Schedule
Times are in Mountain Time
Subject to change. Registered attendees will have access to more details.
ON-DEMAND RECORDED SESSIONS
These are available through the app for registered attendees from March 24-May.
Arts Writing and Publishing as Creative Infrastructure
Led by Xiao deCuncha and Nyonu Branch-Watkins
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Arts writers, critics, and publishing professionals will discuss how arts writing is an essential link in the arts & culture infrastructure. Some topics to be discussed include:
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How do local arts and culture-focusing publications contribute to the development of the artistic community and connect the public with the arts?
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How do art writers and artists mutually benefit each other when it comes to professional development?
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What is the impact of the general lack of structured training for new art writers?
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What type of programs can be incorporated into public and private programming from schools, galleries, organizations, and cultural institutions to ensure a robust art criticism community, especially in the Midwest (outside of Chicago)?
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Faced with worsening funding struggles, how can independent publishers, art critics, and publications find creative ways to sustainability and lasting growth?
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How can art writing serve as leverage to propel local artists into larger markets? And vice versa, how can art writing bridge the gap and bring in new ideas into local art scenes?
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How do art writing and art/culture publications interact with activism, policymaking, and other pressing matters in civic spaces?
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Becoming a Teaching Artist
Led by Gowri Savoor and Heather Bryce, Co-directors of Teaching Artists Connect
In this fun and engaging session, participants will be introduced to the field of Teaching Artistry, and find alignments with the Artists Thrive Rubric, Planning and Capacity. We’ll explore what teaching artists do, what settings they work in, and how to generate income. We’ll define how teaching artists are different from art teachers and/or art therapists, and explore different residency settings where teaching artists can thrive. For those new to teaching artistry, we’ll introduce participants to different pathways to entering the field of teaching artistry, and offer strategies for assessment and documentation. In our final section, we’ll discuss what success looks like, and ask participants to complete a worksheet defining their unique attributes, passions, and goals, and how they can use their creativity to activate the artistry of others.
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Creating Your Own Artists’ Collective: Why, How, Where?!
Led by Alana Ladson, Freelance Artist
This presentation is about creating your own artist collective wherever you live or virtually. Alana will be speaking on her journey into creating her artist collective, The Rooted Collective, in Connecticut, and how she was able to run three cohorts of the fellowship and foster a sense of community amongst the members during that time. Here's how she did it, and here's how you can create your own!
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Creative Futures: Understanding Arts Alumni Experiences and Trajectories Through SNAAP Pulse
Led by Lee Ann Scotto Adams and Christian Folk, SNAAP
How do arts graduates build meaningful and sustainable lives in today’s creative economy? This session introduces insights from SNAAP Pulse, a new initiative of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project that explores how arts alumni define success, sustain creative work, and adapt to challenges such as AI and financial precarity. Drawing on national survey data from thousands of graduates, presenters will highlight trends in creative careers, equity, and artistic identity after graduation. Participants will learn how institutions and arts organizations can apply SNAAP findings to strengthen alumni engagement, reimagine curriculum, and advocate for creative labor. By centering alumni voices and data-driven insights, this session invites educators, funders, and arts leaders to re-envision how we support artists across their careers and to imagine creative futures grounded in connection, evidence, and care.
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Estate Planning and Readiness for Musicians and Its Possibilities
Led by Gene Meneray & Ashlye Keaton, Co-founders of The Ella Project and Elizabeth Meneray, Founding Partner of the New Orleans law firm, Meneray Family Law, L.L.C.
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The Ella Project presents Rampart: A Legacy Planning & Readiness Guide for Musicians. This is a step by step guide for musicians and/or their heirs to protect their legacy, their intellectual property, and prepare their estate. Rampart also provides guidance to heirs whose loved ones may have died without complete estate planning.
In this Guide, you’ll learn:
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How to document your work right now to develop an estate plan.
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How to work with museums and institutions if you are interested in leaving them assets.
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How to protect your digital afterlife.
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How to protect your files from loss, theft, fire, hurricane, flood or other disaster.
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What information you need to draft a will.
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What to do if someone dies without a will.
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What documents you need (living will, power of attorney) to prepare to take care of your needs when you no longer can.
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How to open a succession for a large or small estate.
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Findings from the National Survey of Artists
Led by Gwendolyn Rugg, Senior Research Scientist at National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and Jessica Feldman, Senior Research Associate at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The recent National Survey of Artists was commissioned by Mellon and conducted by NORC. This nationally representative survey provides a new perspective on the lives, work, and economic realities of artists across the United States. This was recording was shared by SNAAP who supported the project by administering the National Survey of Artists to arts graduates participating in the SNAAP Pulse project. The recording invites you to explore the findings report which shares key statistics on artists’ job holding, sources of income and benefits, health and well-being, and economic precarity. The technical report provides information on how NORC designed and fielded this innovative new survey.
