Located in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center presents the best touring Broadway and performing arts productions from around the world. As president, Maria Van Laanen leads a dynamic team dedicated to delivering the Center’s mission of serving as a gathering place for the community to engage in educational opportunities and enhance understanding and enjoyment of life through the creation and presentation of the arts. “I am a passionate believer in the power of the arts to inspire and uplift an individual to see and reach for a life beyond their current circumstances and to gain a sense of community and belonging. When you scale that up to a community level, the arts have the power to bring people together in a unique way where they are willing to experience different viewpoints or ideologies in a way that might lead to understanding and acceptance.” 

A Director Emeritus and former Board member of Americans for the Arts, Brigadier General Nolen V. Bivens, U.S. Army Ret., is currently serving as our Interim President and CEO. He serves as Chair, National Leadership Advisory Council for the National Initiative for Arts & Health Across the Military, and Military community advisor for the National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network Creative Forces program, among other roles. “As a senior military leader, I had to find answers to problems that traditional military training didn’t prepare me to deal with. Getting service members to address personal trauma was one of those problems. Following tours in Iraq and training to return, it became apparent to me that service men and women weren’t always taking care of themselves. Individuals who encountered some great trauma were not taking advantage of medical resources and it was showing up in all sorts of ways—from ever increasing suicides to family violence. They weren’t taking advantage of the traditional therapies available for various reasons such as fear of losing their clearances or being stigmatized as a weak leader. I found that many of them simply wanted to engage in activities which would free their minds of the stress they were experiencing. The arts were a way to do this without telegraphing the need for help.” 

Sasha Dobson has been the outreach coordinator for the Lied Center for Performing Arts since 2012. She serves as the primary project manager for the Master Classes for university students and community members, Pre-Performance Talks, and the Performance Fund program, which offers free tickets to youth in the community and their summer high school programs (Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive and the Lied Center Piano Academy).

This series features the many Americans for the Arts members doing transformative work for arts education, public art, advocacy, arts marketing, and more. An Americans for the Arts Membership connects you with this network of more than 6,000 arts leaders and gives you access to latest professional development and research. 

Located in the historic 1850s gold rush town of Jacksonville, Oregon, Britt Music & Arts Festival is the Pacific Northwest's premier outdoor summer performing arts festival. Since 1963, Britt has annually presented dozens of summer concerts, featuring world-class artists in classical music, jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, world, pop, and country music. President and CEO Donna Briggs oversees a full-time staff of 14 and seasonal staff of 45, manages the operations of a four-month summer music festival, and maintains relationships with internal and external stakeholders along with future supporters.

Lawren Desai is the executive director and curator of a/perture cinema in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In January 2020, a/perture cinema celebrated its 10th anniversary of serving the Winston-Salem community the art of film and providing a communal cinematic experience. As an art house cinema, a/perture’s mission is to entertain and engage the community through the art of film by showcasing informative, educational, thought-provoking, and inspiring films—the films that enrich our lives, engage our minds, promote diversity, and build community. Desai spoke with us about the inception of a/perture cinema, the organization’s adaption to COVID-19, as well as the organization’s plans going forward. 

When I look into the future, my vision is a little blurry. The year 2020 caused me to reflect in a way I never have before. In a year of uncertainty, the last thing I would like to be is unsure of my path. My wariness mirrors my feelings towards the arts and culture field, which is my career focus. The arts are struggling as performance venues, museums, dance centers, and so many other large and small arts organizations closed their doors due to COVID. Not only do the arts have to navigate the current state of the world, but there is another issue that plagues the field, namely racial inequity. Along with the pandemic, the ongoing conversation of race and the treatment and lack of representation of African Americans in the arts and entertainment sectors came to the forefront. Unfortunately, the demand for equality is still prominent, after years and years of constant toil. As much as I put my chosen career path on a pedestal, the arts struggle with this issue as well, making it harder for Black people to excel to higher positions or step foot in the door at all. You would think that a field that relies so much on diversity, and champions itself on representing different ideals and backgrounds, would have more representation. The sad truth is that the arts are far behind in the race for equality, equity, and inclusion.