2021 TACA Perforum 2.0 - Reimagine: The Future of the Arts

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COME TOGETHER

ONCE AGAIN

TERRYD.LOFTIS

Donna Wilhelm Family President & Executive Director

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Friends Thank you for joining us at the 13th annuaL TACA Perforum. As President and Executive Director of TACA, I have the distinct pleasure of ushering you into the worLd of this year's event, which focuses on the monolithic sociaL issues that continue to influence the work you do every day, as they have since March of 2020. It's an inspiring yet chaLlenging time in our arts community. As we navigate the future of artmaking in DaLLas and across the nation, we find more and more that conversation and connection are key. We are so gLad that we can gather in person today, and our deepest thanks goes out to our venue, On the Levee, our Presenting Sponsor, Communities Foundation of Texas and aU of our sponsors this year for helping to make aU of this possible. Our hope is that today's dialogue emboldens you, brings you relief and joy, and sparks the drive to create in each of you. The TACA team has worked tirelessly to make today special for everyone in our community, and we're confident you wiU have a deLightfuL time and remember this as one of the strongest Perforum gatherings in the symposium's history.

Thank You to Our Sponsors Presenting Sponsor CO M M U N I T I E S ----iiiiiiiii\liiiiii,?'

FOUNDATION of TEXAS

Artist Sponsor Media Partner

Program Sponsor

• EMBREY FAMILY

FOUNDATION

n., Donna Wilhelm Family Fund

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James & Gayle Halperin Foundation

with additional support from

mod9fne

LATINO

CULTURAL CENTER

hosted by ON THE

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Jim &Joleen Chambers

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Arts & Culture

Reimagine: The Future of the Arts Opening Reception 4:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion

5:00 p.m.

Panelists ILknur Ozgur

Lauren Ruffin

Founder & Director, Artstillery Dallas, TX

Co-Founder, CRUX Albuquerque, NM

Robert van Leer Senior Vice President of Artistic Plan ning, John F. Ken nedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington D.C.

Moderated By Clyde Valentin Director, SMU Ignite/Arts Dallas: Center for People, Purpose + Place Dallas, TX

Networking Happy Hour 6:45 p.m.

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Wrap Up 7:30 p.m.

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Panelists & Moderator Ilknur Ozgur Founder & Director, ArtstiLlery DaLlas, TX llknur Ozgur (she/her) is the Founder & Director of Artstillery, a non-profit immersive performance art company based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 2016, Artstillery aligns with community partners to produce and present creative narratives based on artists' lived experiences that explore issues of racial, cultural, and social injustice.

Originally from Chicago, Ozgur started her artistic journey in partnership with artists wanting to create solo original works. She collaborated with powerful writer/performer, Nancy Moricette, on "Jaspora: Imitation Haitian," a production that toured the New York International Fringe Festival. She also workshopped original pieces by writer Suzan-Lori Parks within Puerto Rican communities in Chicago with Urban T heatre Co. Working alongside Miguel Pinero at Nuyorican Poets Cafe (New York City), she produced his works as immersive experiences inside small, street-facing urban spaces. As a university instructor of Performance Art and Communications, she has shared her varied experiences with students developing interpretive pieces for national performance competitions.

Ozgur has proudly served as a Cultural Commissioner for the City of Dallas, representing District 6, and is a current resident on the TACDC Creative Place Making Task Force under the NEA. She is also an artistic liaison to Dallas City Homes, leading the creative place-making initiatives at 723, a warehouse in West Dallas.

Ozgur's work is grounded in rhythms from Hip Hop, Rap, Street Poetry, and Community Narratives. She believes in shattering hierarchical structures found in traditional spaces and is committed to developing diverse, self-sustaining artistic ecosystems for people from all backgrounds, skill sets, and passions.