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The Next Leader is You: Why Local Office Needs Your Voice
Led by Tom Tresser, 100K Project (www.100kproject.us)
Are YOU a leader? This presentation will help you realize that the answer is a loud “Hell, yes!” The presenter, Tom Tresser, has been mixing civics and the arts for over 30 years. He will demonstrate that the values, skills, and experiences that you use every day in your creative work are assets desperately needed in public life right now! The presentation will contain links to worksheets and other resources that will help you if your journey to lead in public life – including running for local office, helping someone run, and organizing for political power in order to serve and solve. Hey. It’s what we do!
11:00 am MT
Registration Open
12:00 pm MT
National Welcome Session
Kick off your Summit experience with intention and excitement! Join us for this essential opening session where we'll ground ourselves in the spirit of Artists Thrive, setting a positive and collaborative tone for the days ahead.
We'll guide you through a brief exercise to help you write a meaningful goal for your time at the Summit, ensuring you focus on what matters most to your artistic journey.
Finally, we'll equip you with everything you need to navigate the Summit Whova app like a pro! Discover all the "bells and whistles" – from session locations and networking opportunities to recorded content and helpful resources. We'll ensure you have the inside scoop to make the absolute most of your week and leave feeling energized and empowered.
Don't miss this crucial first step in your Summit adventure!
1:00 pm MT
Networking Game
2:00 pm MT
National Breakout Sessions
I am For A Nation…
For this session, Mark will invite all 6 sites to create a collective manifesto for our country: "I am for a nation…." The workshop starts with a discussion about social sculpture and the ways we shape the world through our words, thoughts, and actions. This will be the foundation for our time together. Participants will then complete their "I am for a nation…" statements at their tables. They would also share with each other at their tables, then from each location. By naming the kind of city we want, participants can begin to name next steps in their own creative practices that align with the collective manifesto. After the workshop, we will compile the statements together into a document to be shared with all participants across all 6 locations. Participants would also be invited to activate the project in their own contexts, at any time, without the need for permission. This form is a tool that can be used by anyone.
Lead Presenter: Mark Menjivar, TX
The Art of the Pivot (Strategic Change Management for Arts Leaders of the Global Majority)
We are living in an era marked by uncertainty and precarity in our sector and society in ways that are unprecedented in recent decades. One that requires us to be grounded in our center and equipped to pivot the ways we steward, manage and lead change. This workshop will provide insight into a step-by-step process developed by a table of arts leaders of the global majority across US and Canada. This resource exists to support arts leaders of color to dynamically navigate pivots and steward change (both externally imposed, and internally devised).
Lead Presenter: Phoenix Sun Park, Voice of Purpose
3:00 pm MT
Networking Game
4:00 pm MT
Lay of the Land Session
​6:00 pm MT
Group Dinner
Breakfast on your own
10:00 am MT
National Breakout Session
Breaking the Fourth Wall in Third Spaces: How Organizations Renegotiate Missions and Messages During Times of Conflict
This session explores how organizations can navigate conflicts between legacy and relevance by using transparency, empathy, and co-creation as strategic tools. Drawing on case studies from arts and design institutions that have faced public scrutiny or mission misalignment, participants will learn how to identify narrative dissonance, facilitate difficult conversations, and turn moments of conflict into opportunities for growth and trust-building. Through storytelling and an interactive mapping exercise, attendees will examine their own “third spaces”—galleries, classrooms, digital platforms, or community programs—as potential sites for collective authorship and renewal. Participants will leave with practical frameworks for renegotiating purpose, language, and action with the audiences they serve—transforming tension into creative alignment and shared cultural impact.
Led by Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar and Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar, VA
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Local Breakout Session
Enriching experiences in the studio
Come make art in this hands-on studio session led by noted Montana artist Jane Deschner.
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm MT
Art Market (Second Floor Hallway): Drop by to browse small works created by local artists. Meet the artists, be inspired, purchase a small souvenir to take home.
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12:00 pm MT
National Breakout Sessions
A Rally for Cultural Placekeeping: Building Affordable, Accessible, and Creative Communities
Across the country, creative spaces are disappearing due to market pressures, displacement, and inequitable growth. As a response, artists and cultural leaders are partnering with civic and economic organizations to redefine what equitable development looks like. This panel highlights Rally Austin, a real estate nonprofit created by the City of Austin to steward public and private assets toward community benefit through initiatives like the Austin Cultural Trust and Iconic Venue Fund. This panel will explore innovative, artist-centered approaches to real estate and cultural infrastructure, strategies for growth, and replicable models of creative placekeeping. Attendees will gain practical insight into frameworks that support equitable, creative ecosystems and learn how artists and cultural workers can be active stakeholders in shaping the cities and communities where they live and work.
