Arts Disaster and Crisis Preparedness Conference 2026

Arts Organizations across the globe are now faced with consistent threats. These issues span from ecological disasters to cultural shifts, economic uncertainties, and technological hazards. And that’s just outside. In addition, these often struggling companies and nonprofits face a particularly daunting task of not only protecting its often invaluable properties on the premises, but at times, protecting intangible assets and the culture of a certain community itself. From outside threats to internal vulnerabilities, events that cause trauma (collective or otherwise) also impact the interpersonal aspect of our work, including staff morale and development, community engagement and partners, donors, etc. That is a lot to consider when it comes to preparing for the worst.


But, it’s not all doom and gloom. With increasing scholarly rigor and practice in the field, preparedness and resilience is
becoming a relevant topic for academics and practitioners alike. This presentation seeks to build on this necessary work and help equip our organizations to not only survive an event of any magnitude, but be able to consciously thrive and learn, collectively, in its aftermath. Together, we’ll investigate several pathways through which arts organizations can collaborate to build measurable indicators of resilience, which demands systems engagement and communication (i.e., staff to staff, community partners, national networks, grants and funding models, etc.). Ultimately, these constructed measures lead to a pragmatic conclusion and/or solution, which is at once feasible and adaptable for all
participating stakeholders.


We will explore these measures, review ideations of resilience, define dynamic resilience and organizational equilibrium as a communal goal, and proffer a call to action for the arts sector to prepare and equip. It is critical that the arts and culture industry continues to fulfill its collective and singular missions so that when we are in need (and even when we’re not) we have a space to heal, help, create, and evolve together.