Senator Amy Klobuchar To Deliver Keynote Address At Advocacy & Financial Resilience Summit

Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for theatre, has announced that Senator Amy Klobuchar will deliver the keynote address at Advocacy and Financial Resilience:

A TCG Virtual Summit, held on Thursday, October 28th, from 1-4pm ET / 10am-1pm PT. Advocacy and Financial Resilience is the first event in Crisis and Transformation: 2021-2022 TCG Fall-Winter Season. This series will include virtual summits on Climate Action in a Global Landscape on December 9, 2021, and a TBD summit of activism in January, 2022.

Additionally, on November 13, 2021 TCG will partner with Jesse Cameron Alick on Emerging from the Cave: Artists Lead the Way, an invited, in-person forum inspired by a study conducted by Alick and The Sundance Institute, Emerging from the Cave: Reimagining Our Future in Theater and Live Performance. The forum, held from 9am-6pm ET in New York City, will acknowledge that artists are innovators, visionaries, and problem solvers, catalyzing fieldwide action to center their voices and leadership.

"We've reimagined our Fall Forum on Governance in response to the unique challenges and opportunities facing our field in this time of crisis and transformation," said Teresa Eyring, CEO and executive director, TCG. "We're especially excited to partner with Jesse Cameron Alick and his visionary study Emerging from the Cave, which rightfully positions artists at the center of how we move through this pandemic into a more just and thriving theatre ecology."

"Senator Amy Klobuchar was instrumental in passing the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants legislation, a core part of the federal relief funds accessed by theatres and theatre-makers," said Laurie Baskin, TCG's director of advocacy and lead programmer of the Advocacy and Financial Resilience: A TCG Virtual Summit. "Her keynote will help us build on the momentum of the largest federal investment in the arts in generations, and ensure those funds are equitably distributed."

"It's such an honor to get the chance to partner with TCG on the next phase of this conversation. Doing the original study with Sundance was a labor of love, but the entire time we knew it was only the first step on the road to seeing true transformation in our field," said Jesse Cameron Alick, the study's author. "We are so hopeful that the ideas that come out of this convening will have real impact."

The Crisis and Transformation: 2021-2022 TCG Fall-Winter Season includes:

• Advocacy and Financial Resilience:: A TCG Virtual Summit, Thursday, October 28, 2021, 1:00 - 4:00pm ET / 10:00am - 1:00pm PT: This fieldwide conversation will build on the momentum of our federal relief funding, and discuss financial modeling for unprecedented times. Speakers include: Senator Amy Klobuchar; Najean Lee, director of government affairs and education advocacy, League of American Orchestras; Heather Noonan, vice president for advocacy, League of American Orchestras; Tony Shivers, director of government affairs, Dance/USA and OPERA America; and Dr. Zannie Voss, director, SMUDataArts; Learn more here.
• Emerging from the Cave: Artists Lead the Way, A TCG Forum, Saturday, November 13, 2021, 9:00am - 6:00pm ET, New York City: In partnership with Jesse Cameron Alick, this invited, in-person forum will acknowledge artists as innovators, visionaries, and problem solvers, and catalyze fieldwide action to center their voices and leadership. Learn more about the Emerging from the Cave study here.
• Climate Action in a Global Landscape: A TCG Virtual Summit, Thursday, December 9, 2021, 1:00 - 4:00pm ET / 10:00am - 1:00pm PT: Coming off November's UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, this virtual gathering will build on TCG's inaugural Climate Action Summit in April of 2021, this time to collectively strategize how theatre can play an important role in the global response to the climate crisis. Learn more here.
• TCG Virtual Summit on Theatre as Activism, January 2022, more information forthcoming.

Through its convenings, TCG continues to serve as a connector for theatres to share best practices and new business and artistic models with one another. TCG presents plenary speakers, breakout sessions, workshops, and performances. Past keynote speakers have included leading artists and thinkers, such as Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Eric Liu, Edwidge Danticat, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jer Thorp, Anand Giridharadas, Samantha Power, Stephanie Ybarra, Mona Eltahawy, Jeff Chang, Jane McGonigal, Anna Deavere Smith, and Baratunde Thurston.

Jesse Cameron Alick is the author of the study Emerging from the Cave: Reimagining Our Future in Theater and Live Performance. Jesse is a dramaturg, producer, poet, playwright, essayist, artistic researcher and science fiction expert. He has worked at theaters and live performance venues across the country and the UK, and taught theater courses at a myriad of institutions of higher learning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.