Arts Disaster & Crisis Preparedness Conference

From Coachella to Carnivale, festivals sit at the crossroads of community, cultural tradition, and social transformation. As temporary towns and cities, they’re also windows into a community’s resilience against the impacts of extreme climate events, civil disruptions, and disaster.

Matthew Ché Kowal of Majestic Collaborations and Tom Clareson of Performing Arts Readiness will share lessons learned from the many Art of Mass Gatherings symposiums, festival/venue assessments, asset mapping, and resilience hubs sprints held across the US and Puerto Rico over the last six years. We consider the future trajectory future of workforce and infrastructure with "mass gathering resilience specialists” playing a key role in enhancing accessible and sustainable design.

Take Manageable Steps Towards Adequate Preparation
Presenter: Leah Craig
Disaster preparedness can be a daunting, overwhelming task. Learn manageable steps toward improving your disaster preparedness starting with yourself, working within your team, and influencing your organization.

Creativity in Adversity: Continuing “Pandemic-Era” Community Engagement Practices in the Dance Field Post-Pandemic
Presenter: EveMarie Bessenbach
The dance field should continue utilizing “pandemic-era” practices based on the unexpected, yet tremendous ability to
successfully foster community engagement and increase accessibility to dance - even during one of the most devasting
events in modern history.

The Heritage Emergency National Task Force
Presenter: Sarah Caruso
A partnership between FEMA and the Smithsonian Institution, the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF) provides resources and information to help cultural stewards, emergency managers, and the public protect cultural heritage sites and resources. In addition to assisting museums and other cultural institutions when their collections are damaged by an event, HENTF helps reduce disaster suffering by assisting the public in salvaging flood-damaged family heirlooms. This presentation will explore HENTF’s role in disaster response, examples of HENTF’s work, and how we advocate for the protection of cultural heritage across the United States.

Federal Legal Frameworks for Protecting Historic Sites
Presenter: Yuha Jung
This session explores the interplay between federal laws and FEMA's role in disaster response, focusing on historic preservation. It examines legal protections and resilience for historic sites, and integration of preservation priorities into disaster management amidst climate change.

This session is designed for individual artists and their workspaces. It provides an overview of the important personal and professional readiness actions and resources available for artists through CERF+, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund.