threaten sustainability. This free 90 minute webinar will provide an introduction to why emergency preparedness is critical to protect your organization from external risks and internal vulnerabilities. These include human caused and natural crises. You will learn the typical process and contents of a plan, and receive information about resources to help with planning.
This webinar is appropriate for attendees representing large and small performing arts organizations as well as those with and without their own performance facilities. Executive and management staff will find this webinar useful, as well as H.R., finance, communications, marketing, technical, and front-of-house staff.
Instructor: Steve Eberhardt
Registration Link: https://www.lyrasis.org/Content/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?Eid=636E7922-4D92-EB11-80EF-00155D0A2721
A recording of the December 8, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

The Art of Modified Gatherings: Optimizing Online Events
Date & Time: TBD
Description: The performing arts sector is encountering an unprecedented challenge for hosting in-person events safely during this global pandemic, countless wildfires, and a struggling economy. Fortunately, this presents an opportunity for artists to employ their creativity and ingenuity to develop new types of shared experiences. This webinar will begin with a framework to help guide decision makers to either modify or virtualize their gatherings using case studies from Denver's 5 Points Jazz Festival (May 2020) and Alabama's Women in Jazz Festival (September 2020).
On December 16, we will have two special guests, Owen Trujillo and Enrique Jimenez, share their expertise on digital marketing, choosing and implementing the best technology for your event, and modifying performance protocols. This webinar will be most helpful for performing arts and cultural organizations looking to enhance curation, accessibility, and partnerships.
Instructors:Molly North and Matthew Che Kowal
Registration Link:coming soon
A recording of the December 16, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

Business Continuity for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description: Does your organization have a Business Continuity Plan? What is missing from your plan? This free webinar will equip your organization to take stock of your Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery plan to make sure that it is complete, usable, and audit-ready. Learn how to streamline the process of developing a plan so that a disaster does not become a complex recovery.
This presentation will:
- Review the fundamental and advanced components of a comprehensive plan
- Help you understand the BC program life cycle and how your plan fits into it
- Review best practices on BC plan maintenance and revision history
- Give you insight on managing enterprise wide BC plans
- Define core reports to help strengthen your BC plan
Instructor: Ellen Korpar
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the November 4, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

Community Recovery Through Arts and Culture
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description: Arts and culture-through the artists and arts and cultural organizations that bring them to communities -- have a vital role to play in recovery from disasters. Whether joining people through music, dance, theater or other experiences; providing moments of respite, joy and humor; allowing people to tell their personal stories of the disaster through visual, verbal or other means; or even just providing a place to congregate, gather information or grab a cup of coffee, arts and culture and the organizations that produce them enable us to move from victimhood to personhood, even if only for a moment, and help us rebuild the social infrastructure of our individual and community lives.
In this webinar, we will focus on how you, as performing arts organizations, can engage in this work. We will provide background in basic disaster management principles, share work other organizations have produced, give guiding principles as well as a brief how-to, leave you with resources for further study, and answer any questions you may have. Rebuilding social infrastructure strengthens communities' abilities to move forward after disasters. Learn how to be part of the process and gain a seat at the table in your community's recovery.
Instructors: Mary Eileen Fouratt and Amy Schwartzman
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the June 10, 2019 session of this webinar is availablehere.

Disaster Response for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time:TBDFree
Description:Emergency response can be a daunting prospect for performing arts organizations. This webinar will lay out the basic tenets of responding to an emergency including support organizations, working with vendors, and helpful resources for organization and planning. There will also be a brief introduction to the Incident Command System so that performing arts centers can work more seamlessly with their local first responders.
Instructor: Donia Conn
Registration Link:coming soon
A recording of the February 16, 2021 session of this webinar ishere.

