Arts Disaster and Crisis Preparedness Conference 2026

This forum is designed as an invited, in-person gathering to bring together national leaders in cultural response with leaders of arts and cultural response networks to discuss the formation, management, and sustainability of cultural response mapping tools that help identify and communicate disaster impacts on cultural heritage sites across their service areas.  These maps address a critical need for US federal, state, and local jurisdictions by providing a centralized reporting mechanism to track losses of arts and cultural heritage from disasters, as well as a support infrastructure to advocate for disaster resources for arts, cultural, and creative assets. 

Participants will complete a pre-survey in July 2026 to help document the purpose, functions, partners, platforms, and maintenance practices of current mapping efforts. The forum’s facilitators will use the findings from this initial survey to identify cross-network patterns and key points of divergence, which will then be discussed at the forum to help frame the convening's shared purpose and outcomes.

The facilitators for the forum will include representatives from leading national agencies in arts and cultural response networks: the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC)’s Alliance for Response, the Smithsonian’s Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI), the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER), and the Performing Arts Readiness Project (2017-2025). The University of Kentucky’s Arts Emergency and Disaster Research Initiative (AEDRI) will assist with research efforts before and during the convening in data collection, analysis, and outcomes.

The forum’s agenda includes a full-group discussion of the survey’s findings, roundtables to support knowledge exchange among networks on mapping efforts, and a culminating discussion of mapping patterns, emerging principles, and best practices. Outcomes of the forum will include a formal white paper and future working groups for networks to continue building on mapping efforts.