Since 2009, ACA's annual field-wide conference has brought together hundreds of arts leaders, community organizers, funders, policymakers, educators, and cross-sector partners from around the world. 

We are thrilled to announce our 2025 Conference: Building Our Future Together

We are looking forward welcoming you to Santa Fe, New Mexico for our 2025 Conference. Nestled in the Sangre de Cristo foothills, New Mexico’s capital has been a gathering place and confluence of trade and cultures for thousands of years. Renowned for its Pueblo-revival and adobe architecture, Santa Fe is the second-largest art market in the United States, and hosts the famed International Folk Arts Market, Santa Fe Indian Market, and Native American Artisans Portal Program. 

This is ACA’s first in-person conference since 2019, and this year also marks our 35th anniversary. Since its founding, Artist Communities Alliance has held the belief that cultivation of new art and ideas is essential to human progress. The practice of artists and culture bearers holds the power to transform, uplift, and sustain the world. Today, artist communities have never been a more essential component of the arts and culture ecosystem. 

This year’s conference theme, Building Our Future Together is a call to action to all those who share our belief in the power of artists, and of the people who power the artist residency field. 

Join us to inspire and be inspired, to forge new friendships and collaborations, and to share what we have learned. It is a time to recognize and celebrate all that the field has accomplished in these last 35 years, and to build a way forward, together, for the years ahead.  

We are currently accepting session proposals - learn more + submit your idea!

The deadline for session proposals is May 27, 2025, which is also the date conference registration will open.