The 2022 GIA Conference: Welcome to New York!
What to Expect During #ConvergeTransform
with Salem Tsegaye and Brandi Stewart
Recorded September 15, 2022
In this podcast, Grantmakers in the Arts welcomes you back to NYC — occupied Munsee Lenape, Wappinger, Canarsie, Lekawe, and Matinecock lands and hometown to GIA since 2018 — for our annual conference! Since our last gathering, we’ve witnessed the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, demands for justice for Black lives, and a history of racial inequity that remains unreconciled.
The unprecedented pandemic-era reverberations have taken tolls on our health and environment, and our tolerance and capacity for uncertainty. We believe the vibrance and creativity of NYC keeps us feeling, dreaming, fighting for new futures. What can we make possible by gathering, attending to both grief and joy, and committed to moving forward together?
Take a listen as Nadia Elokdah, Vice President & Director of Programs (Grantmakers in the Arts), speaks with conference co-chairs Brandi Stewart, Program Officer for the Arts (Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), and Salem Tsegaye, Program Officer, Arts, Culture, and Historic Preservation (The New York Community Trust), about what you can expect at the conference.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
Sherylynn Sealy
Welcome to a podcast by Grantmakers in the Arts, a national membership association of public and private arts and culture funders. I'm Sherylynn Sealy, GIA’s senior program manager. In this podcast, Grantmakers in the Arts welcomes to you back to New York City, the land of the Munsee Lenape, Wappinger, Canarsie, Lekawe, and Matinecock people and hometown to GIA since 2018, for our annual conference. Since our last gathering we've witnessed the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, demands for justice for black lives, and a history of racial inequity that remains unreconciled. Today we are joined by Nadia Elokdah, vice president and director of programs at Grantmakers in the Arts, who will be speaking with conference co-chairs Brandi Stewart, program officer for the arts at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Salem Tsegaye, program officer for arts, culture and historic preservation at the New York Community Trust. They will discuss what you can expect at this year's conference. Nadia, why don't you add some more context for our listeners to bring us into the conversation about this year's conference.
Nadia Elokdah
Hi Sherylynn. Thanks so much. I'm really excited. We haven't done a conference that had an in-person component in quite some time. If you recall, the last time we saw you all in person was in 2019 in Denver. So it's been a minute. We're really glad to be able to see some folks in person. Don't worry, we still have something for folks who are not going to be in person, so hold tight, we'll talk about that in a second. But we've had a really great year of planning with a fantastic planning committee and as Sherylynn said, I'm here with our co-chairs, Brandi and Salem. Hi, welcome.
Salem Tsegaye
Hi. Thank you.
Brandi Stewart
Hi.
Nadia Elokdah
We're really jazzed. So, let's talk through what's going on here. As I said, it's been a minute, so how are you feeling? We have annual conference coming up, couple days away now. We have a hybrid conference, there's an in person track and a virtual track. We're carrying a lot of energy and anticipation. How do you both feel?
Brandi Stewart
This is Brandi speaking. I'll jump in and, I mean, I feel like I have all the feelings, just to be honest. There's a part of me that is so excited to be back in shared space with colleagues and GIA is always an annual highlight and it has been even as we've been doing it virtually, but it's been a while since we've had a chance to gather in some way in person and so I'm excited about that and I'm excited for and grateful for all the work that the planning committee has been doing and getting to see that come to life. So there's a lot of gratitude and excitement around that. And then I think I'm also just kind of really conscious of the unpredictable nature of this moment as well that we're still in and so, and we'll navigate that. GIA has been so thoughtful about how to create something that's responsive to that and how we can still feel a sense of community whether we are physically in person or virtual, but it's kind of in the air as well. But yeah.
Salem Tsegaye
This is Salem. It feels a little surreal. I remember actually talking to a lot of folks at the tail end of the Denver conference and how we were all super ecstatic about the conference being in New York the next year and dot, dot, dot three years later.
Nadia Elokdah
So much has happened.
Salem Tsegaye
Here we are. Yeah, so it's both, it is and isn't hard to believe that we're finally here and making it happen. Like Brandi said the conference planning committee has been really hard at work for months now and we've waited a long time for this so the renewed energy to really gather in person again is thrilling. And I think as is the case with pandemic life, we're going hybrid and there's incredible value in virtual engagement as we've learned over the last couple of years. The virtual conference carried a lot of us through some really difficult times and we're all super grateful for that and want to keep that going to accommodate different levels of comfort with social gathering. So we're really looking forward to offering the virtual track where all folks will actually be able to participate. If you know you struggle with FOMO like I do I am really glad to be able to tune into a lot of sessions both virtually and in person and be able to gather with colleagues again in both ways.