Panel organized by Sara Vanderbeek, TX
Money Mindfulness: Rewriting Your Financial Story with Self-Care and Vision
This workshop invites artists and creative entrepreneurs to explore the intersection of money, mindfulness, and self-worth. Through guided reflection, group dialogue, and a hands-on table activity, participants will examine personal money narratives, identify scarcity patterns, and map a values-aligned vision for financial resilience. Rooted in contemplative practices and practical tools, the session supports shifting limiting beliefs around money. By integrating mindfulness with creative financial planning, it offers a compassionate, empowering approach to building a healthier relationship with money. Participants will reflect on money stories, clarify values, and sketch a vision for financial well-being—encouraging self-care, clarity, and action to move from financial stress to intentional, values-driven decision-making.
Led by: Rhonda Schaller, NJ and Dr. Esmilda Abreu, NJ
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1:00 pm MT
Lunch
2:00 pm MT
National Breakout Sessions
We Will Not Go Silent: Building Communities of Care Through Creative Collaboration
How do artists sustain creativity and community in the face of challenge, distance, and change? In this interactive presentation, four members of Breaking Wave Theatre Company (BWTC) - a community-rooted, artist-led organization from Guåhan (Guam) – will invite participants to explore how care, culture, and collaboration can shape thriving creative ecosystems. BWTC ensemble members will share real-world strategies for building partnerships rooted in reciprocity, shared power, and belonging. Participants will reflect on their own creative practices and communities - asking how collaboration can become a form of care, and how care itself can become an act of artistic resistance.
Led by: CJ Ochoco, Breaking Wave Theatre Company, Guam
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The Creative Revolution: AI and the Issues at Stake
Artificial intelligence is not just another digital tool for the arts. It is a structural technology — one that is quietly rewiring how creative work is made, owned, distributed, discovered, and valued. In this talk, ArtsJournal founder and Diacritical author Douglas McLennan examines how AI is beginning to scramble the cultural sector’s operating assumptions: who counts as an artist, what institutions are for, how audiences find meaning, and how creative labor is compensated. Drawing on his ongoing writing about AI and creativity — from copyright and training-data conflicts to the emergence of synthetic media ecosystems — McLennan maps the shift from a human-centered creative economy to one increasingly mediated by generative systems.
At the center of the talk is a national experiment: the Regional Arts Organizations’ AI artist-commission initiative, which asks artists to engage AI not simply as a tool but as a cultural condition. The project offers a practical lens for understanding both the opportunities and risks AI presents — new forms of collaboration and expression alongside profound questions about authorship, labor, provenance, and trust. Rather than framing AI as either salvation or threat, this talk explores it as infrastructure: a technology that will reshape how arts organizations do business, reach audiences, support artists, and define cultural value. The question is no longer whether AI will change the creative sector, but how consciously the sector will participate in shaping what comes next.
Led by: Douglas McLennan, founder and editor of ArtsJournal
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3:00 pm MT
National Networking
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3:30pm MT
Mindful Pause Activities
- Crystal Bowls Sound Bath Experience
- Printmaking Workshop with Robin Earles
- Northcutt Steele Gallery Visit
5:00 pm MT
Evening experiences and dinner at Yellowstone Art Museum
Welcome to the Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM), which blossomed out of the former Yellowstone County Jail into Montana’s pillar contemporary art institution. Spend the evening exploring, creating, and hearing from artists who inspire us, while enjoying a pasta bar dinner and a cash bar.
Choose your Creative Path
At YAM, we will offer a no-host bar, a pasta bar dinner (6:15 PM), and three fun options for experiencing the museum
5-7:30 PM Gallery Zines - Of Neon and Bones
Through drawing, writing, and creative reflection, we invite conference attendees to slow down and engage more deeply with artwork from the YAM's permanent collection in the exhibition Of Neon and Bones and throughout the museum. Participants will create their own mini-zines as a tool for close looking, personal interpretation, and idea sharing.
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5-7 PM Open Studio Session
Let your creativity take root and be inspired by the growth, connection, and community around you. Open Studio Time offers conference attendees a relaxed, hands-on space to experiment, create, and explore ideas from the day using provided materials. Museum educators will be available throughout the session to offer guidance, answer questions, and support your creative process.
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5:15-6 PM Conversation with Artists Sean Chandler and Tracy Linder
Montana artists Sean Chandler (Aaniiih) and Tracy Linder come together for an in-gallery conversation exploring how place and culture shape their creative practices. Through their work, both artists engage with the personal landscapes, histories, and lived experiences of Montana, offering distinct perspectives on identity, community, and environment. The conversation will take place in the YAM galleries, surrounded by works by both artists, creating a direct dialogue between art, artist, and audience. Moderated by Corby Skinner, Billings arts advocate and co-host of the Yellowstone Public Radio show Resounds, who will guide a thoughtful exchange on making art rooted in place and the role of culture in creative expression.
