(subject to changes)
Thursday, May 2
Black Box Theatre
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Check in at AS220
5:00 – 5:45
Welcome to the 2024 CBA Conference: Imagining Collective Futures Coast to Coast
Conference Hosts: Howie Sneider, José Menendez, Liz Hafey
CBA Board President: Amber Hansen
City of Providence Director of the Office of Art, Culture, & Tourism: Joe Wilson, Jr.
6:00 – 7:15
Dinner
7:15 – 7:35
Welcome to AS220
Co-Executive Directors: Shauna Duffy, Angel Newmann
Director of Programs: Janay Pina
Operations Director: Jonesy Mann
7:35 – 8:35
Welcome Keynote: Adrienne Gagnon, Executive Director of DownCity Design
DownCity Design will share practices developed for participatory community design projects, including strategies for selecting and stewarding community client partners, ways to center community voice and promote agency, and ideas for fostering positive collaboration.
Friday, May 3
Main Stage Theatre
9:00 – 9:10
Land Acknowledgement with Samantha Cullen Fry
9:10 – 10:00
History of CBA with Sam Kornhauser
CBA has been around for only 35 years, but has spawned hundreds of unique practitioners
10:15 – 11:45
Psychic Reading Room
Panel: The More the Merrier! Hosted by Liz Hafey, featuring Stephanie Fortunato, Asher Henry, Steve Wood
Round table with practitioner(s), veteran organizer(s), & city organizer(s)…..
Warning this will be interactive!
Black Box Theatre
Panel: Rural Arts Panel hosted by Emily Zaengle, featuring Samantha Cullen Fry, Bethany Lacktorin, Molly Johnston
This session will focus on enduring connections between community and art in spaces geographically situated in rural areas. This panel discussion will generate a conversation around the challenges and opportunities of making, presenting, and funding art in rural areas.
Main Stage Theatre
Workshop: A Playground to Imagine, Discover, Un-learn, and Un-know with Sandra Kern Mollman
This interactive community-based theatre workshop provides tools for building meaningful relationships with participants in your community-based work
Black Box Theatre
12:00 – 1:30
Lunch & Conversation
Youth Round Table Lunch
A chance for young people to sit together, share a meal, and meet each other.
Main Stage Theatre
1:45 – 3:00
Keynote Speaker: Felipe Ortiz
Empowering Communities through Art: Networks, Collaboration, and Innovation
Felipe will delve into the core of his artistic philosophy and how it integrates with global and local practices to foster deep community engagement. He will spotlight the Fresco Exchange and Harvest project—initiatives that exemplify the power of collaborative art in building community connections and enhancing educational opportunities. Felipe will also discuss the importance of networking in securing funding for public art, drawing on his experiences from international collaborations to local community projects. This session will not only highlight past successes but also explore upcoming self-produced projects seeking collaboration and support.
3:15 – 4:15
Psychic Reading Room
Youth Discussion and Activity: Coloring Collective Futures Led by Jessica Hammond & Elliza Mollman
A space for people 30 and under to connect and discuss thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the future
Black Box Theatre
Discussion: Veteran CBA Members
What are the needs, ideas, and concerns about the future of CBA?
Main Stage Theatre
Presentation: ARTchitecture with Brendan Rose
Examining the methodology of a public art practice emerging from design-build in architectural education.
4:30 – 6:00
Psychic Reading Room
Panel: The Steel Yard Iron Pour hosted by Islay Taylor, with Nyala Honda, Kendra Plumley, Tim Cashman, Decatur Foster
Each year, The Steel Yard engages hundreds of community volunteers to co-create a performance iron pour of epic proportions ~ sculptures are designed, built, installed, decorated… and then burnt to the ground using molten iron! This spectacular event relies on engaged community members of all skill levels to design and produce everything from the guiding theme, to the sculptural props, to the lighting of the furnaces and the pouring of iron in front of an audience of thousands. This panel of participants and volunteers will explore this community centered event, discussing what each individual contributed and learned from the process.