Lauren Ruffin Co-Founder, CRUX Albuquerque, NM Lauren Ruffin (she/her) is co-founder of CRUX, an immersive storytelling cooperative that collaborates with Black artists as they create content in virtual reality and augmented reality (XR). Founded in 2017, CRUX is the only company focusing solely on bringing XR artistic content from Black creators to mainstream users and audiences. As co-founder, Lauren focuses on creating an organization with core principles that are rooted in liberation movements, as well as anti-racism and anti-oppression, and works closely with partners as they create original content and immersive experiences to delight audiences and expand their digital footprint. Partners include the International Documentary Association, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, New York Live Arts, Urban Bush Women, and Black Public Media. Over the course of her career, she has become a "Jane-of-all-trades" for small and mid-sized enterprises in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. The hallmark of her work is a willingness to take calculated risks, an interest in scaling businesses using innovative organizational mechanisms, and her ability to secure capital for projects from non-traditional sources. Lauren is currently the interim Chief Marketing Officer of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), where she focuses on amplifying the stories and activism of the YBCA community. Prior to joining YBCA, Lauren was co-CEO of Fractured Atlas, the largest association of independent artists in the United States. Lauren graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. She is on faculty at New York University, teaching an Arts and Entrepreneurship course, and has served on the governing board of Black Girls Code as well as the advisory boards of ArtUp and Black Girl Ventures.

Panelists & Moderator Robert van Leer Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington D.C. Robert van Leer (he/him) began his arts administration career in the programming office at Lincoln Center mentored by two icons of the arts administrative field: Bill Lockwood and Jane S. Moss. From 1996-2011, as Head of Music and Arts Projects at the Barbican Centre in London he oversaw concert hall's transformation into a leading creative center, commissioned celebrated artists across genres, and presented performances of these commissions in the concert hall as well as at partner venues across the UK.Between 2011 and 2013, as Managing Director of Nederlandse Dans Theatre, he re-envisioned the mission of the company as a leading creative ensemble whose primacy is investing in the work of visionary choreographers. He delivered the NDT's first-ever strategic fundraising plan, increased revenue three-fold, and produced a series of live global cinema broadcasts.

After a professional break to earn a Masters in Garden Design, van Leer focused on strategic cultural consulting as the managing Director for Wonderbird UK in London.

In 2015 he was tapped by President Deborah Rutter to join the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning, where he coordinates the programming of the Center and its resident companies, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, to establish a unified artistic vision for the nation's busiest performing arts center and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. Since the 2019 opening of the Kennedy Center's first-ever expansion, the REACH, van Leer has also led the artistic programming for this transformative addition, with flexible indoor and outdoor performance space designed to nurture new art, community, and informal encounters between the artist and the public. van Leer holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University, and certifications from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and the lnchbald School of Design.

Clyde Valentin - Moderator Director, SMU Ignite/Arts DaLlas: People, Purpose + Place DaLlas, TX Clyde Valentfn (he/him) is a producer, creative entrepreneur and cultural strategist with over twenty years of executive experience managing start-up organizational environments and multidisciplinary projects and live events. Born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He is the Co-founder and former Executive Director of Hi-ARTS (formerly known as the Hip-Hop Theater Festival). He is the inaugural Director of Ignite/Arts Dallas: People, Purpose + Place the community engagement initiative at SMU Meadows School of the Arts. The mission of Ignite/Arts Dallas is to challenge the imaginations of students and citizens to envision more just and vibrant communities through art and culture experiences.

In 1995 he co-founded Stress Magazine, a pioneering Hip-Hop arts & culture publication, first as its Senior Editor and then as its Director of Operations. Clyde was a 2015 Community+ Culture Fellow of the National Arts Strategies' Chief Executive Program.

Valentfn is an advisory committee member of the Latinx Theater Commons and has served as a consultant or panelist for numerous national arts organizations including How/round, Creative Capital, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), YouthSpeaks/Brave New Voices, the New England Foundation for the Arts, Theater Communications Group (TCG), the National Association of Latino Arts & Culture (NALAC), the Knight Foundation, the National Performance Network (NPN) and AlternateROOTS. He most recently joined the Local Advisory Board for Year-Up DFW and he serves on the Boards of Texans for the Arts, the only statewide advocacy organization for public funding in the Arts in Texas and the Trinity Park Conservancy, which is building the 200-acre Harold Simmons Park in the heart Dallas, Texas, on the Trinity/Arkikosa River.

Featured Artists Vicki Meek Vicki Meek (she/her), born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a nationally recognized artist who has exhibited widely. Meek is in the permanent collections of the African American Museum in Dallas, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Serie Art Project in Austin and Norwalk Community Col­ lege in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was awarded three public arts commissions with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Art Program and was co-artist on the largest public art project in Dallas, the Dallas Convention Center Public Art Project.

