By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota
Amazing arts and culture projects are happening all across South Dakota but arts organizations and their leaders are spread out and often isolated from colleagues. The Arts Leadership Institute, sponsored by Arts South Dakota, has been created to support those who are doing the critical work of fostering local creative communities. Join us April 29-30 in Sioux Falls and come together with arts leaders, trainers and panelists from across South Dakota. Learn more about developing audiences by providing accessible experiences created in collaboration with each unique community.
Additional institutes will take place on future dates, providing deep dives into a changing set of topics of interest to many different types of cultural organizations and their staff, volunteers, boards and more. Equally important, Arts Leadership Institute sessions will provide time to gather with arts colleagues to help strengthen the arts ecosystem across the state.
Arts organizations work hard to make an impact by creating programming with local communities—not just for the community—to broaden the reach of creative programs and develop new audiences. One key factor to providing these types of experiences is accessibility. The 35th anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act this year is a great time to revisit conversations surrounding accessibility with lessons that apply to helping your whole community feel welcome and engaged, including physical accessibility, representation and cross-cultural conversations.
Tailored to both rural and non-rural organizations, the Arts Leadership Institute sessions will feature practical tools to expand audiences and create even more vibrant organizations across the state. Respected trainers will provide valuable information and opportunities to network with arts colleagues, along with helpful resources and follow-up cohorts to help implement what participants have learned.
Contact Arts South Dakota Community Development Director Andrew Reinartz at Andrew@ArtsSouthDakota.org with any questions. Visit www.ArtsSouthDakota.org to learn more and register for the 2025 Arts Leadership Institute!