Black Box Theatre
Workshop: Collaborative Temporary Public Art: How to make temporary public art part of your career as a community-based artist with Jeff Mather
This workshop will cover how to get started, identifying sites/locations, potential partners and opportunities and funding. And, most importantly, power sharing and aesthetics. And we’ll question the importance of permanence.
Workshop: Finding your niche and livelihood in C.B. work with Tom Arie Donch
It has been a great joy in my life to be able to contribute as a community built professional. As I stumbled into the field, and found my own way, it became essential to make a living and flourish. I actively studied the models of others and collaborated with over fifty community built professionals. This workshop will explore finding ones own path and the models and principals of successful community built practices and organizations.
Main Stage Theatre
Panel & Performance: AS220 Future Worlds
Main Stage Theatre
6:00 – 6:30
Discuss: Restaurant Options and Saturday’s Tour Options
6:30 Dinner on your own in Providence
Saturday, May 4
Black Box Theatre
9:00 – 9:05
Morning Announcements
9:05 – 9:30
Plenary: Injury Prevention Tips for Mural Artists with Dr. Jean Paul Aracena Oliver PT, DPT
Due to the nature of their work, muralists are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders and repetitive strain injuries at multiple joints. This workshop will provide useful tips to help prevent such injuries and provide an exercises routine to support muralists’ long term musculoskeletal health.
9:40 – 10:30
Main Stage Theatre
Presentation: What is the Value of Community Built Work? with Katherine Melcher
For people involved in community-built projects, there is something intangible, even magical, about the experience. But how does one explain the value of these projects to funders and other potential supporters? Based on a review of almost one hundred texts written by and about community-built practitioners, I found forty-four unique benefits mentioned by practitioners, participants, and observers. They involve benefits to the individual, the community group, the project and place, as well as the neighborhood at large. I will share examples of these benefits, so that practitioners can better identify and explain the value of these projects to potential supporters.
Black Box Theatre
Presentation: The wandering mural, the street art bully and the wall with a mind of its own with Dave Loewenstein
What happens when one of your murals appears on the other side of the world? Is street art gentrifying community-based art? What if our projects weren’t set in stone, but grew, adapted and changed their minds over time?
Black Box Theatre
10:45 – 12:00 Keynote Speaker: Shey ‘Ri Acu’ Rivera Ríos
Courageous Reciprocity for Collaborative Futures
What does it truly mean to build with and for community? Collaboration is a word often flattened, coopted, and taken for granted. Do we truly know what collaboration requires of us? Are we willing to give of ourselves in exchange? How do we ensure that the people most impacted are the ones centered in our designs for the future? How do we move toward design justice when design itself has been an instrument of oppression? Are we as designers, planners, and creatives willing to shift power, let go, and build from a place of release? Community collaboration requires a deep understanding of the power dynamics that exist within ourselves and our industries. Our time on this earth requires courageous moves to unlearn what we have been taught and redefine our relationships and purpose as designers and creatives. Courageous reciprocity is how we can build generative futures. Are we ready to lean in?
12:15 – 1:45
Lunch & Conversation: Highs and Lows of Community Built Experiences
Led by Mark Lakeman
1:30 – 3:15
Presentation & Workshop: Buena Grafica with José Menéndez & Tatiana Gómez
Tours
3:30 – 5:30
Tour 1: The Steel Yard – Buena Grafica – The Valley Arts District
Tour 2: AS220’s Campus and Buildings
Tour 3: Barrio Tour with Marta Martinez (broad street)
Tour 4: Public Art Tour/Exploration of Downtown Providence w/ The Avenue Concept
Black Box Theatre
6:00 – 10:00 Brutal Doodles Community Coloring Station
6:00 – 7:15 Dinner & Presentation:
Chance Haki
7:30 – 10:00 Performance: PVD World Music
Sunday, May 5
Main Stage Theatre
9:00 – 10:15
Presentation of Jolly Award by Sam Kornhauser
Potential Board Members Talk & Vote for New Board members
10:30 – 11:30
Youth Panel: Collective Futures
Jessica Hammond (host), featuring Elliza Mollman, Goldie Haukaas, Madison Red Owl
11:30 – 11:35
Announce new board members
11:35 – 12:00 Closing Ceremony with Vatic Kuumba
12:00 Check Out