Readiness Reimagined

Times of great disruption demand a rethink of how the arts can help communities prepare and heal while sustaining their own capacity to operate. With extreme weather events, generative and agentic artificial intelligence, and shifts in geopolitical alliances, preparedness is no longer merely the routine assembly of supplies, checklists, and protocols; it requires creative and adaptive practices in readiness.

The 2026 conference asks how the arts sector can work within and for our communities to reinterpret materials, repurpose spaces, and reimagine our processes in the face of emergencies and disasters.

Conference Themes

Healing, Wellbeing, and Care as Infrastructure

Through storytelling and creative practice, artists and cultural organizations provide essential emotional and psychological support that help communities process loss and disruption. Social networks built on trust and care make up an often-overlooked infrastructure that sustains disaster recovery. Examining how these practices and networks are formed, maintained, and activated provides a valuable lens for strengthening existing tools and strategies.

Arts and Mitigation

Proactively integrating arts and culture into community emergency planning establishes creative approaches to hazard reduction and addresses the resource and funding needs of community artists and cultural organizations. Disaster mitigation projects, such as art installations for flood control or folklife storytelling, leverage creativity and culture to improve community preparedness and support more holistic community recovery.

Resilience Education and Workforce Development

As disasters become more complex due to compounding events and cascading hazards, there is an increased need for educational programs and resources that integrate creative and cultural administration with emergency management practice and disaster science. Approaches that connect the arts and cultural heritage sector with emergency management education can strengthen community resilience by supporting processes that reflect local social, economic, and cultural dimensions of disaster risk.

Creative Skills in Emergency Management

Songwriting, woodworking, and dance are examples of creative expression that mirror the technical discipline, improvisation, and imagination required to navigate all phases of the emergency management lifecycle: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. This creates a unique space where the arts can actively shape our communities’ capacity to respond, adapt, and transform beyond disruptions. 

Proposals addressing these concepts are encouraged; however, submissions that explore related or alternative approaches are also welcome. 

Conference Sessions and Formats

• Presentations (20 minutes): Focused talks sharing research, case studies, or applied practices.

• Panel (60 minutes): Moderated conversation featuring multiple perspectives on a shared topic.

• Speaker-Style Training or Workshop (60 minutes): Interactive, skill-based session led by one or more facilitators.

• Movement/Dance/Improvisation/Acting Workshop (60 minutes): Experiential sessions using embodied and performance-based practices.

• Roundtable Discussion (60 minutes): Facilitated dialogue emphasizing peer exchange and collective learning.

• Demonstration (60 minutes): Live presentation of tools, methods, or creative processes in practice.

• Poster Session (60 minutes): Visual presentations highlighting projects, research, or works in progress.

Pre-Conference

Pre-conference sessions take place the day before the main conference and are designed for extended, immersive engagement. These sessions allow facilitators and participants to work deeply with practices, tools, and collaborative approaches that benefit from additional time beyond standard conference sessions. 

Pre-Conference Tracks

Track 1: Arts, Health, and Wellbeing in Disaster Recovery

This track invites proposals that explore how arts and cultural practices support health, healing, and wellbeing during disaster recovery. Proposals may address individual and collective care, community connection, and long-term recovery processes, and should emphasize hands-on, practice-based, or applied learning. Relevant topics include creative movement and arts therapies, public health–informed interventions, research-based recovery tools and toolkits, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Submissions may reflect partnerships among artists, cultural organizations, health professionals, and emergency management practitioners working across diverse communities.

Track 2: Arts and Cultural Response Networks

This track invites proposals focused on the formation, organization, and evolution of arts and cultural response networks. These networks often emerge organically following disasters and are sustained over time to support response and recovery in collaboration with emergency management agencies and public-sector partners. Proposals may examine governance and coordination models, administrative structures, sustainability, growth, or adaptation, and may draw on case studies, field experience, emerging practices, or reflective analysis.

Pre-Conference Session Formats

Submitters may propose the following formats:

• Train-the-Trainer and Hands-On Workshops (2–4 hours): Skill-building sessions designed to equip participants to apply and teach practices in their own contexts.

• Peer-Learning Cohorts (half day): Facilitated small-group exchanges centered on shared challenges, experience, and collective problem-solving.

• Creative Practice Labs (half day): Experiential sessions for testing, adapting, and refining creative or arts-based practices.

• Training or Certification Sessions (half day or full day): Structured instruction aligned with specific competencies, credentials, or professional standards.

• Site Visits and Field-Based Learning Experiences (half day or full day): Guided, place-based learning opportunities highlighting real-world practices and partnerships.

Proposals will be accepted until March 13.