How to Revive Your Donor Relationships: 12 Tactics in 36 Minutes
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description:In the harsh reality of disruption and uncertainty, this webinar shares practical ways to connect with, inspire confidence, and re-energize your organization's donors and supporters. Your success depends on more than emotive emails and personal phone calls. This session delivers essential instruction for re-animating the core purposefulness essential to sustaining donor engagement. (Plenty of additional time for Q&A.)
Topics include:
Recovery vs. Reinvention
Learning is Leading
Your New Relevance
What Donors Need Right Now
What's Changed? What Must Stay the Same?
Rituals that Instill Confidence
Saying a Meaningful "Thank You"
How to Plan Your Next 90-Days
What attendees say:
"A source of clarity and motivation in the midst of uncertain times."
"...the most valuable, comprehensive, useful, thoughtful, informed webinar I have had the pleasure of participating in."
"...calm and optimistic without diminishing the current circumstances...actionable strategies to implement now!"
Instructor: Matt Lehrman
Registration Link: coming soon

Managing Stress from Home
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description: This workshop is designed to impart basic tools, tips, and aids to participants to help them navigate current mandates to shelter in place or stay home. Participants will learn tactics and best practices for communicating with others when stress is high across the board. The instructor will cover creating new routines, managing child and elder care, keeping work/life balance in harmony, and maintaining productivity and positivity for those new to working from home. The session will allow for participants to share their thought processes in a safer space, free of judgement.
Instructor: Joy Stephens
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the May 6, 2020 session of this webinar is availablehere.

Pandemic Planning for the Performing Arts
Date & Time:TBD Free
Description:This webinar focuses on both the challenges facing the event and arts industry during this difficult period and provides advice on planning for the future. The session will also provide both guidance and resources that are available to you as venues, individuals and organizations, which includes training and financial grants.
Instructor: Emma Stuart
Registration Link:coming soon
A recording of the April 21, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

Pandemic Response for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free Description: With the ongoing Covid-19 crisis still impacting Performing Arts, this webinar discusses how organizations are responding to the crisis and the information and resources that are available to venues and businesses. The webinar looks at how the industry can recover and re-open, and how to better prepare for future pandemics or disasters of this type. The webinar also looks at how other countries' Performing Arts industries are recovering and what measures are being put in place in order to bring audiences back into venues.
Instructors: Emma Stuart
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the August 4, 2020 session of this webinar is available here.

Return to Revenue
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description: With hope (cautiously) on the horizon, now is the time to kick-start your nonprofit's transactional revenue engine. Emerging from a period of unprecedented disruption, it's both your responsibility and opportunity to re-imagine your organization's operating structure. And even before your organization is able to resume full in-person operations, explore your potential to generate ticket sales, admissions, class & activity fees, memberships, and paid reservations for special events.
Instructor: Matt Lehrman
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the May 5, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

Risk Assessment for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free Description: Natural disasters, local emergencies, and other disruptive events can have devastating effects on all sizes of performing arts organizations. This webinar will focus on mitigating risks at institutions, to prevent disasters from happening and to reduce the impact of unavoidable disasters. The session will clarify the need for risk assessment as a part of an organization's disaster preparedness strategy, provide basic information on risk assessment tools and practices, and address how risk assessment can benefit performing arts organizations. The instructors will also present case studies as a part of the session, so participants can learn from actual disasters in performing arts organizations.
Instructor: Annie Peterson
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the January 21, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

Understanding Cybersecurity for Performing Arts Organizations
Date & Time: TBD
Price: Free
Description: Performing Arts Organizations are at risk of losing funding, audiences, and information due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities. We all know we should use good passwords, keep software updated, and follow other basic precautions online; however, understanding the reasons behind these rules is critical to help us convince ourselves and others that the extra work is indeed worth it. This session will cover securing your data, network, website, and computers. It will address security myths, passwords, tracking, malware, and will cover a range of tools and techniques, making this session ideal for small to mid-sized organizations.
This class will answer the questions: Who are the bad guys? What tools are they using? What are they after? Where are they working? How are they doing it? Why are we all targets? How can Performing Arts Organizations protect themselves?
Instructor: Blake Carver
Registration Link: coming soon
A recording of the April 20, 2021 session of this webinar is available here.

