Co-Design + Collaboration + Creativity = Strengthened Arts Sector

Sunday, October 29, 3:45pm – 4:45pm

Organized and moderated by Paul Ternes, Program Officer, Peter Kiewit Foundation.

Presented by Brigitte McQueen Shew, Executive Director, The Union for Contemporary Art; and Carla Patterson, Principal, Patterson & Associates.

Funders are in the unique position to help strengthen their community’s arts sector and empower arts organizations to successfully lead the way. The solution may be working hand in hand with grantees to identify sector-wide needs, co-design capacity-building sessions, and leverage peer-to-peer learning. This approach shifts responsibility for content and design to a cohort of grantees and incorporates outcomes-based, mutual accountability between grantees and the funder. This session will share how it all works, lessons learned, results, and thoughts on how the approach might benefit local communities. This approach led to a seismic shift not only in how one foundation engages with grantees, but also in how the grantees themselves work collaboratively toward an arts sector where the arts do not just enhance community, they build community.