A conversation Leading from the Audience

ArtsEmerson and ArtsBoston presented Leading from the Audience: a Conversation with Susan Peevy and Candelaria Silva-Collins livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound.TV network on Monday 23 October at 6:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 5:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 3:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco).

Moderated by David Dower, Co-Artistic Director of ArtsEmerson.
With special commentary from Victoria George, ArtsBoston Audience Lab Director and Founder of the Network of Arts Administrators of Color.

For over twenty years Susan Peevy and Candelaria Silva-Collins have brought African American audiences en masse to attend theatre and arts events in Washington DC and Boston. Peevy, who hails from Washington DC, and Boston's own Silva-Collins are two women whose childhood love for the arts—infused in them by their elders—inspired them to share the joy they've experienced with their larger communities.

Leading From the Audience: A Conversation with Susan Peevy and Candelaria Silva-Collins is an opportunity to hear from two audience-cultivation experts who, on their own volition, “raised their hands” from the crowd to lead this movement. Through their work, they empower people to attend more arts events and educate arts administrators on how to build healthy and productive partnerships between community and institutions.

Topics covered will include developing African American audiences and audiences of color, all the while keeping in mind this essential question: How can we welcome people into our spaces while acknowledging who they are, where they come from, and treating everyone with equal respect?