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Webinars Greetings. The Performing Arts Readiness project offers free webinars, on-site training, and presentations at professional conferences on various topics related to emergency preparedness: Fire and Emergency Protection Plan Development Date & Time: May 20, 2021 at 2:00pm ET Price: Free Description: Participants in this webinar will be presented with the components of a Protection [...]

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Events, podcasts, conferences, and other resources dedicated to supporting safety in all phases of event production.

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The Event Safety Alliance® (ESA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting "life safety first" throughout all phases of event production and execution. We strive to eliminate the knowledge barrier that often contributes to unsafe conditions and behaviors through the promotion and teaching of good practices and the development of training and planning resources.

"Education is life-changing. it's a tool that can't be taken away that strengthens your ability to do the job, often better than the next person.

There are those who feel they know enough, and that's ok...for them. There are others who feel that they can never know enough, who are continuously working to increase their knowledge and competence to deal with the unexpected and in doing so stay on top of the ever-changing landscape of production execution and expectations.

It's not enough to recognize that you have a duty of care, you must know how to treat it with respect."

- Jim Digby, President / Founder of Event Safety Alliance

Membership is the driving force of the Event Safety Alliance. We depend heavily on our supporters to help promote the ESA's values and to contribute their ideas and opinions in setting our priorities for the future. By joining the ESA, you'll help support the development of planning tools, educational resources and training programs designed to improve safety throughout the live event industry, and become eligible for exclusive discounts and offers that far exceed the cost of membership.

Event Safety Alliance is supported by dozens of dedicated, safety-focused organizations from across the live event industry. Find out who's taking a leading role in creating a positive safety culture for our workers and attendees.

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The Event Safety Alliance® (ESA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting "life safety first" throughout all phases of event production and execution. We strive to eliminate the knowledge barrier that often contributes to unsafe conditions and behaviors through the promotion and teaching of good practices and the development of training and planning resources.

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Led by the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, one of a handful of grassroots organizations across the nation working to equip sites in a diversity of communities to become resilience hubs through infrastructure design and informal leadership training.

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Resilience Hubs are community-serving facilities augmented to support residents, coordinate communication, distribute resources, and reduce carbon pollution while enhancing quality of life. Hubs provide an opportunity to effectively work at the nexus of community resilience, emergency management, climate change mitigation, and social equity while providing opportunities for communities to become more self-determining, socially connected, and successful before, during, and after disruptions.
WHY?

Climate change is happening now. Due to a history of marginalization and disinvestment, people of color, immigrants, refugees, and lower-income populations experience increased exposure and sensitivity to climate hazards and a reduced capacity to adapt. Resilience Hubs are intended shift power to neighborhoods and residents, provide opportunities to address root causes of disproportionate exposure and sensitivity to climate impacts, and enhance communities' capacity to adapt.
HOW?

Resilience Hubs are flexible both in their application and design. Sites are as diverse as the communities they serve. Hubs typically require enhancements and upgrades that improve their capacity to provide service in all three operating conditions (everyday, disruption, and recovery). Upgrades can range in complexity and cost. This website and the USDN Guide to Developing Resilience Hubs provide guidance for developing a Resilience Hub in your community.

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Resilience Hubs are community-serving facilities augmented to support residents, coordinate communication, distribute resources, and reduce carbon pollution while enhancing quality of life. Hubs provide an opportunity to effectively work at the nexus of community resilience, emergency management, climate change mitigation, and social equity while providing opportunities for communities to become more self-determining, socially connected, and successful before, during, and after disruptions.

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A workshop and technical assistance program from Springboard for the Arts to support artists and arts organizations in accessing ARPA funds to recover, rebuild, and reimagine more equitable systems.

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Art-Train, housed at Springboard for the Arts, is a partnership with Center for Performance and Civic Practice. It is a virtual technical assistance program for artists, municipal agencies, community non-profits, and arts councils in communities of all sizes across the nation.