Nadia Elokdah
Yeah, I can say it's been such a pleasure to work with the planning committee this year. I think there's, as you both said there's been such energy around what is it that we need. What is it that we need as Grantmakers, as peers, as colleagues, as supporters of each other? What is it that the cultural communities that we serve need? There's been I think really an unprecedented amount of dialogue between grantees and grantmakers in the last few years where we were being called in to do a lot of work and to really look at ourselves and speak to that kind of, speak to this moment and to speak to, there's an opportunity here and we need to meet it if nothing else. So I really appreciate the care that you all have put into the planning of this conference to try to speak to that as well. Maybe if we could pick apart a little bit what the conference theme is. It's specific and vague perhaps, and I would love to just unpack. Like the committee decided to organize around the theme Converge/Transform. Can you talk a bit about that?
Salem Tsegaye
Sure. So this is Salem. As you said Nadia, it seems vague but also I think folks will find it to be pretty direct when you think about the concept of converging, we're all kind of coming together and meeting at a certain point and that idea, at least for me is really baked into the DNA of New York City. And when you think about folks from all over sort of converging in this wonderful place that many of us get to call home. But I think when you think about converge and transform together, we're not talking static, we're talking active, we're not isolated, we are together, we, it's things aren't parallel.
They're actually all intersected. And so this is our opportunity to bring all of that together and engage in some much needed conversation and ongoing discussion about how we can assess what's happened in the past and bring in elements of the past as we start to envision the future together. So I think we're excited to bring this theme to GIA this year and really have sessions that actually speak to them. So I'll also let Brandi talk a little bit more about that, too.
Brandi Stewart
This is Brandi. I would second all of that and this idea of converge signaling coming together and meeting at a point, the GIA Conference very much sort of feels like an important meeting spot, important point where funders who might approach supporting the arts from different perspectives and angles come together and connect around this common ground that connects us and reminds us that we're working together towards common cause to sustain and to strengthen and to celebrate the arts' sector, and so I think a lot about that. And then I think for the word transform, in ways that word is kind of acknowledging the particular moment that we're coming together. We asked in the prompt, I was looking back at the prompt that we offered and we said how are we as stewards of wealth and holders of power using our imaginations to build a present and future that will redress past and present struggle?
And we talked a lot about during the planning committee meetings that the world is in a moment of major transformation and the arts and culture sector is one of those sectors. It's been really deeply impacted and just on an individual level I think we'd all agree that we're all in some way forever changed and so transform is about in ways what's actively happening on those multiple levels in this moment and inspiring us to figure out how can we come together, leverage this moment of societal and individual evolution to recognize our strengths, confront and unpack the challenges, the mistakes, the issues in the sector, and then learn from each other and arts leaders from across the field. And then take all of that and then dream and imagine and try to advance ways for our sector to emerge from this moment of transformation stronger and more equitable and more inclusive. So there's, it's a heavy word transform, but we just wanted to unpack a little bit some of the things, at least for me that were still sitting with me from the conversations that our planning committee had when we identified those two words.
Nadia Elokdah
I appreciate so much what you both shared and sort of lifting the curtain of the planning committee world can feel so vulnerable. But I think it's also what we're called to do in this time is offer vulnerability toward the future that we're looking to create. And Salem, I just wanted to lift up one of the things that you said I really appreciated and captured part of what the committee talked about in setting the frame for this theme and the theme for throughout the conference that it requires us looking back and forward to figure out what transform means. It requires us coming together.
The convergence is essential to the transformation as we need to do it together and we need to think about the histories and forms of knowledge that we possess. We talked a lot about the idea that innovation, it creates a false paradigm. We aren't only creating new, we're also looking at the wisdom and the knowledge that we've held for a long time that's been strategically lost or buried and resurfacing that as a part of the knowledge needed as we come together and transform as well. So I just wanted to lift that up because I think that's a really important part of the value of this frame.
Salem Tsegaye
Nadia, can I actually add something to that?
Nadia Elokdah
Yeah, please.
