Schedule: 2019 National Performance Network Annual Conference

Tuesday, December 10, 2019
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM	LANE Cohort Meeting LANE Cohort Only
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Registration Desk
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM	Culture Tour: Hannah Chalew studio tour Tour the studio of artist and activist Hannah Chalew, located on the Lafitte Greenway. The artist will discuss what it means to live in the age of climate change in Southern Louisiana, share her work and her sustainability-focused studio, and lead a paper-making demonstration. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Culture Tour: Bulbancha Indigenous Tour of Quarter A walking tour of the French Quarter that seeks to re-center the founding narrative of New Orleans on the area’s original inhabitants and highlight the vital role that indigenous peoples played in the founding and development of New Orleans as a city. Explore the rich pre-colonial history of “New Orleans” by retracing the footsteps of the many indigenous groups who flourished here before the arrival of Europeans, back when this land was called “Bulbancha.” Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Culture Tour: "Welcome to the AfroFuture" exhibition tour at the New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM) An exhibition at the New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM) showcasing contemporary work by artists, creatives, and designers engaging in the aesthetic of black spatial realities, imaginary spaces and black meccas. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM	National Partner Mingle Kick off the conference with a drink on us while connecting with your fellow NPN partners. NPN National Partners Only			Newbie Orientation New to the conference? Jumpstart your networking with fellow first-timers while learning how to get the most out of your conference experience.
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM	Opening Reception at the Contemporary Arts Center The National Performance Network is thrilled to welcome you to our Annual Conference in New Orleans! The CAC’s galleries will be open from 6:30-7:30pm, with exhibitions from Mickalene Thomas, Meg Turner, and Akosua Adoma Owusu. There will be a special excerpt performance at 8:00 pm from the NPN Creation Fund project, Taco Truck Theater / Teatro Sin Fronteras by José Torres-Tama & ArteFuturo Producitons. Lite bites will be served, cash bar.
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM	Welcome to the SWEET Suite Haven't had enough? Drop by our special concierge suite for nighttime networking.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM	Breakfast on Us! Continental breakfast provided to all conference attendees.
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Registration Desk
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Opening Session We’ll kick things off with an Artburst performed by New Orleans artist, A Scribe Called Quess?, followed by an engaging panel discussion, "We Are Here: Indigenous Perspectives on Place", organized by artist Monique Verdin, and a Welcome from our Board Chair, Shay Wafer, and President, Caitlin Strokosch. Click here for more session info.
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch Break & PLATICAS Pláticas, a term we learned from the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, are self-organized conversation spaces. We encourage participants to gather for deeper discussion and networking, by self-organizing in one of our allocated Pláticas spaces. Conversations can take whatever form needed from networking and deeper dialogue to caucuses, peer learning and affinity groups. Folks can gather around topics, identity, geographies or art-making. See registration desk for available spaces and an evolving list of conversations.			Artist Roundtable Luncheon 2019 NPN Artist Cohort; By Invitation Only
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Idea Forums Engaging 90-minute sessions exploring challenges, trends and innovative ideas in the field. Click here for more session info
3:45 PM - 5:00 PM	Afternoon Plenary with Art Talks & Artbursts We’ve asked artists to tell us about themselves, their art and how their work and lives intersect with activism—all in 10 minutes. This session will also include ArtBursts, excerpt performances by local and national artists. Click here for Art Talks & Art Bursts Info
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM	Dine Arounds or Dinner on Own Discover new friends and local dining hot spots through these delicious meetups organized by our Host Committee. Or grab dinner on your own! You can sign up for Dine Arounds at the registration desk.			Wednesday Live & Onstage Pre-Registration Required. Our signature production showcases performance excerpts from six local artists and companies, including NPN-supported projects. Click here for artist info
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM	The SWEET Suite Haven't had enough? Drop by our special concierge suite for nighttime networking.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM	Breakfast on Us! Continental breakfast provided to all conference attendees.
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM	Registration Desk
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	Morning Plenary: ArtBurst and In the Works We’ll kick things off with an Artburst performed by Shannon Stewart, followed by In the Works, a lively forum for conference attendees to share brief 60-second presentations describing new projects at any stage of development. This is an opportunity for all attendees - artists, presenters, colleagues, and funders - to discuss new commissions, creative works, organizational initiatives, opportunities, or other projects that may be in need of collaborators, producers, presenters, or assistance. All are welcome to participate! Guidelines for participation: First come first served! We have time for about 50 presenters. Interested attendees will be chosen at random from submitted forms, which must be dropped off at Registration by 5 pm on Wednesday, December 11 Stick to 60-seconds – you will be timed!
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM	Idea Forums Engaging 90-minute sessions exploring challenges, trends and innovative ideas in the field. Click here for more session info
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM	Lunch On Us! & PLATICAS Lunch is on us today, and will be served to all conference attendees. Pláticas, a term we learned from the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, are self-organized conversation spaces. We encourage participants to gather for deeper discussion and networking, by self-organizing in one of our allocated Pláticas spaces. Conversations can take whatever form needed from networking and deeper dialogue to caucuses, peer learning and affinity groups. Folks can gather around topics, identity, geographies or art-making. See registration desk for available spaces and an evolving list of conversations.			NPN Board Meeting NPN Board Only.