Art-Train will equip you with tools to design and support cross-sector, equity-centered, locally-rooted and culture-based collaborations in communities of all sizes. Art-Train brings together both sides of the creative equation with two parallel tracks:

- Artist Track: artists get ready to work in collaboration with agencies, non-profits, and arts councils on critical community issues.

- Agency track: government agencies, non-profits, and arts councils get ready to work with local artists to support creative workforce development, economic growth, and authentically address community needs and concerns such as public health, housing and civic engagement.

Participants attend an initial synchronous virtual training session, and then receive ongoing technical assistance through optional bi-weekly group coaching rooms with Art-Train staff, experts and an expanding network of peers.

Artists are creative people from all disciplines and experiences, from culture bearers and craft artists to classically trained, from those who receive huge commissions and whose work is collected by museums, to those who sing in community choir, weave stories, or carve spoons. Artists are a natural resource and an asset - they are in every place, on every block, in every apartment building, and every rural community.

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NATIONAL TRAINING and TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY? Significant relief and recovery dollars are now available in every state and locality across the country. The American Rescue Plan resources are unusually flexible, and funding from the proposed American Jobs Plan is expected to be significant as well.

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An experiential learning program by Majestic Collaborations that uses festivals as classrooms for arts and events workers to learn skills intersectional to event and emergency response.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matthew Kowal & Majestic Collaborations

Phone: 303-351-2172

Email: Matthew@MajesticCollaborations.com

FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR PERFORMING ARTS' EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,

7 COMMUNITIES IN THE U.S. WILL BE SELECTED
The Art of Mass Gatherings for Performing Arts
[April 14, 2020] - Majestic Collaborations and Performing Arts Readiness announce an application process for communities to request disaster resilience support and planning. Seven performing arts festivals will be selected to host a day-long symposium, free of charge for up to 50 attendees.

Gatherings like festivals, concerts, and other special events are simultaneously powerful and vulnerable. Embracing a whole community approach to safety and preparedness means helping event producers master the art of mass gatherings. The symposia feature indoor panels, presentations, and learning tours through the hosting festival led by recognized experts. PAR and MC staff work directly with local agencies, businesses, and organizations to co-develop a symposium that is intended to be locally relevant while attracting thinkers and doers who may travel in from other locales.

"Most of us are utilizing some kind of art to help us cope during this strange time of isolation. We are reading more, listening to lots of music and podcasts, and watching movies and tv shows. Unfortunately, many of those artists who are helping us cope are experiencing some of the greatest aches in our communities right now. Because it is hard to make a livable wage as an artist in the U.S., many artists have second and third jobs, many of which are also considered non-essential. The Art of Mass Gatherings was developed over the course of the last year to prepare artists to be part of emergency response in our communities so they can be in positions of leadership and continue to earn a living, even and especially when a community is experiencing a disaster." -Matthew Kowal, President, Majestic Collaborations

Apply now to enhance your local community resilience while supporting artists and other, more traditional emergency responders, to connect and create systems for response.

Learn more here: www.theartofmassgatherings.com
Apply here: www.performingartsreadiness.org/art-of-mass-gatherings

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Majestic Collaborations works with arts organizations, creatives, and agencies to develop emergency action, business continuity, and disaster response plans. They provide training, consulting, advising, and guidance for staff, Boards, and volunteers. Utilizing surveys, assessments, and expert partners, they help identify and contextualize the risks and needs of performing arts and cultural entities. These partnerships and collaborations are the basis upon which they have created initiatives such as The Art of Mass Gatherings. They are working diligently to collaboratively refine industry best practices while building diverse networks to better address climate and health crises. Denver Arts & Venues has been a host and collaborator throughout this project.

