[DEADLINE EXTENDED] 2023 GIA Conference: Call for Sessions

Grantmakers in the Arts is eager to welcome you – finally - to San Juan! Following a pivot late in 2021, we postponed the in-person experiences to 2023, and here we are! While much has occurred in the interim, many of the complex and layered systems remain, as do the communities and organizing efforts led by artists, culture bearers, and grantmakers. As we look toward the future – a future that must be more equitable and just – we must also reflect on how the past informed our path to here.

Puerto Rico, La Isla del Encanto, and its people shape and are shaped by place and environment, history and geopolitics, a complex colonial history and ever-lasting political situation define its status as a US territory, the ancestors of our legacies – Taíno, African, and European – and diverse social and cultural narratives of an island and a diaspora.

We look to San Juan for energy and inspiration, creativity and struggle. While we do this, the creators who supply that source of relief at the end of a long day are succumbed to the inequities of the labor force, affordable space and access, asset ownership, and the nonprofit industrial complex. How are we, as stewards of wealth and holders of power, using our imaginations to build a present and future that will redress past and present struggle?

Artists and activists were among the many calling for change, and they continue lead the way for imagining different relationships of belonging in new futures with a spirit of combativity that lingers among Puerto Ricans’ daily brega, a way of living without a doubt. Join us November 5-8, in San Juan, to reunite with the GIA community and shape a future that centers culture and justice.

How are we showing up?

As GIA prepares to host the 2023 annual conference in Puerto Rico for the first time, there are a few points we’d like you to join us in considering:

Keep in mind the histories and models of extraction within the U.S. and our field

• How can this engagement seed a long-term relationship?
• When can we return?
• What can we leave behind?
• Where can we invest? Over how long can we invest?

Keep in mind the U.S. history of colonization

• Our local colleagues are the leaders. Let them lead.
• Ask our local colleagues how they want us to engage.
• Try to accommodate our local colleagues’ preferences.

Keep in mind health and safety

• Ask what precautions our local colleagues and community members want us to take and take them.
• Follow the lead of local authority and the host hotel regarding health precautions.
• We encourage you to prepare yourself for safe travel before coming to Puerto Rico by taking advantage of your access to vaccines, following local and national recommendations for public health, including wearing a mask and physically distancing.
• Bring only passion, excitement, and a commitment to equity and justice. Anyone feeling unwell, presenting with flu-like symptoms, or testing positive for Covid-19, please do not attend, and reach out to the GIA team at gia@giarts.org for support with whatever refund is possible.

What to know before you submit?

How to Propose Conference Sessions

1. Review the GIA Conference Session Guidelines for information about types of sessions, session priorities, travel and honoraria policies, ticket fees, and other important guidance for a successful session proposal submission.
2. Log in to your account on the GIA website and select the 2023 Conference Proposal Form link on the left. Submit the form no later than Friday, March 31, 2023 at 5pm EDT. For assistance with user accounts, click the Create new account or Request new password links on the login page or contact the GIA team at gia@giarts.org.
3. After the conference committee has selected the sessions, we will contact session organizers individually to ask for more details. The GIA team and conference committee will work with session organizers, as appropriate, to identify any local resources needed.