Call for Proposals

Creative Disruption in the Arts:
Politics, Entrepreneurship, and Social Impact

The theme for the 2017 conference is built around the multiple disruptive roles of the arts in foreseeing and responding to political dysfunction, in fostering Schumpeterian entrepreneurial advancement, and in reflecting the need for and enabling the attainment of positive social change.

  • In these politically fraught times, artists and their supporters can speak truths that capture fears and hopes of a divided populace in innovative ways. How does the dawning era of “alternative facts” shift the role of the arts?
  • Cultural entrepreneurship has become a “thing” and we are interested in learning how and why the artistic component strengthens and shifts our broader cultural capital in the face of pervasive uncertainty.
  • We continue to explore how artists create social value in the moment, but we still have much to learn about the lasting influences of these change agents.

These are among the questions and issues implied by artistic disruption. We welcome proposals that address these as well as other topics:

  • Accessibility, social inclusion, cultural practices
  • Art and cultural participation, marketing, audience development
  • Arts learning, training, and labor markets
  • Arts management, business models, strategic thinking
  • Cultural/creative industries, market structures, and public policies
  • Community development
  • Cultural economics and impact assessment
  • Cultural policy at all levels
  • Festivals and events
  • Heritage policy and administration
  • Indigenous cultural practices
  • Popular and high culture
  • Society and evolving aesthetics
  • Others that you’ve thought of but we haven’t

Call for Proposals for 2017 is now closed.