The Kansas Arts Councils Symposium brings together emerging and established arts councils, organizations, and artists from around Kansas to facilitate professional development, partnership, and celebration of the arts in our communities.
Salina Arts & Humanities and the Kansas Arts Commission are hosting the 2024 Symposium at Theatre Salina in Salina, KS, on October 9 & 10.
Theater Salina is located at 303 E. Iron Ave., Salina, KS 67401.
Please contact sah@salina.org with any questions.
In this interactive session, Julia Fabris McBride combines lessons from a career in and adjacent to the arts with Kansas Leadership Center’s powerful leadership framework. Get a new perspective on leadership and discover how to make more progress on your toughest challenges. Find inspiration from one another to build an arts community where everyone leads.
Julia Fabris McBride is Chief Learning and Development Officer at the Kansas Leadership Center and co-author of When Everyone Leads. She started her working life as an actor and playwright in Chicago. She was a member of the team that founded About Face Youth Theatre, a project now in its 26th year that blends theatre, social justice, and collaboration to lift the voices of LGBTQ+ youth. Before moving to Kansas in 2006, Julia served as deputy director of the Illinois Arts Alliance, an arts advocacy and service group that put her in touch with artists from every corner of the state. She lives in rural Matfield Green, Kansas, where her family has established the Matfield Station PrairyArt sculpture path and where they have had the pleasure of providing lodging for the Tallgrass Artists Residency.
Unlock the secrets to successful fundraising for arts organizations in this interactive workshop. Explore the fundamentals of fundraising with practical strategies for building trust and securing vital donations. Learn how to build and maintain trust with your donors and foster a vibrant culture of philanthropy. This workshop is ideal if you’re new to fundraising, whether staff, board, or volunteer. You’ll gain practical skills to enhance your fundraising efforts and ensure long-term support for your artistic endeavors.
Williams is the Founder and President of Dandelion Consulting. With a career spanning over two decades in the nonprofit sector, Brian’s journey began in 2003 at the United Way of Metro Chicago, where he successfully raised millions, collaborating with major corporations and influential donors. His diverse experience includes working with large and small nonprofits and championing causes in the arts, LGBTQ, and houselessness spaces.
Members of your board of directors are stewards of your organization. But what does that mean? Do you have the right people on your board? Are they taking care of the right things? This session will cover many aspects of board development and governance, from recruiting new members to board orientation and evaluations. In addition, we will leave plenty of time for your questions.
Wampler is the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Kansas City Ballet, where she leads the philanthropy team, raising millions annually for operating, endowment, and capital needs. She was instrumental in raising $38 million for the Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity and is currently near the end of a $20 million endowment campaign. Jennifer previously raised $48 million for UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance. A Certified Fund-Raising Executive and Senior Fellow at UMKC, she is president of the board of the Arts Council of Johnson County, a member of the Lenexa Arts Council, and a board member of Missouri Citizens for the Arts.
Artist residency programs come in all shapes and sizes and offer endless possibilities for hosting creatives in your community. Have you ever thought about starting an artist residency program but aren’t sure where to begin? Join Kelly to learn about different types of residency programs and some best practices to consider when starting one of your own. Kelly is the founder and lead administrator of the Kansas Arts Commission’s Tallgrass Artist Residency, which has hosted 78 artists from 20 states (and Canada) since 2016.
Yarbrough works within an ecosystem of mixed-media drawing and painting, arts administration, and socially engaged projects directly inspired by the prairie ecosystem. She enjoys collaborating with ecologists and educators, speaking to audiences, and teaching in the classroom or the field. Kelly holds an MFA from Kansas State University and founded the Tallgrass Artist Residency in 2016. She is a Field Representative and Art & Environment specialist for the Kansas Arts Commission, a facilitator for Artist INC, a trained Konza Prairie docent, and a 2021TEDx Austin College speaker.
The federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act is not just for Native artists. With a long history, the act is in the limelight today more than ever. This presentation will discuss the proper ways to label work, identify the artist in catalogs, and appropriately present Native American art and artists to the public. If you are a gallerist, a dealer, a collector, or an artist, you are obligated to be aware of and comply with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act to potentially avoid significantly high fines and lose your reputation.
