Braver Conversations

Our sector is navigating fluctuating uncertainty and the demand for equity in overlapping systems. Many people in the existing system find it difficult to imagine their place in a new reality while continuing to hold the current system together.

These conversations are an invitation to join peers to discuss and re-imagine what our new reality could look like. Participation is open to everyone. These are difficult topics and we are aware that some folx may not have the capacity to participate at this time. These spaces include a combination of journaling, workshopping, and group conversations.

These conversations began in 2020 and continue. They are presented as a free series anyone can join. In the past 4 years, we have hosted over 40 conversations engaging hundreds of participants from across the province.

Living in uncertainty

Recognizing that the arts ecosystem is in crisis right now, we are all planning for multiple realities at the same time as Covid restrictions change. How do we have the capacity to continue to do this? What needs to change? How do we keep going?

What does Touring and presenting art and music in BC look like now?

With the continued challenges of navigating pandemic restrictions and concerns about sustainability and climate uncertainty how can artists ethically tour and presenters book events? We will share models we have seen working and hope to harness the wisdom of the room to co-create new possibilities.

Hospice of a system in transition

Many people are realizing that there are elements of the system that seem to be outdated and are falling away. How are we able to help hospice the people and organizations that hold our knowledge and history while working towards equity and creating spaces of belonging

Is it possible to decolonize our granting system?

Many funders have been doing the deep work of trying to embed equity into their applications and reporting. In the end however, granting is still a process rooted in colonialism.

This conversation will explore this paradox and present other global models for discussion.

Imagining a new arts Ecosystem

This is an invitation to visionaries. What could a new arts ecosystem look like? Describe a future that you could get excited about. If we do not imagine a new reality, we will default back to what we already know. This will be an interactive workshop where the sky is the limit!

Is the BC Arts ecosystem more equitable now?

Has there been significant change in the arts sector in the past year? What has been implemented to make the system more equitable? How is it helping? Where is is not? Whose voices are being heard? Where is exclusion still happening?

Gather, listen, discuss honestly and imagine futures together.