Dinner will be served at 6:15 PM at the museum. Starting at 5:00 PM, light appetizers and a cash bar will be available.
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Breakfast on your own
8:00 am MT
Bus tour to Chief Plenty Coups State Park
Advance registration required (limit 30 people). Bus ride out to the town of Pryor, on the Crow Reservation, to tour Chief Plenty Coups State Park, a National Historic Landmark that encompasses the homestead of Chief Plenty Coups and a visitor center. Tour includes a once-in-a-lifetime peek in the vault of significant Apsáalooke artifacts. Plenty Coups (Alek-Chea-Ahoosh) was a visionary Apsáalooke leader who guided the Apsáalooke people to defend their culture through education.
9:00 am MT
Local Tour & Conversation
Downtown Studio Tour
Billings Open Studio is a collection of private studios and creative open studio available for photography projects, portrait swaps, performances and rehearsals. In this session we’ll tour the artist studios, pose for an artistic portrait or headshot, take part in art demos, then walk one block to Art House for the 10:30 panel conversation.
Panel: Creating Community Around Art
Art House Cinema & Pub
Jenny Moore, executive director of Tinworks (Bozeman), Bryher Herak, creator of the Basin Art Mine (Basin) and Shane deLeon of Kirk’s Grocery (Billings) discuss different ways artists and arts centers create community around art—in urban and deeply rural areas. Moderated by Matt Blakeslee, executive director of Art House Cinema & Pub (Billings).
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12:00 pm MT
National Breakout Sessions
Designing Funding that Nourishes the Artist - Not Just Their Output
What if funding didn’t just fuel the next project - but actually nourished the whole artist? This session centers four community-designed funding models - the BIPOC Artist Fund, Creative West Artist Fund, Cultural Sustainability Program, and Pacific Jurisdictions Artist Fund - that are reshaping the landscape by centering artist well-being, not just productivity. Led by cultural strategist Anika Tené alongside brilliant co-designers, this session dives into what it truly looks like when wellness, pacing, and relational trust are designed into funding from the start - not treated as afterthoughts. Participants will hear how these initiatives rejected extractive grantmaking and instead embedded coaching, wellness stipends, and flexible timelines to reflect the lived realities of artists - particularly those in BIPOC, Indigenous, rural, and under-resourced communities. Participants will walk away with concrete strategies, adaptable frameworks, and inspiration to champion care-centered, equity-rooted funding practices within their own institutions and networks.
Led by: Anika Tene, VA
Changemakers in Civic Spaces – Strategic Advocacy Pathways for Creatives
Artists are catalysts for empathy, innovation, and change. How can creative voices shape civic life and public policy? Changemakers in Civic Spaces explores how artists can move from community-based action to influencing decision-making at local, state, and federal levels. Three dynamic panelists will share real-world strategies across three key pathways: Community Organizing, where creative practice mobilizes neighborhoods and builds collective voice; Advocacy for All, which maps access points for every level of engagement from small, everyday actions to sustained leadership; and Creatives in Office, guiding artists who aspire to serve in appointed or elected roles. Participants will leave with practical tools, frameworks, and inspiration to see themselves as changemakers in civic spaces. They will gain a deeper understanding of how artistic skills translate into organizing, policy influence, and governance; recognize multiple entry points for advocacy regardless of experience level; and build confidence to move from awareness to action. The session fosters connection, empowerment, and a shared vision for sustainable, artist-led advocacy that drives thriving creative communities.
Organized by: Eepi Chaad, TX
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1:00 pm - 4:00 pm MT
Art Market (Second Floor Hallway): Drop by to browse small works created by local artists. Meet the artists, be inspired, purchase a small souvenir to take home. Also: This House of Books will be on hand to sell books by local writers.
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1:00 pm MT
Lunch
2:30 pm MT
National Breakout Session
The Business of Creativity: Empowering Artist in the Modern Economy
By sharing data trends, identifying challenges and opportunities, and offering strategies for building a brand, diversifying income, and leveraging technology, attendees will learn actionable insights for artists looking to thrive. A key 15-minute talking point will focus on the shift from artist to entrepreneur, addressing common challenges, offering practical strategies for success, and encouraging attendees to take one small but meaningful step toward empowering their careers. This session will inspire and equip artists to build sustainable, thriving practices that align with their passions and potential.
Led by Zandra Sneed-Dawkins, KS
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Montana Writers
A reading by poet Corrie Williamson (author of The River Where You Forgot My Name and Sweet Husk) and novelist and nonfiction writer Mark Spragg (author of Where Rivers Change Direction, The Fruit of Stone, An Unfinished Life, and Bone Fire.
4:00 pm MT
Sending Session
5:00 pm MT
Summit ends