Creative Professionals Exchange

In 2019, ASI created the Creative Professionals Exchange (CPX) to bring together individual artists and arts administrators to begin discussions about relevant issues and trends in the arts. This year, the COVID-19 health crisis has severely impacted our industry and has brought to the surface many of the systemic issues our community faces, including lack of access and inclusion within the arts sector. In order to remain relevant and viable, and to meet the changing priorities of funders and supporters, we must evolve and adapt our work and the way we approach our work.

Our 2020 conference theme of “Reimagining the Creative Industry” will explore how the arts can remain sustainable during this challenging time by helping support those communities that have been devastatingly impacted by COVID and left behind, and by ensuring all art is accessible to and representative of the entire community we live in.

We all understand the impact the arts have on our daily lives. The arts are more than 10,000+ full time equivalent Western New York jobs. They are more than the $352M economic impact on Western New York. The arts help us make sense of the world or help us escape from the world. They give us a channel to express ourselves and build our confidence as individuals. The arts build connections and networks, and develop our capacity for empathy. The arts are a source of healing. And now, more than ever, the arts are essential.

Through a series of conversations, presentations, and networking, we hope to inspire artists and arts administrators to evaluate their work and its impact on the community, consider which voices are missing, and find ways to include those missing voices in what they do. As leaders in our field, it’s our responsibility to support each other and lift each other up, and there is no better time to consider the impact of our work than during a global crisis.

We hope you’ll join us for this virtual conversation and be part of the movement to reimagine the creative industry. We can survive this and come out on the other side stronger – together.