The Performing Arts Readiness project helps performing arts organizations learn how to protect their assets, sustain operations, and be prepared for emergencies. The Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project was formed in the recognition that performing arts organizations can be especially vulnerable to disasters and emergencies of all kinds, resulting in destabilizing or catastrophic loss of income and assets. As important community centers, places of business, and cultural anchors, the PAR project seeks to empower these organizations in a variety of ways, including community engagement, grants, webinars, planning tools and expert mentoring.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Matthew Kowal & Majestic Collaborations Phone: 303-351-2172 Email: Matthew@MajesticCollaborations.com The Art of Mass Gatherings for Performing Arts [April 14, 2020] - Majestic Collaborations and Performing Arts Readiness announce an application process for communities to request disaster resilience support and planning.

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National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness and Emergency Response

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National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness and Emergency Response

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Resources to build resiliency in the arts sector.

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Home | National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness & Emergency Response

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Sensory friendly events guidebook from the Kennedy Center

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Sensory friendly events guidebook from the Kennedy Center

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Accessibility resource list from the Kennedy Center LEAD program

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Accessibility resource list from the Kennedy Center LEAD program

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Tipsheets, videos, and other resources from the Kennedy Center's Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) program.

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Accessibility resources for arts organizations

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Accessibility resources for arts organizations

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Workbooks, sample access plans, and a variety of other resources to assist with organizational planning for accessibility compiled by the Metro Regional Arts Council.

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Below are some online resources MRAC staff have compiled to assist MRAC-eligible groups in becoming more accessible to participants of all abilities. Resources are grouped according to topics, and in general we have tried to find resources specific to small arts organizations.

In addition to these online resources, MRAC offers one-on-one assistance from MRAC's Accessibility Program Director to answer questions about accessibility planning, access services, and more. Connect with Scott at scott@mrac.org or 651-523-6384 to start a conversation and see how we can help.

Accessibility Resources Created by MRAC

The following are resources created by MRAC to assist with organizational planning for accessibility. They are listed from newest to oldest.

DIY ADA Access Planning Workbook

The DIY ADA Access Planning Workbook is designed for arts groups of any size, and works best with organizations that have with sustained activity and leaders working on a regular basis, but would still be useful for one-off projects wishing to consider accessibility as part of their early planning.

Checklists & Resources

ADA Access Plans - samples from Twin Cities arts organizations

An ADA Access Plan (or simply "ADA Plan") describes an organization's plan to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that people with disabilities can fully participate in and enjoy the activities of the organization.

At MRAC, we believe an ADA Access Plan should:

Document the current access strategies of the organization (such as hosting activities in physically accessible locations and providing ASL interpretation upon request); and

Articulate the known accessibility barriers people with disabilities may encounter when attempting to access the organization's facilities, programs, and services; and

Indicate a thoughtful plan (activities and timeline) to remove barriers to equal access, whether in the short-term or long-term.

At MRAC, we believe an ADA Access Plan is not:

Solely a nondiscrimination or accessibility policy.

Simply a list of current access strategies without plans to address additional barriers.

An ADA Access Plan will always be specific to a group and its needs, and may take many forms. A strong plan should be scaled appropriately to the organization's size, population served, and experience with addressing accessibility. Above all else, it should be a useful roadmap to take action. The organizations listed below have agreed to make their ADA Access Plans available as examples of plans. Please note some of these are first-time efforts and all are constantly evolving, so consider these a snapshot of accessibility planning.

Additional Resources

These resources are ones we've found useful in our work at MRAC. We've tended toward providing resources that are tactical (you can take action on them right away), and have generally preferred non-commercial websites. Another excellent compilation of resources is available from the Minnesota Access Alliance on their MNAA Resources page. Please Contact Us if you have other resources to share or if you find a broken link.

General Introduction & Guidance

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) - A resource focused on employment but full of helpful information to understand specific strategies to provide accommodations for all kinds of disabilities.

Accessibility Assessments

Audio Description

Audio Description in a Couple Minutes (Rooted in Rights) - Quick video introduction to audio description (sometimes also called verbal description). Captions and transcript available.

