Vermont's arts and cultural sector, including artists, museums, historical societies, libraries, archives, and performing arts organizations, is as vulnerable to disaster as any other part of the state's infrastructure. For years, this sector lacked a coordinated voice in emergency preparedness and response.
This session traces the development of the Vermont Arts and Culture Disaster and Resilience Network (VACDaRN), a statewide initiative built to change that. VACDaRN grew out of a collaborative organizing process in 2018–2019, bringing together artists, archivists, conservators, emergency managers, historic preservationists, humanities organizations, and librarians to define shared priorities and lay the groundwork for a functional mutual aid network. What emerged was a partnership anchored by the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, and guided by a broad steering committee that reflects the full diversity of the state's cultural community.
Since its founding, VACDaRN has been tested by real disasters. The network mobilized resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and again following major flooding events in both 2023 and 2024; events that caused significant damage to cultural institutions and individual artists across the state. Each crisis has sharpened the network's tools, deepened its partnerships, and clarified what a small, rural state needs to protect its cultural heritage. This session will offer an honest look at the challenges and opportunities of building disaster resilience infrastructure in a rural context where geography, limited resources, and a dispersed population provide challenges. We will share what has worked, what hasn't, and what we are still figuring out.
Attendees will leave with practical insights applicable to their own communities and regions, whether urban or rural, large-scale or grassroots.