Vicki Meek currently spends time as Chief Operating Officer and Board Member of USEKRA: Center for Creative Investigation, a non-profit retreat for creatives in Costa Rica founded by internationally acclaimed performance artist Elia Arce. She is also Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson's at-large appointment to the Arts and Culture Commission and the Public Art Committee. Meek is represented by Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

Jonathan Norton Jonathan Norton's (he/him) work has been produced or developed by Actors Theatre of Louis­ ville (44th Humana Festival) Dallas Theater Center; Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pyramid Theatre Company, PlayPenn, Black and Latino Playwrights Conference, Bishop Arts Theatre Center; Kitchen Dog Theater; Soul Rep Theater Company, African American Repertory Theater; Undermain Theatre, Theatre Three, and South Dallas Cultural Center; National Performance Network, and National New Play Network. Jonathan's play Mississippi Goddamn commissioned and produced by the South Dallas Cultural Center was a Finalist for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and won the 2016 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award given by the American Theatre Critics Association. Other awards include: Artistic Innovations Grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, South Dallas Cultural Center Diaspora Performing Arts Commission, the TACA Donna Wilhelm Family New Works Fund, TACA Bowdon Family Founda­ tion Artist Residency Fund, and the Jubilee Theatre's 2019 Eastman Visionary Award. He serves as Playwright in Residence at the Dallas Theater Center.

RonAmber Deloney (aka DJ Skinpolitik) RonAmber Deloney (she/her) is a DJ, poet, and educator from Dallas, TX. A Fulbright alumnus to Germany, she works in project management and digital skills training and is completing a doctorate in Global Training and Development with NorthCentral University. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, traveling, and planning spoken word projects with her Berlin based band The New Night Babies.

Michael Lagocki Michael Lagocki (he/him) is an artist and facilitator with over two decades of experience helping organizations visualize important strategic conversations. His clients include some of the largest companies and best known speakers in the world. People talk about smart things and he draws engaging pictures to capture the experience. You can find out more about Michael and his work at MichaelLagocki.com.

TACA Perforum Committee C[yde Valentin, Chair & Creative Director Director, Ignite/Art:s DaUas at SMU Meadows Sdwo[ of the Art:s Terry D. Loftis Donna Wilhlem Family President & Executive Director,

Sara Cardona Visual Artist Executive Artistic Director, Teatro DaUas

Deborah McMurray Board Member, TACA - The Arts Community AUiance Founder, CEO & Strategy Architect, Content Pilot

Teresa Coleman Wash Founding Artistic Director, Bishop Arts Theatre Center

Greg Oertel Senior Programs Manager, TACA - The Arts Community AUiance

Zenetta Drew E.xecutive Director, Dallas Black Dance Theatre Erica FeliceLla Artist and Producer Executive Producer, AURORA Anne Marie Gan Interim Business Operations Manager, City of DaUas Office of Arts & Culture Megan Heber E.xecutive Director, Children's Chorus of Greater DaUas Nitashia Johnson Multimedia Artist and Educator Inaugural Artist-in-Residence, Juanita]. Craft House Tara Lewis Board Chair, TACA - The Arts Community AUiance

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ILknur Ozgur Founder & Director, ArtstiUery Darryl Ratcliff Artist, Poet, and Cultural Organizer Co-Founder, Gossypion Investments Co-Founder, Ash Studios Maura Sheffler Director of Programs, TACA - The Arts Community AUiance Jeremy Strick Director, Nasher Sculpture Center Elizabeth Wattley E.xecutive Director, Forest Forward Donna Wilhelm Board Member, TACA - The Arts Community AUiance

TACA Perforum History Since 2009, TACA Perforum has served as a forum to both identify and address needs in the North Texas arts and cu[tura[ community. Perforum is an annua[, community-wide conversation that convenes wcaUy- and nationaUy-renowned artists and arts professionais to discuss how we can advance arts and cu[ture in North Texas.

The TACA New Works Fund (2012), the TRG Arts Community Network: North Texas (2013), the TACA Artist Residency Fund (2015), and the AmpUfier Workshops (2015) are programs that have been iaunched to meet needs identified through historica[ Perforum conversations.

