"Embodied Awareness: Re-Viewing Diversity and Inclusion"

AKA: What our facilities are really saying about us.

Oftentimes the largest physical asset that any arts program has is the physical space in which its programs, events and residencies take place and yet this physical space is probably the most overlooked resource when it comes to considering deep messaging about access, inclusion and diversity. The ultimate marketing tool. our spaces can easily reflect our mission and vision and be welcoming and inspiring spaces for everyone we intend to serve or if we are not paying attention, these spaces can inadvertently send messages to our stakeholders that run counter to our goals.

Moving well beyond ADA compliance, this session presents the idea that our spaces can serve multiple diversities and do it well without requiring huge financial investment. As long as we know how to identify and mitigate the intellectual, psychological, emotional and physical reactions that can occur in response to a physical space, we can effect major change.

Like tourists with fresh eyes, we will take a walking tour of an arts-facility and conduct an inventory and audit of the building features and record not only what we see but also how what we see makes us feel. The results will then be shared across the group and with a budget of $100 or less, we will see how many of the ‘issues’ we can improve upon.

The aim of this session is to give you practical ideas about how to increase diversity, access and inclusion that go beyond legislation and tick lists. The combination of prompts, questions, examples and conversation will help you develop ideas that are appropriate for you and the context in which you work for it’s important that the actions you chose are right for you – for your venue/company/artists; your mission and purpose; your geographical area; your art form/s and your resources.

Workshop Goals:

o  To activate kinesthetic awareness in order to expand understanding of the intellectual, psychological and physical reactions to space.

o  To provide you with an audit tool and an understanding of how to use the tool so that you can apply skills acquired in this session at your programs.

o  To provide you with two new perspectives from which to re-view any physical space; As a tourist with fresh eyes, and as an embodied character.

o  To provide you with concrete and affordable ideas on how to transform physical facilities into active extensions of your mission and vision.

Presenter

Madison Cario, Director, Office of the Arts at Georgia Institute of Technology

Short Bio

Madison Cario: Artist, alchemist, guide & interrupter creating in the spaces "in between".

Long Bio

Madison Cario is Director of the Office of the Arts at Georgia Tech (http://arts.gatech.edu), which endeavors to embed creative experiences into the lives and learning of Georgia Tech students, the broader campus, and the Atlanta community. Since 2014 Cario has led the campus in an historic change to deepen and broaden the arts experience, focusing on initiatives at the nexus of science, arts, engineering, and technology. Cario serves as a National Dance Project advisor, and is on the Board of Directors at DASH, T. Lang Dance and the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta. Cario recently received the Georgia Tech Award for Staff Performance in Entrepreneurship, the Georgia Tech Diversity Champion Award and was named 20 People to Watch in 2017. Informed and inspired by a 20 year+ career as an artist, curator, producer and presenter, Cario is best known for their frequent appearances on stages across the country as a panelist, keynote speaker and provocateur. Cario presents regularly on the “State of the Field” with regard to the connections and collisions between the arts and technology at many national conferences including the Dance USA annual conference, the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Arts Midwest, NPN and the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta. Cario is also well known for bringing ridiculous amounts of joy and humor to every stage while also encouraging the sharing of serious, spontaneous acts of love.

Previously at The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania, Cario served as Director of Student Engagement, Special Artistic Initiatives, and Operations and Facilities. Cario holds an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Rhetoric and Communication from Temple University.

MADISON CARIO / / 404-323-0375 Embodied Awareness / 1