Salem Tsegaye
This is being at a community foundation, of course, I'm always thinking all things New York City, but sort of along that theme I think we sort of be remiss not to mention how we're all sort bouncing back after the height of the pandemic. And I think back to 2020 in New York in particular and how it was a really, it was a dark time for all, but it felt especially grim I think for New Yorkers who were experiencing the pandemic at its epicenter in the US. And there were moments where, and I know we can all recall this, there were moments where you'd walk around the city and I think the only word that I can think of to describe this is that the feeling was eerie. Imagine that right? New York City being eerie like that. Every time I say that to someone they're just like, what?
But seeing it today, I think, you know you kind of be hard pressed to find remnants of that period. Surely the city has changed. I'm not saying that it stayed the same, but fundamentally it is still the same and I think this sort of speaks to, or maybe it's a testament to the grit and resilience that makes this place what it is, even as it evolves right through its different sort of periods and stages. So I kind of just wanted to add that extra comment to what you were saying too about how this isn't about starting from scratch or starting completely anew. It's really an evolution and so how can we bake that into how we're approaching a lot of the discussions and actions related to the conference.
Nadia Elokdah
Heard, heard all that. Challenge accepted. Let's do this together, definitely. I'm wondering, we're talking a lot about place where, we're talking about intention of this theme and I would be remiss if I didn't think about our virtual attendees and the two separate tracks. And so I just like, do you all think that the virtual experience is going to achieve what we're looking for? How would you describe that experience for folks and where would they experience some of this in that track as well?
Salem Tsegaye
Yeah, so, I was actually just marking my calendar for all the virtual sessions in the schedule after getting your email. So, thank you for that reminder. But it's great because there's a combination of round tables and breakout discussions, all the sort of features that you would still get in person, it just would be sort through the screen. But the other pieces that the keynotes will be live streamed so folks will get to tune into that as well, which I think will be wonderful because we have a stellar lineup.
Nadia Elokdah
Yeah, let me tell you, we really do. I'm very excited, and I don't want to miss an opportunity to shout out our Converge/Transform energy and the planning and the intentionality behind the words was captured in an original commission by Lady Pink that I think speaks so highly to one, like you need a lot of folks in the room to capture something, to give it life, to help make it real, but also is so New York and is New York of a particular time. I don't know if either of you want to speak, a little bit, to that. We have a tried and true New Yorker with us here in Brandi Stewart who might have some thoughts.
Brandi Stewart
We were so excited to get to work with Lady Pink and she is not only an incredible artist but also raised in New York so a New Yorker. And for us we thought this is an incredible opportunity to bring in an element of New York. So New York is in, it's many, many things and one of those things is hip hop. And so to have a graffiti artist do an original commission for us and bring that spirit of New York into the visual that folks are going to experience whether they're accessing this online or in person was really exciting. So we were super grateful that she was able to work with us and we've been able to elevate her work to our broader community through this.
Nadia Elokdah
Yes, we're so really, really fortunate and I really love, I get to work on those materials as we create the scope for our conference and how people will experience it visually and it's a great vibe so just a plus, plus to that. So we were talking about keynotes and I wanted to lift that up a little bit through this next question and I want to note that the conference, the official in person version of the conference starts on Indigenous People's Day so I think there's going to be a lot of energy and attention which we're really excited about to have centered and open our day. So that's one of my personal joys as we look at what's coming up here, but with that in mind I'm curious for you both, what are some of the things that you'd like participants to know about New York, both historic and present as they prepare to join this in person track of the conference.
Brandi Stewart
This is Brandi. I shared with you all before we started recording that in just in thinking about what to say about New York as somebody who grew up here, I basically was writing a poem because I do love this city so much. So there's that. I won't recite anything like that but its probably been, I imagine there'll be folks who have never been here before and there will also be people who have not been here in a long time. And Salem said earlier, there is something about New York that is sort of consistent and I think it's that, it's this vibrant place that's filled with a lot of complexities that you experience. It's in some way really magical but also really practical and in some ways international but also feels hyper local and it's welcoming but can be really intimidating and polished but raw so it's just, it's this place of many truths and many stories.
And so it feels like a really rich place to have the types of conversations and explorations that we're going to be diving into through the keynotes and through the sessions because we are dealing in a moment of intense complexity and a lot of both ends that we're going to have to hold and so this city is that, it's also, as Salem said, it has been, it's been through a really tough couple of years and things have rebounded and you know can walk through the streets and feel like nothing has changed. But the arts and culture community has been through a really, really hard time and that you can still feel. And so it's exciting to have opportunities through the conference to elevate arts and culture leaders to get our funder colleagues who are here in person to off sites, to some of these physical places, some of these arts and culture venues and spaces just to, not only to learn but just to show love and that we are, we're all here, we're a community, we're an ecosystem that supports this sector.
