The Southern Arts & Culture Coalition 2023 Launch & Convening
September 8-10 in Richmond, VA
Calling all Southern grassroots arts & cultural organizations!
Are you interested in building power for your organization alongside regional peers? Come dream and scheme with us!
The Southern Arts & Culture Coalition is excited to announce our inaugural convening happening September 8-10th, 2023 at Studio Two Three in Richmond, Virginia.
Our coalition formed in 2020 in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a group of 13 peers allied in our concern for the future of Southern arts and culture. Now, we are opening our doors broadly to Southern grassroots arts and cultural organizations to come together to envision and build the future of our work!
If you are part of a grassroots (community-level) arts and cultural organization in the regional South of the United States, you are invited to come connect, learn, share and build!
We’ll have:
*Kinship!
*Coalition Strategizing & Collaborative Building!
*Great food!
*Hands on workshops!
*Live Printmaking!
*Panel discussions!
*Good music & entertainment!
*...and more!
…Or do you just want to join us for our launch celebration?
We’ll be gathering at 6pm on Friday, September 8th at Studio Two Three (3300 W Clay Street) for music, dancing, food, and kinship to kick off the convening! We’ll have live printing with local printmakers Chilalay, live string band Dalton Dash, and food (an ice cream truck with free ice cream, My Empanada, and Soul N’ Vinegar)! This event is free and open to the public. Register and see more info here.
Convening Facilitators
Tanya Torp (she, her, hers) is an agent for social change and has spent her 25-year career engaging in community-based, people-centered initiatives as organizer, convener, speaker, listener, facilitator, writer, co-laborer, and consultant. Tanya is a Keynote speaker, workshop leader, and facilitator versed in a wide range of topics including strategic planning for nonprofits, volunteer activation, community liaising, and radical hospitality.
Tanya’s consulting style serves as a bridge taking her clients from vision to implementation, producing efficient and effective processes tailored to the mission, needs, and culture of an organization. Tanya is particularly interested in working with organizations with an eye towards amplifying the voices of the most directly impacted.
Additionally, Tanya has been the Executive Director of Step By Step, Inc. for the past 6 years after being hired to facilitate the transition of the organization from a founder-run initiative to deepening impact with a fresh new focus.
Tanya Torp
Joe Tolbert
Joe Tolbert Jr. (Joe T.) is a minister, scholar, writer and cultural organizer whose work is at the intersections of art, culture, spirituality and collective liberation. He received his B.S. in Communications from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and completed his M.Div. with a concentration in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York. His work has been supported by fellowships from National Art Strategies Creative Communities Fellowship, and the Intercultural Leadership Institute. His goal with his work is to help others live, dream, achieve, and inspire. Agreeing with Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons statement, “Art allows people to dream their way out of struggle,” Joe believes that art and culture plays a vital role in any movement for social change. As a Cultural Organizer and Consultant, Joe is a sought after facilitator and cultural strategist that works with communities to help them harness the power of art and culture through the building, implementation and evaluation of cultural strategies. As a writer he has contributed articles to Alternate Roots, Arts.Black, and Quiet Lunch, Applied Theatre with Youth, Cross Currents Journal among others.
Friday, September 8th, 2023
6:00pm: Studio Two Three artist open house and launch celebration!
Open bar
Live printmaking with Chilalay
Live string band and square dance
A DJ for those who do not dance in squares
Food from My Empanada and Soul N’ Vinegar
An ice cream truck with free ice cream!
All convening attendees please arrive by 6:00 pm for registration, orientation, and the beggining of the convening celebration!
Saturday, September 9th, 2023
7:00-8:00am Pastries by SubRosa
8:00am: Yoga with Baresoul
9:00am: Convening programming begins
12:00pm: Lunch by Soul Taco
5:00pm: Convening programming closes
7:00pm: Bonfire, Lee’s Fried Chicken, and music at Kate's house
Sunday, September 10th, 2023
7:00-8:00am Breakfast by Urban Hang Suite
8:00am: Yoga with Baresoul
9:00am: Coalition nitty-gritty details, next steps, etc.
11:30am: Lunch by Urban Hang Suite
1:00pm: Convening closing and goodbyes
*We're still finalizing all of the scheduling details and will email all registrants with the final schedule!
Convening Schedule
Please contact Kate at kate@studiotwothree.org if you’re interested in a homeshare during the convening!
Hotels
Camping
Lodging in Richmond
Convening Location
Studio Two Three (S23) is a community arts space that offers studios, classes & workshops, artist residency & open doors. We provide 24/7 access to a print shop, communal workspace & artist studios to support art making for personal & social change. We support the role of the arts in civic voice and engagement, partnering with activists & leaders to provide space for creative advocacy initiatives. Studio Two Three is the creative home to 180 artist members.
Accessibility
Studio Two Three's current rented facility is ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible. We have a stairless entry on the studio side of our organization and one-step entry on the eventside. The facility is one story with a parking lot in the rear and to the side of the organization, as well as on-street parking in front.
Restrooms: The studio has non-gendered multi-stall ADA accessible bathrooms on the eventside of the building, as well 2 as non-gendered single stall restrooms on the studio side.
Covid Protocols
Getting Around Richmond
Public transportation
GRTC is our Richmond city bus system. Fare is free! See schedules, maps, and information here.