Name: Roundtable Discussion #4: Local Arts Agencies: Essential Infrastructure for Disaster Readiness, Response, and Recovery
Start: 2026-09-25T13:15:00-0400
End: 2026-09-25T14:00:00-0400

Roundtable Discussion #4: Local Arts Agencies: Essential Infrastructure for Disaster Readiness, Response, and Recovery

Friday September 25, 2026 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT

330D

Thousands of Local Arts Agencies (LAAs) exist across the United States, supporting artists and cultural organizations while working at the intersection of public systems and community life. Americans for the Arts (AFTA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recognize that LAAs are uniquely positioned to contribute to disaster readiness, response, and recovery. These organizations bring trusted relationships and expertise in cultural planning, grant-making, facilities maintenance, and healing arts programming that can be activated during any disaster. Yet this cultural infrastructureremains largely untapped in emergency management systems. There is a clear opportunity to address this gap in cross-sector partnerships by integrating LAAs as core collaborators in building more resilient communities.

This roundtable invites participants into a facilitated conversation with NEA and AFTA. The discussion will be grounded in the understanding that LAAs are critical to sustaining the systems of care, creativity, and belonging that help communities strengthen social connections and maintain identity. Through peer exchange and guided dialogue, participants will examine how LAAs build partnerships with emergency management offices and other sectors. Resources will be shared on how arts and cultural activity contribute to both economic and emotional recovery, with examples of LAAs acting to stabilize creative economies, reinvigorate community spaces, and support collective healing through artist-led programming such as story circles and memorialization. Through guided dialogue, participants will identify persistent barriers to effective cross-sector collaboration and develop solutions as a group.

The discussion will also consider how national leadership can further support this work, and attendees will leave with practical examples and partnership strategies that can be adapted and applied within their own communities. By sharing resources, best practices, and firsthand experiences, the roundtable will deepen understanding of how LAAs can be activated as essential care infrastructure during all stages of the disaster cycle.

Speakers

Mital Lyons-Warren

Programs Manager, Americans for the Arts

Hello! I work at Americans for the Arts, the leading arts and culture advocacy non-profit in the US. As a manager on the Programs team I support all things local arts agencies, aka LAAs. LAAs are vital infrastructure ensuring that the arts are part of a healthy thriving community... Read More →

Eleanor Billington

Civic Partnerships Manager, National Endowment for the Arts

Eleanor Billington is the Civic Partnerships Manager at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). She manages the local arts agency grant portfolio as well as the NEA’s disaster recovery and emergency preparedness work.

Friday September 25, 2026 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
330D Gatton Student Center, 160 Ave of Champions, Lexington, KY 40508

Roundtable Discussion, Healing Well-Being and Care as Infrastructure

Arts Disaster and Crisis Preparedness Conference 2026

Mital Lyons-Warren

Eleanor Billington

Attendees (5)

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Arts Disaster and Crisis Preparedness Conference 2026

Mital Lyons-Warren

Eleanor Billington

Attendees (5)

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