So, I think that'll be really amazing. We're hoping for those arts organizations to see funders really showing up in this space and excited about their work and diving into these really interesting conversations. And I think the last thing that I'll say, because like I said I could go on for all the time, the conference will, it will be happening in Times Square, which for a lot of New Yorkers is not New York, but it is New York, it's real, it's an intense place. It's certainly intense too if you're not used to being around a high volume of people after the past couple of years we've been through. So just want folks to have that in mind and figure out if they can how to get out of Times Square and see more than just that area, more than Midtown. See more than Manhattan, we are five boroughs and each borough has its own personality and pride and claims to fame and cultural community.
So encouraging folks to think about that, but also just from New York is also a place where folks just try to keep it real and so figure out what that kind of looks like for you. So if you're wanting to walk through Times Square in your mask because that feels comfortable, do that. If you get on the train and want to keep your mask on and social, lean into those things because I'm from here so I'm used to a density that's not common and just wanted to name that for folks, that to be thoughtful about how if you're going to physically be here, feels most comfortable to you to navigate it considering you're still moving through this complicated kind of public health moment. Just so over to Salem, please jump in here.
Salem Tsegaye
Oh my goodness, you can't beat that. I mean hearing from a native New Yorker I feel like, so as someone who's had the fortune I guess, of being able to choose New York City as my home, for me, I think there's no denying that the appeal of this great city is its people and the diversity of its people and the cultures they bring into the mix. So again, thinking about the conference theme of convergence, there can't be a better place to actually address that. And even thinking about belonging and what that means in New York City, this is a place that has something for everyone and I think is a huge part of the reason why so many people like myself come to live here. So there are three things that I always tell people about New York City that are really important to me and I think I would want others to experience this to the extent that they can.
Again, going back to the diversity of the people, New York City has a population, its residents are more than two thirds people of color and that alone is just incredible. You also have, I think we are a city with probably the largest foreign born population. Shout out to Queens for that stat, but that is incredible too. I mean language is spoken, it's just such a huge breath, it's really amazing. And then the other thing that I always lift up, you'll have to forgive me, this is a community foundation thing again, but there are literally thousands of arts and cultural groups in this city, thousands. Which means that you will find arts and culture in every single neighborhood in this city, in every nook and cranny of this city. And to Brandi's point, yes we are all descending on the Sheraton and Times Square, but this city is so much more than Times Square, so much more than Midtown.
Fortunately some of the off sites will be in lower Manhattan, we'll also have some in upper Manhattan, we'll get to probably seed some of the Bronx. But don't forget there's Queens, there's Brooklyn, there's a lot to do, there's Staten Island, if anyone wants to take the ferry. The ferry is a whole, that's a thing. That's a thing to do when you visit New York. So all of that is available. And so I think if there's something that I would want folks to walk away with, at least hearing this sort of intro podcast is that we'll be sort of centrally located in that one place, but the city of eight plus million is spread out across the five boroughs and there's a lot to actually see and participate in.
Nadia Elokdah
Come early, stay late, get it all in, right?
Salem Tsegaye
All of it.
Brandi Stewart
This is Brandi. There's one other thing that as I was thinking about this in the context of the conference that I don't know resonated with me in a way that hadn't before, but New York City is also sort of considered the birthplace of modern professional philanthropy. And so it's a city that's been deeply shaped and influenced by the work that we do. I mean, I was with some colleagues, we were sitting in a pocket park, actually Salem near your office, and long story short, this man came out of literally a rock. He moved a rock, emerged from it and started to tell us that he was the manager of this park that had been funded by a philanthropist. And we said, oh that's funny, we work in philanthropy. We actually very much understand the story that you're talking to us about. And it just, I don't know, something about that really resonated with me.
And I was thinking about this being a city very much shaped by the work that we do. It feeling also like a really important place to be as we think about the evolution of our field and Nadia, back to some of the things you said earlier really confronting not only the strengths of what we do but what it is that we need to evolve, what it is that we need to change, the different ways that we can collaborate within our field and among funders and also with arts leaders. It just feels rich for that conversation, for that sort of self-reflection and self-assessment. So just kind of another thing I was sitting with as I thought about this city.
