Who’s Involved
The Art of Mass Gatherings presents a professionalization and networking opportunity for anyone who organizes large gatherings of people or would like to. Typical attendees include arts administrators, artists, event producers, community health workers, and emergency professionals, but the curriculum doesn’t require specific previous experience, making the program an excellent workforce development opportunity for veterans, students, people with prior involvement in the justice system, and many others.
A Collaborative Design Process
Every Art of Mass Gatherings is co-developed in collaboration with a local host committee. Host committee members help ensure the local relevancy and success of the symposium, tuning program content to meet community needs or advance specific outcomes for participants. Host committee members serve three primary roles:
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Provide input related to programming
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Identify and invite session presenters from within the community
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Spread the word about this opportunity to their networks
Events tend to look like their organizers, so ideally the host committee comprises a diverse mix of arts and cultural organizations, emergency service agencies, and subject specialists that’s inclusive of diverse demographics.
Participants
Our program curriculum does not require any previous certification or experience, making it a useful professionalization and workforce development opportunity for a diverse range of participants. At the same time, existing event and emergency professionals benefit from cross-sector knowledge and hands-on experience in safety, sustainability, accessibility, and community engagement: four factors critical to the success and resilience of any large gathering of people.
Led by our Accessibility Coordinator, we build universal design principles into every program from the start. Our curriculum specialists design any of our in-house workshops and resources with attention to neurodiversity and a variety of learning styles.
Typical attendees at past events have included arts administrators, artists, event producers, community health workers, government officials, and emergency professionals. We also welcome program applicants who would like to tailor a symposium for the needs of specific audiences, whether a specific government office, a festival’s volunteers, veterans, students, people with prior involvement in the justice system, or others.
How to Apply
Would you like to bring an Art of Mass Gatherings to your community? Applications must be submitted in collaboration with a local festival which will serve as the symposium’s living classroom.
Thanks to a grant from Performing Arts Readiness, we can offer a small number of symposia each year at no cost to your festival or community. View or download the application to learn more!