Image Description Resources (National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH [NCAM]) - A comprehensive resource with guidance on how to describe images, including complex images like graphs. This resource is largely focused on education, but is applicable to all fields where image descriptions are used.

Captioning

Caption in a Couple Minutes (Rooted in Rights) - Quick video introduction to captioning (sometimes also referred to as CART services). Captions and transcript available.

Captioning/CART in the Performing Arts (Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning) - An introduction to captioning (how is it different from subtitles? what is closed vs open captioning?), and resources for companies offering technology solutions.

Disability Awareness

Language of Disability

Meetings & Events

Organizations with Additional Resources

ADA Minnesota - ADA Minnesota is a resource providing Minnesota citizens with disabilities, businesses, communities, government, universities and colleges assistance in implementing the ADA. It is the local chapter of the ADA National Network.
Great Lakes ADA Center - The Center provides information, materials, technical assistance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). ADA Minnesota is the local affiliate for this umbrella organization.

Simon Technology Center (PACER Center) - The Simon Technology Center is dedicated to making the benefits of technology more accessible to children and adults with disabilities. Individualize training and workshops on adaptive technology, a lending library, and online learning resources.

Promoting to Disability Audiences

Disability Access Symbols - The Graphic Artists Guild provides a free package of downloadable logos to use in publicizing your activities to people with disabilities. Their page also explains what the symbols stand for and when it is appropriate to use each one.

Sensory Friendly Programming

Social Media

Ticketing & Seating

Virtual Participation

General Guides

7 Ways to Make Your Virtual Programs More Accessible to Patrons with Disabilities (Programming Librarian, American Library Association) - Quick guide to ways you can make your events more accessible, most of which are free.

Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities (National Endowment for the Arts) - Introductory guidance on accessibility considerations and links to resources for virtual activities. Primarily in list format.

How to Make Your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible to the Disability Community (Alaina Leary, Rooted in Rights) - Clear tactic-focused guidance on virtual accessibility for before, during, and after your event, with links to other excellent resources to dive deeper.

When Non-Disabled People Get Accommodations, Who Benefits? Things to think about as we work remotely (Carrie Basas and Erin Okuno, Fakequity) - Blog post describing accessibility considerations for remote working, including mental health and . Primarily in narrative format.

How to Produce a Livestreamed Event (Vijay Mathew, Howlround) - Detailed guidance on the technical aspects of livestreaming an event, including captioning, for someone with access to Zoom Pro and livestream.com accounts.

Accessibility Tips for a Better Zoom/Virtual Meeting Experience (Christian Vogler [Director, Technology Access Program, Gallaudet University], Deaf/Hard of Hearing Technology Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center) - Detailed guidance on conducting online meetings to accommodation people who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

Webinars

Leading Accessible Virtual Programs (Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium) - A 90-minute webinar with strategies for making virtual events, meetings, and other activities accessible to people with disabilities.

Connecting Everyone: Creating Accessible Virtual Arts Programs (Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium)- A webinar created by the Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium and hosted by Rooted in Rights. It features a slide presentation from Founder, Elizabeth Ralston on getting started with virtual accessibility and a moderated discussion by Kathy Hsieh of the Office of Arts and Culture with actors Mickey Rowe and Helen Marion.

Tools

Zoom Live Transcription - Information about captioning in Zoom. As February 2021, Zoom says it plans to release automated captioning (which it calls Live Transcription) to all users, and is available by request until then.
Rev Live Captions - Monthly paid Zoom app that automatically captions your Zoom meetings to make remote education and work more effective. Please note this does not work for Zoom's webinar version.

How to Participate in the 5-13-20 Workshop (Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium) - A two-page document with tips on how to participate in the "Connecting Everyone" webinar listed above. These kinds of tip sheets are great to include in materials going out to participants ahead of time.

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Accessibility Resources for Arts Organizations

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Below are some online resources MRAC staff have compiled to assist MRAC-eligible groups in becoming more accessible to participants of all abilities. Resources are grouped according to topics, and in general we have tried to find resources specific to small arts organizations.