Nadia Elokdah
Yeah, this is Nadia here. I really appreciate you lifting that up. It's something when you were saying I was thinking back to when Sherylynn and I were looking through all the submissions that we received at our call for sessions all the way back in February and we got so many capitalization focused sessions. We always, always get a lot of racial equity sessions. We still have a lot of racial equity sessions throughout, but it was incredible to see how many folks were of combining racial equity and capitalization and it makes sense, as you were just saying, there's like a center around capital that we have to talk about here. Wall Street is here, some of the earliest foundations in the history of cultural philanthropy are here. The largest municipal funder outside of the federal government is here. There is so much capital flowing into the cultural community and, as you said Salem, the are thousands of cultural entities, artists, like, there's so much here.
And so what I really appreciate about the framing and what the work of the committee has been is like, okay, we have to name that. This is true. There's no way we're going to get thousands of people onto a stage, into a breakout room. We're not going to get to go to every corner of this place, but how do we capture what their conversations have been? How do we hear what they've been saying and sort of speak to that in our work and how do we frame the conversation that we can start having together once we converge again. So with that, as we wrap up, I just wanted to give each of you a chance to talk about is there anything in particular you're excited about? Is there one thing you want to highlight that you just have giddiness around that others can look forward to?
Salem Tsegaye
Yes. So, this is Salem. I think I've been talking about this one keynote from the very beginning when we first were reviewing sessions. But we are super lucky because Monday the sort of I guess first official day of the conference in person will also be Indigenous People's Day. And what better way to open up the conference than with this fabulous keynote organized by NDN Collective, which will be sort of part performance, part panel featuring indigenous artists, but and I think the thing that excited me most about it is it'll allow us to really think about the connection between people and planet and I should say the inherent connection between people and planet and also do that in the spirit of regeneration. And I just feel like that's such a great way to open up the in person proceedings as we think about the conference themes again.
Nadia Elokdah
And, just one quick interjection. Nadia here. We're actually able to live stream that keynote to a wider audience for the first time given the prominence of Indigenous People's Day. So be on the lookout for that and share that with your wider communities. I think it's a really important thing that we're really privileged to get to amplify.
Brandi Stewart
This is Brandi. I'm excited about that too and I just to experiment with this hybrid model, I mean it does acknowledge that there are reasons one way or another folks can't be in a physical place and so the work that GIA has put into figuring out how to do this is really amazing and I'm excited to see that play out and for us to learn from it. The one thing I was really excited to talk about was the keynote with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. My artistic background is dance and it's been through her work and through her company, Urban Bush Women, that I came to understand the expansive power of dance and movement of storytelling, what social justice organizing looks like through an artistic lens and framework.
And she has done so much to shape a set of leaders across this field and to shape artistic practice and to shape organizing, and so I just, I am so excited to hear what she has to offer and for her to be closing us out. I think if we're thinking about this moment of the power of coming together and the power of transformation, she is one of the leaders in our sector who not only deeply understands that, but has demonstrated that through her practice and through her work so I will be fanning out constantly at that moment.
Nadia Elokdah
A cherry on top of I think going to what I expect to be a really intense and joyful and challenging and calling in conference. So I want to thank you both for your time, for serving as co-chairs of our planning committee. It's truly been a pleasure. We laugh a lot in our committee meetings even when we're dealing with all the craziness of getting things together. So I just want to thank you both so much for all of your time and generosity.
Brandi Stewart
Thank you.
Salem Tsegaye
Thank you.
Brandi Stewart
This has been wonderful. We'll see folks virtually or in person soon. Very soon.
Salem Tsegaye
Yes.
Sherylynn Sealy
Awesome. Thank you so much Nadia, Brandi, and Salem for that lively and informative conversation. I think if folks weren't excited about this year's conference, which I think is hard to believe, they definitely will be excited after hearing your conversation with each other. So thank you for that. And for folks who are listening, if you haven't done so, be sure to visit the conference website at conference.giarts.org to register for the 2022 GIA Conference Converge/Transform, and to of course learn more about the incredible sessions and speakers that you just heard about.
If you have any questions about any of the upcoming programming you can reach out to me, Sherylynn Sealy at sherylynn@giarts.org, or visit our website and be sure to follow Grantmakers in the Arts on Twitter and Facebook at GI Arts, as well as Instagram @grantmakersinthearts for more information on the conference as we count down to our first day.
Thank you so much for listening and we look forward to seeing you at our hybrid conference from October 6th through 12th and have a great day everyone. Bye!
