Welcome to New York!
The 2022 Annual Conference is Here
The 2022 conference planning committee is thrilled to welcome Grantmakers in the Arts’ members back to our first in-person conference in three years! This is a big moment, and what better way to celebrate than in a city whose streets will make you feel brand new and bright lights will inspire you. (For an optimal reading experience, we suggest you play “Empire State of Mind” in the background.)
Original Commission for Grantmakers in the Arts, Converge/Transform, spray paint on canvas (2022), Lady Pink
We New Yorkers are a prideful bunch, but we also know how to keep it real. This is the invitation we extend to you as you join us for the conference this year. Be open to new ideas, people, places, and ways of doing things. But also, make it your own, safely and comfortably. We have all been through a difficult time, and we would be remiss not to acknowledge the effects of experiencing multiple ongoing crises. In the spirit of this year’s conference theme, Converge/Transform, we hope New York will serve as a canvas to come together, and with a nod to a past that has already changed us in many ways, continue to envision and enact new futures.
When you think about New York’s vibrancy—the diversity of its people, the city’s grit and resilience, its rich history as a cultural, financial, and organizing hub—you’ll start to see how Converge/Transform is central to its character. It is also an apt throughline for this year’s performances, preconferences, roundtables, breakouts, and keynotes, addressing topics such as artist labor and the cultural workforce, arts and technology, and movement-building for justice, among others. Conference proceedings will be centralized in Times Square, but we hope you will take advantage of opportunities to explore the vastness of our five boroughs: the Bronx and Lower and Upper Manhattan, where we’ll have a few off-site sessions, as well as Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. We know you won’t be able to do it all, but we hope you’ll get to witness some of the creativity and culture that exists in every nook of the city.
Over the last few months, we’ve asked ourselves: Why do we gather? We do it to engage in new experiences, learn from each other, and have fun. We’re grateful to GIA and all of you for the opportunity to curate what we hope will be a great experience. Enjoy!
Cheryl Anhava
JPMorgan Private Bank
Anna Campbell
Howard Gilman Foundation
Nadia Elokdah
Grantmakers in the Arts
Robert Smith III
Surdna Foundation
Brandi Stewart
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Eddie Torres
Grantmakers in the Arts
Salem Tsegaye
The New York Community Trust
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The 2022 GIA Annual Conference begins on Thursday, October 6 and runs through Wednesday, October 12. In the meantime, get familiar with our virtual portal and check out the in-person sessions!
You can follow the convening and join the conversation using the hashtags #ConvergeTransform and #GIArts2022 on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. And, don’t forget to visit the Conference Blog for stories and reporting from the in-person and virtual conference tracks throughout the week.
