In 2016, the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture started hosting Video Roundtables, virtual field meetings designed to provide opportunities for our members and partners to connect with one another, engage with the Alliance network, explore best and emerging practices across the media arts field, and facilitate creative collaborations between artists, technologists, nonprofit organizations, cultural institutions, and strategic industry partners.  While two years of COVID lockdown brought many of us to zoom burnout, at the Alliance it also led to some powerful work co-created across boundaries and generations. The National Youth Media Summit, Laboratorio en las Fronteras (American Arts Incubator), Futures We Dream (a Smithsonian partnership), and the National Day of Storytelling – all these programs emerged from the Roundtables.

As a national Media Arts Service organization, The Alliance is committed to holding space for transformative field-wide conversations, co-creation and action. We are excited to announce the launch of three intergenerational, cross-sector Communities of Practice to help mitigate the silos in which we often find ourselves, to nurture our connections and build shared purpose and solidarity.

Unlocking Creativity is a community of practice for media arts organizations and individual filmmakers, journalists, radio professionals and other media practitioners who work with currently and formerly incarcerated individuals and justice-impacted youth. Unlocking Creativity is a community that emerged from our award-winning Arts2Work program, with the goal of supporting sustainable career pathways and support systems for emerging media professionals.  Meets 4th Tuesdays, 1PM PT/4PM ET Register HERE

The Alliance Youth Media Network programs convene, connect, nurture and sustain strategic development in the Youth Media field. Youth Media Futures is a Community of Practice for youth media and creative youth development organizations to explore collective solutions to current challenges and to envision and co-create shared futures. Teaching artists and creative technologists as well as youth participants invited by their organizations are welcome.  Meeting time TBA. Register HERE

The Media/Arts Leaders community of practice is a “safe space” gathering for Executive Directors, Co-Directors, Program Directors, and other nonprofit organization leaders regardless of title, facilitated by Alliance Executive Director Wendy Levy. Creative leadership is an evolutionary and revolutionary practice; this community is a welcoming, supportive space for active listening, peer-to-peer mentorship, problem solving, and visionary world building. Meets quarterly, and more frequently as needed.  Register HERE