WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As cities around the country seek to enhance their economies, a national conference puts forth the idea that arts and learning are essential underpinnings for future revitalization. Coming to Winston-Salem, NC, from September 12 to 14 is CROSS-CURRENTS: ART+LEARNING, a symposium on "Powering Creative Readiness" for community growth.
Hosted in the "City of Arts & Innovation," some of the country's foremost leaders in visual and performing arts, philanthropy, education, and civic planning will host cross-disciplinary seminars, workshops, site visits and interactive sessions that explore innovative ideas around the use of arts and education to spur economic, civic and social change.
This conference is specifically structured to promote creative thinking in service to organizational and civic well-being. "Whether you are an artist, innovative educator, nonprofit executive, grant-maker, elected official, city leader, or head of a community development entity, this conference is for you," said Conference Organizer and Board Chair of Art-Force, Janet Kagan. "In no other setting will you meaningfully interact with people who have literally changed cities for the better, grown major arts and educational institutions, applied creative educational theories and put forth new thinking that can be applied to your situation."
The conference opens with site visits to innovation centers, universities, arts organizations and nonprofits to help attendees witness groundbreaking ways of operating and to encourage dialogue about change, geography, social concerns, public engagement and learning. The first day concludes with an introduction by Lindsay Bierman, Chancellor of University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and an address titled, "Think Like an Artist," by Russell Granet, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Center Education in New York City.
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is the site for the second day of lively presentations and workshops. Executive Director of ArtPlace America Jamie Bennett, Founding President of Creative Capital Ruby Lerner, and Executive Director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts Corey Madden kick off a spirited discussion on "How Communities Learn to Grow Creatively" and make predictions where the field will be in five years.
Interactive seminars address topics ranging from "Your Community's Challenges: What Holds Community Back from Creativity, Invention, Distinction and Building Art Infrastructures" to "How Awareness is Triggered: Do You Know How to Heighten Empathy and Build Trust in Your Community" and "Immigrant Voices: How Can Communities Learn to Understand Other Cultures," among others. "Short Talks" allow distinguished arts, education and civic leaders to espouse about current conundrums, unexpected achievements, the power of a good question, and other stories from the field.
The final day of the conference is hosted by the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Attendees will fine-tune learnings and test-drive ideas to build their communities or advance their business strategies or organizations. Short sessions explore provocative topics in the intersection of arts, education and community development.
Among the 43 distinguished speakers are the University of North Carolina Vice President for Innovation Technology and Learning Matthew Rascoff, Senior Executive at the National Museum of the American Indian New York John Haworth, Co-Founder of Thrive Terrance Clark; Chief of Police for the City of Spartanburg SC Alonzo Thompson; writer and scholar Diane Ragsdale, Dr. Keith Sawyer with the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education. Cross-Currents' Artists In-Residence include David J Brown, Norman Coates, Kendal Henry, Emily Simoness and Caridad Svich.
Attendance at CROSS CURRENTS: ART+LEARNING is limited. The official conference hotel is the new Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in downtown Winston-Salem. For tickets visit http://art-force.org/cross-currents/art-learning/index.html.
SOURCE CROSS-CURRENTS