WESTAF Update Notes #85 | October 2015
Mai Anthony Radich, Luna Hoʻokele

This is the 85th in a continuing series of updates about the work of WESTAF

Performing Arts Discovery Advisory Committee Formed
The NEA-initiated and funded Performing Arts Discovery project is moving forward. WESTAF has partnered with the Western Arts Alliance (WAA), the region’s stand-alone presenter service organization, to realize the project’s goals. One of the first action steps is convening an advisory committee in Denver October 29-30. The committee, composed of experts from the United States and abroad, will advise WESTAF and WAA on the most productive methods for cultivating and activating presenters from abroad who could be prompted to present performing arts groups from the United States.
Members of the Performing Arts Discovery Advisory Committee are: Michael Alexander, Executive Director, Grand Performances, Los Angeles; Winsome Chow, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Development Council, Hong Kong; Karen Fischer, President, Pasifika Network, Wailuku, Hawai’i; Jun Geng, CEO, AC Orange, Guangdong, China; Cindy Hwang, Senior Associate, Concert Artist Guild, Los Angeles; Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Executive Director, ASU Gammage, Tempe; Margo Kane, Artistic Managing Director, Full Circle, First Nation Performances, Vancouver, British Columbia; Joe Randel, Director, ArtesAmericas, University of Texas, Austin; Ángel Igor Lozada Rivera Melo, Secretary, Linking and Cultural Dissemination, University of Guadalajara, Mexico; and Renee Williams Niles, Vice President of Programming, The Music Center, Los Angeles.
Participants in Annual Emerging Leaders of Color Seminar Selected
WESTAF’s fifth annual Emerging Leaders of Color Seminar will be hosted in Denver October 26-28. With the advice of members of its Multicultural Advisory Committee and program alumni, WESTAF has selected a diverse group of 16 cultural leaders committed to advancing the arts in the West to participate in the seminar this year. Participants are invited to attend the seminar at no cost, with travel and lodging expenses paid by WESTAF. Program faculty includes long-time arts administrator Margie Johnson Reese; Salvador Acevedo, principal and president of the San Francisco-based consulting firm Contemporánea; and WESTAF Trustee Tamara Alvarado, Executive Director of the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose. Learn more about the program here.
Planning Underway for WESTAF’s Fifth Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminar
WESTAF will bring 50 arts advocates to Washington, D.C. February 2-4 for its annual advocacy and leadership seminar. The purpose of the seminar is for participants to learn more about federal arts funding and to communicate the value of federal support for the arts to their members of Congress. Each year, the group receives briefings regarding the status and future of federal arts funding, hear reports on programmatic developments at the NEA, and meet with non-arts experts who work with federal-level issues. Learn more about WESTAF’s Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminar HERE.
IMTour.org™ Coming Soon!
WESTAF will soon launch its newest technology project, IMTour™, a web-based system created to facilitate the booking of contemporary independent musicians by nonprofit presenters. The site will allow nonprofit presenters to apply online for funds channeled through state, public, and private organizations for the presentation of an adjudicated IMTour roster artist. The site was developed in conjunction with WESTAF’s IMTour grant program, which offers grants to nonprofits and resources to touring independent musicians, including professional development, exposure to new audiences, and shows at new venues. For more information, contact Madalena Salazar.

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