Driving New Agendas
The 2002 NASAA Annual Meeting

October 17-20, 2002
Detroit, Michigan

Hosted by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

Friday, October 18
2:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Building Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism
Cleary International Centre -- Canadian Club Room A

How can the arts and humanities contribute to a healthy community's bottom line by inspiring visitors and residents to act as stewards of their cultural, historical and natural resources? Explore the answer to this question and discuss rural development, environmental impact and sustainable tourism, and how to define a community's unique sense of place. Learn from models that include Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour, Maine's Discovery Research process and the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program's partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Other presenters will include representatives from the Scenic Byways program and Canada.

Presenters: Jon Jarvis, superintendent, Mt. Rainier National Park; Suzanne Olson, chair, Maine Arts Commission; Nancy Mathews, Michigan Humanities Council and coordinator, Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour

Policy Partners
Cleary International Centre -- Canadian Club Room B

How can you build unified efforts to advance cultural policy in your state? What partners and advocacy tools do you need to increase resources for culture? Explore answers to these questions addressed in the recent Policy Partners study (funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and advised by a multidisciplinary team led by NASAA and other national partners). After brief reviews of Maine's New Century Community Program, the Oregon Trust for Cultural Development, Imagining Michigan and New England's Creative Economy Initiative, exchange ideas about how strategic partnerships can help empower advocacy and leverage resources in your state. Session collaborators are RMC Research and the Center for Arts and Culture.

Presenters: Christine D'Arcy, executive director, Oregon Arts Commission; Sam Miller, executive director, New England Foundation for the Arts; Kristin Hass, associate director, Imagining America; Erik Jorgensen, coordinator, New Century Community Program and assistant director, Maine Humanities Council

Moderator: M. Christine Dwyer, chair, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and senior vice president, RMC Research Corporation

Going International
Cleary International Centre -- Dieppe Room

How can an agency afford to think globally when times are tight? How can an agency afford not to think globally? From institutional partnerships to individual exchanges, discuss what strategies have the greatest impact for the least amount of staff and financial resources. Learn how thorough research can inform decision making, and share ideas for building cultural participation, particularly among immigrant communities, and how to make the connection with mission and values.

Presenters: Mickey Smith, consultant; Rebecca Lawrence, executive director, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts; Jami Goldstein, communications manager, Ohio Arts Council

Moderator: Pennie Ojeda, international coordinator, National Endowment for the Arts

Facilitating Community Partnerships
Cleary International Centre -- Internationals

One goal of state arts agencies is to strengthen communities, and strategies often revolve around partnerships. Some initiatives may fund or facilitate local- or regional-level partnerships, while others leverage state agencies to effect local change. Learn about initiatives focused on economic development and arts education; explore mechanisms such as decentralization and a three-year, statewide assessment of community cultural and artistic resources; and discuss the nuts and bolts of the programs' successes and challenges.

Presenters: Mary Kelley, executive director, Massachusetts Cultural Council; Dorothy Ilgen, executive director, Indiana Arts Commission; Christy Farnbauch, community development director, Ohio Arts Council; Amy Duggins Pender, arts education director, New York State Council on the Arts

Moderator: Morrie Warshawski, arts consultant/writer

Saturday, October 19
10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Design Education: Building the Future
Marriott -- Marquette A & B, Level 5

Build a city and learn how they are planned or unplanned, what makes a quality city, and how residents can participate in the improvement of the built environment. Box City is an award-winning program of CUBE, the Center for Understanding the Built Environment, which specializes in community-based education, bringing together educators, kids and community partners to effect change. Discuss other exciting educational programs created by the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and Design Exchange, a Toronto-based, national design promotion center, and learn the results of a new Lou Harris public opinion poll of children about the design process, commissioned by the AAF.

Presenters: Melissa Houghton, vice president, American Architectural Foundation; Glen LeRoy, FAIA, Gould, Evans, Goodman Associates; Anne Kaye, public programs coordinator, Design Exchange

The Art of Designing Communities
Marriott -- Nicolet A & B, Level 5

Whether rural, urban or suburban, the appearance and spirit of where we live and work matter. Though our built environment is important, effecting change requires community awareness of good design. It also requires quality programs. Discuss how state-, university- and city-based design initiatives are working with communities to affect quality of life and economic growth. Learn about replicable collaborations with Habitat for Humanity, universities, state agencies, national programs and private developers, and the role that state arts agencies can play.

Presenters: Karen H. Seale, executive director, Design Alabama; Alice Johnson, program manager, DesignWorks, Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Main Street Program; Jack Williamson, executive director, Design Michigan; Jane Perdue, public art coordinator, Urban Design, City Planning, City of Toronto (Ontario) Urban Development Services

Moderator: Alan Sandler, executive director, Architectural Foundation of San Francisco

Designing Infrastructure for the Arts
Marriott -- Brule A & B, Level 5

Cultural facilities are an integral part of the infrastructure of our communities, and state arts agencies can make sure they reflect excellence in design. Explore with arts council leaders in Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina and New York how the strategic use of funds can create better public places for both audiences and artists. Learn rationales (e.g. economic development, historic preservation, urban renewal and creative reuse) for making the case that funding design fits neatly within a state arts agency's mission.

Presenters: Linda K. Schilling, assistant director for organizational development, Missouri Arts Council; Tim Hedgepeth, executive director, Mississippi Arts Commission; Jeffrey J. York, director of public art and community design, North Carolina Arts Council

Moderator: Anne Van Ingen, director of architecture, planning and design, New York State Council on the Arts

Including You! Creating Opportunities through Universal Design and Equitable Environments
Marriott -- Cadillac A & B

Explore universal design and universal planning, and understand how they create equitable and inclusive arts environments that lead to expanded audiences and new programming. Examples will be drawn from the areas of product design, architecture and inclusive communications solutions. The building project at the Millay Colony for the Arts will be used as an exemplar of a successful universal design project undertaken by an arts organization.

Presenters: Ann-Ellen Lesser, principal, A-El Projects; Ricardo Gomez, IDSA; associate professor, Department of Design and Industry, San Francisco State University and director, Design Center for Global Needs