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM	NPN Partner Meeting NPN National Partners Only.			Peer-to-Peer Sessions Professional development sessions for artists, by artists. Click here for more session info
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Culture Tour: Congo Square: Feel the Drumbeat of New Orleans An in-depth cultural experience of the Afro-Caribbean variety within the historic congregational center of Congo Square in Armstrong Park. The tour includes an African drum and dance demonstration, illustrating how the African drum rhythms became the soul of New Orleans music as well as an overview of the history of Congo Square. Requires limited walking outdoors. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Culture Tour: Tour of Paper Machine A guided tour of Paper Machine, Antenna's center for printing and binding. The tour will include an introduction to the Artists Book Collection at Paper Machine, and a letterpress demo from The Southern Letterpress, as well as an overview of the publishing currently happening at Paper Machine. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Culture Tour: Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Ogden Museum of Southern Art holds the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art. Tour the Level Artist Collective exhibition, by five artists of color with deep ties to New Orleans (Ana Hernandez, Horton Humble, Rontherin Ratliff, John Isiah Walton and Carl Joe Williams); as well as the Louisiana Contemporary exhibition, featuring 23 local artists representing Louisiana's vibrant visual culture. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM	Dine Arounds or Dinner on Own Discover new friends and local dining hot spots through these delicious meetups organized by our Host Committee. Or grab dinner on your own! You can sign up for Dine Arounds at the registration desk.			Thursday Live & Onstage Pre-Registration Required. Our signature production showcases performance excerpts from six local artists and companies, including NPN-supported projects. Click here for artist info
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM	The SWEET Suite Last night to drop by our special concierge suite for nighttime networking. Be sure to grab a glass of Rosie’s Rum Punch to support the future of the Network. “$8, no change!”
Friday, December 13, 2019
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM	Breakfast on Us! Continental breakfast provided to all conference attendees.
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM	Registration Desk
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Morning Plenary: Closing Remarks, Art Talks, Art Slam We’ve asked artists to tell us about themselves, their art and how their work and lives intersect with activism—all in 10 minutes. They get the last word before we close things out. Click here for Art Talks and Art Bursts Info
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM	Lunch Break & PLATICAS Pláticas, a term we learned from the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, are self-organized conversation spaces. We encourage participants to gather for deeper discussion and networking, by self-organizing in one of our allocated Pláticas spaces. Conversations can take whatever form needed from networking and deeper dialogue to caucuses, peer learning and affinity groups. Folks can gather around topics, identity, geographies or art-making. See registration desk for available spaces and an evolving list of conversations.
2:30 PM - 5:30 PM	Culture Tour: Geographies of Black Displacement A walking tour from the French Quarter to the historic Treme community that traces the geographies of black dislocation, containment, displacement, and disposability in land-use planning, housing policy, and urban development. The tour starts with the formation of New Orleans as a carceral landscape of unfree labor and reproductive control built on the body, flesh, bones, and blood of African captives and their descendants-- and as a colonial enterprise rooted in the genocide and the thief of native lands. Highlights of the walking tour include (1) an examination of historical and contemporary patterns of property-led development, spatial segregation, and discriminatory housing practices; (2) discussions on post-Hurricane Katrina policies that made people disappear; and (3) a timeline, displacement zine, and maps. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby	Culture Tour: Bulbancha Indigenous Tour of Quarter A walking tour of the French Quarter that seeks to re-center the founding narrative of New Orleans on the area’s original inhabitants and highlight the vital role that indigenous peoples played in the founding and development of New Orleans as a city. Explore the rich pre-colonial history of “New Orleans” by retracing the footsteps of the many indigenous groups who flourished here before the arrival of Europeans, back when this land was called “Bulbancha.” Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Culture Tour: Studio Be Mural Tour/ Exhibition of African American & Latin American Artists at 3014 Studio Tour of Studio Be, the home of local artist Brandan 'Bmike' Odums' first solo project. The visual art housed in this 35,000 sq. ft. warehouse depicts the stories of revolutionaries, heroes and everyday New Orleanians. The tour will continue to the 3014 Studio in St. Claude to view a visual art group exhibition by African American & Latin American artists. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby		Workshop: New Orleans Dance Culture - Bounce, Twerk, and Vibe at Dancing Grounds A demonstration and discussions of New Orleans dance culture and history. Demo classes will feature Louisiana native culture bearers teaching a variety of traditional and contemporary Afro-diasporic dance styles, including TWERKSHOP, Bounce Fitness, Bounce ‘n Line, Second Line, and Caribbean DanceHall, inlcuding a conversation between participants and artists about New Orleans dance culture and history. Dance workshop. Participants should wear comfortable clothes to move in - ideally workout clothes and tennis shoes. Pre-Registration Required Transportation Provided Departs from Hotel Lobby
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM	Dinner on Own
8:00 PM - 11:00 PM	Closing Party at Ashé Power House Theater Celebrate the end of the Conference with bang, Co-hosted by Ashé Cultural Arts Center and Junebug Productions! Come dance the night away with new and old friends, including our annual dance contest! Transportation Provided A shuttle will depart from the conference hotel at 7:45pm and make returning routes to the hotel starting at 10:30pm. Lite bites will be served, open bar.