2009 Da[ias: The State of the Arts

2015 Socia[ & Cu[tura[ Barriers to Arts Engagement

2010 Artistic ExceUence, Creativity & Innovation

2016 Community Connections: Mode[s for Budding A Shared Vision for Arts & Cu[ture

2011 Audience Engagement 2012 Co[[aboration 2013 Indusion 2014 Sustaining & Supporting Artists

2017 Cross Sector Co[[aboration: Intersections Between Arts Organizations and the Broader Arts Ecowgy 2018 Meeting Community Needs 2019 Art Matters! The Arts Rdevance in Contemporary Cu[ture 2020 Rdevance, Reiationships & Reimagining

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2021�2022 TACA Board of Directors Purvi A[bers Chery[ Aiston Tracey Barday Wes Barnes Meredith Camp Mikne Carva[ho Sarah Cotton Neison Michad Da[ton A[an Dorantes Ariane Garcia Wanda Gierhart-Fearing Stephen Gdhoo[y ShaneHendricks

KimHext LareeHu[shoff DresdenHuston Sheiwn King CaroUne Koh[ Christopher LaGrone Tara Lewis* Terry D. Loftis Caro[ March Sonja McGiU Deborah McMurray Michad Meadows Sandra Moon Kathy Neison

Kate Newman Jim Nugent Ann Marie Painter Katie Robbins C[ayton Sands ]iU Tananbaum Regina Taywr Miche[[e Thomas Nick Weege Yvette W heekr Donna Wdhe[m Kurt Wo[ber Dawn Wright Ryne Young

* - denotes Board Chair AboutTACA TACA - The Arts Community ALLiance - supports excellence and impact in the arts through grant-making, capacity building, and thought leadership. We envision an innovative, indusive, sustainable cultural sector, recognized for its essential contribution to a vibrant, prosperous community.

TACA believes in the transformative power of the arts. Whether it's examining personal challenges or cele­ brating community diversity, art is a powerful agent of change. We exist to nurture and strengthen arts or­ ganizations and provide visionary and responsive leadership to the arts community. By providing funding and other important resources, Like professional development workshops, we aLLow arts organizations to spend less time on keeping their doors open and more time on running strong and effective programs that transform Lives through the arts.

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Terry Loftis, Donna Wilhelm Family President & Executive Director Lani Burgar, Director of Finance & Administration Charlie Crawford, Event & Development Coordinator Cameron Kirkpatrick, Director of Development & Marketing Greg Oerte� Senior Programs Manager Maura Sheffler, Director of Programs For more information, visit taca-arts.org or caLL 214.520.3930.

2021 TACA Grantees Resiliency Grants, Pop-Up Grants, Catalyst Grants American Baroque Opera Company Artstiller y AT&T Performing Arts Center Avant Chamber Ballet B. Moore Dance Ballet North Texas Bishop Arts Theatre Center Biue Candldight Music Series Bombshell Dance Project Bruce Wood Danee Cara Mia Theatre Co. Chamber Music International Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas Cr y Havoc Theater Company Dallas Bach Society Dallas Black Dance Theatre Dallas Center for Photography Dallas Chamber Symphony Dallas Children's Theater Dallas Contemporar y Dallas Museum of Art Dallas Summer Musicals Dallas Symphony Orche.stra Dallas Theater Center Dallas W inds Deep Vellum Publishing Fine Arts Chamber Players Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra IMPRINT Theatreworks

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Irving Symphony Orche.stra Junior Players Kitchen Dog Theater Company Lone Star W ind Orche.stra Lumedia Musicworks Make Art with Purpose, Inc. Nasher Sculpture Center Orche.stra of New Spain Plano Symphony Orche.stra Prism Movement Theater Sammons Center for the Arts Second Thought Theatre Shake.speare Dallas Soul Rep Theatre Company Teatro Dallas Texas Ballet Theater Texas W inds Musical Outreach The Cedars Union The Cube The Dallas Opera The Women's Chorus of Dallas Theatre Three TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND Turtle Creek Chorale Undermain Theatre Uptown Players Inc USA Film Fe.stival Verdigris Ensemble Inc Water Tower Theatre

ZERBINA WINES Poudly supporting the Arts Community in North Texas through our valued partnership with