Organizational change is a real challenge. But it’s essential, given the radical new demands that face arts organizations today.

Join EmcArts and leaders in the NYC arts and culture community for a Creative Conversation about why change matters, how it works, the barriers, and how it impacts our work and our communities.

The conversation is called “Business Unusual” because we’ll be focusing on change that goes beyond improving business-as-usual. You’ll get the inside scoop on change initiatives that test out truly unconventional strategies, require a deep questioning of assumptions, and achieve surprising results.

Guest speakers Meghan McDermott from Global Action Project, April Lee from DIA: Beacon, and Lily Binns from Pilobolus, will give short, dynamic presentations and then we’ll discuss the successful ingredients to creating change and how frameworks can facilitate.

The conversation is open to anyone with an interest in change, innovation, adaptive capacities, and what it takes to make organizations thrive, including: practitioners, service providers, policy makers, academics, activists, and students.

Wine and light refreshments will be served! You're welcome to come as early as 6:30 for cocktails, snacks and conversation.

Guest Speakers

Lily Binns is the Co-Executive Director of Pilobolus, where she leads groups working on strategic planning, change management, development, branding, and communications, as well as collaborating on artistic and educational planning. Now entering its 42nd year, Pilobolus has transformed from avant garde dance company into an international entertainment organization, collaborating with diverse artists and thinkers, like Art Spiegelman, OK Go, Radiolab, the MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory, the creators of SpongeBob SquarePants, and many more. Pilobolus was founded on a commitment to collective process, and its mission to make art through the cultivation of community remains the driving force of its creative evolution.

April Lee is the Arts Eduction Associate at DIA: Beacon. Since its founding in 1974, Dia has been dedicated to supporting individual artists and to providing long-term, in-depth presentations of their art. Dia:Beacon’s expansive galleries have been specifically designed for the display of the artworks to which Dia is committed, many of which, because of their character or scale, could not be easily accommodated by more conventional museums. Each artist’s work is displayed in a dedicated gallery or galleries, many of which were created in collaboration with the artists whose works they will hold.

Meghan McDermott is the Executive Director at Global Action Project. Founded in 1991, Global Action Project has provided media-arts and leadership education for thousands of youth living in underserved communities across New York City and the country. Global Action Project’s mission is to work with young people most affected by injustice to build the knowledge, tools, and relationships needed to create media for community power, cultural expression, and political change.

EmcArts / ArtsFwd Team

The Conversation will be hosted by Karina Mangu-Ward (Director of Activating Innovation), Liz Dreyer (Manager of National Programs), Jonas Cartano (Director of Community Initiatives), and Piama Habibullah (Communications Manager & Online Producer).