LaRue-Baker is a Cherokee Nation citizen and a member of the Kansas City Cherokee Community. She was taught basketry skills by Sandy Long, Thelma Vann Forrest, and Anna Sixkiller. With work in the permanent collections of several museums and frequently shown in various art shows around the country, she is also the gallerist and owner of 785 Arts LLC, a Department of the Interior-listed Native American art gallery, the founder of the DoPiKa Project, and serves on several art organization boards.
Artists are the center of the conversation in this workshop, which explores how we work together to affect change in our communities. Facilitators will support the discussion from the perspective of working with artists. Participants will be encouraged to celebrate success and share areas in which they struggle.
Carswell is a musician, organizer, and cultural producer. He has been performing professionally for 25 years in his native Ireland and across the US Midwest. His main creative output is as a songwriter and frontman for the alt-rock five-piece Carswell & Hope. Nick has also made award-winning short films, produced radio programs, and created large-scale public art projects in Lawrence and Kansas City. He’s on the Kansas Arts Commission team and is focused on music ecosystems.
Hammerschmidt (Salina) is the Arts Services Coordinator at Salina Arts & Humanities. Contributing to initiatives and programming in the local foods community in Lawrence, KS for nearly a decade, Hammerschmidt developed an understanding that intentional policy work can be the catalyst for healthy, thriving communities, a foundational belief which she brings into her arts administration projects. As a visual artist, she has a love for printmaking with a mixed media approach, with work shown regionally, and internationally.
Brimhall is the author of five poetry collections whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The New Republic, Orion, New York Times Magazine, and Best American Poetry. She’s
received fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the National Parks Service, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Academy of American Poets. She currently serves as Poet Laureate of Kansas.
Spicer has been the Executive Director of Theatre Salina for 27 years, doubling its footprint and earning eight national awards. With 45 years in theatre, he has directed over 180 productions and received the David C. Bryant Award and the Art Cole Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been on the boards of the Association of Kansas Theatres, the Texas Non-profit Theatre Association, and the American Association of Community Theatres.
Estrada is a dance educator, choreographer, and arts administrator with an MFA from Temple University. Her work, rooted in contemporary movement and improvisation, has been commissioned by various institutions and performed nationally. Currently, she teaches at Wichita State University and is the Managing Director of Harvester Arts.
Explore and share strategies and tools with peers from communities with similar capacities and resources. This workshop will help build connections across the state and equip arts leaders to make a difference in their communities. Participants can choose to identify with one or more elements of the grouped conversations.
Hale is the Executive Director of the Norton Regional Health Foundation and the president of the Norton County Arts Council. She volunteers for several local and regional organizations, including the Kansas Rural Center, Norton Farmers Market, and Norton County Farm Bureau. Caryl’s passion for celebrating rural life is woven into her work and volunteer efforts, cultivating art and culture opportunities for her corner of the state.
Depew is a booking agent, leadership coach, facilitator, designer, and mom. She tours with her husband and three kids throughout the Midwest and beyond while teaching her girls and creating personalized logo designs and marketing material for nonprofits and small
businesses. She also has a poetry book titled Beet Greens.
Weisbrod Morris is an artist, consultant, and advocate for arts education. With a BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and having studied with Edith Kramer to receive an MA from New York University, she specializes in community-centered cultural programming. Margaret has developed multidisciplinary artist residencies and educational programs in theater, visual art, and dance. She pioneered a nationally recognized STEAM curriculum and has served as a panelist for the US Department of Education, National Endowment for the Arts, and other major arts organizations.
We have a limited number of $100 travel stipends available to Symposium attendees from rural communities with populations under 50,000 and located more than 30 miles from Salina.
To apply, email sah@salina.org with your name and address by October 4. Stipends will be distributed at the event. Thanks to M-AAA for funding this year’s travel stipend and KAC for partnering to help make the Symposium affordable.
Courtyard by Marriott Group Rate – available until September 8, 2024.
Rates starting at $125
Use the website link to book online: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1711728682385&key=GRP&app=resvlink.
Symposium attendees may also call the Courtyard by Marriott at 785-309-1300 and speak to the front desk to book their room.
Homewood Suites Group Rate – available until September 8, 2024.
Rates starting at $145
Use the website link to book online:
Symposium attendees may also call the Homewood Suites at 785-515-2600 and speak to guest services to provide them with the group code.