Evolving Program Institute
Evolving Program Institute (EPI), an annual training program hosted by Artist Communities Alliance (ACA), supports people and organizations in all stages of creating and maintaining a residency program.
To meet the changing needs of our members and the field at large, our Emerging Programs Institute is becoming the Evolving Programs Institute, supporting emerging and established residency programs.
This multi-day intensive includes faculty-led sessions, artist presentations, interactive exercises and group discussions to provide attendees with the strategies, tools and networks to develop and strengthen all elements of their program utilizing ACA’s Five Pillars of Healthy Residency Framework: Identity, Program Design, Operational Excellence, Resource Development, and Stewardship.
Accessibility: All virtual Evolving Program Institutes are live-captioned and ASL interpreted. ACA is committed to providing full access to all. Please send accessibility inquiries and requests to ACA Programs Coordinator, Crystal Sasaki, at programs [at] artistcommunities.org.
Questions about EPI? Please contact programs [at] artistcommunities.org
2025 Evolving Program Institute
Save the Dates: Sept 3, 10, 17 + 24th
EPI25 will return to a virtual format, spread out across each Wednesday in September. Exact timing TBD. More Details coming soon!
Sign up for ACA's Workshop + Trainings Newsletter to be the first to receive EPI updates!
2024 Evolving Program Institute
Nov. 12 - 14, 2024
Los Angeles + Jersey City + Virtual
After almost five years of connecting primarily on screen, we are back in-person - and online. The 2024 Evolving Program Institute (EPI) is designed to help you thoughtfully create and sustain inclusive, just, joyful, and accessible artist residencies.
EPI workshops help participants to:
- Activate tangible resources to develop, launch, and expand their residency program
- Learn artist-centered practices for building effective programs
- Use inclusive, practical frameworks to identify and understand barriers
- Connect with colleagues across the field
- Leave with actionable next steps to accomplish organizational goals
Host Sites:
- 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica
- Art House Productions, Jersey City
Faculty:
- Lisa Funderburke, President + CEO, Artist Communities Alliance
- Mary-Kim Arnold, Interim Academic Dean, Vermont College of Fine Arts
- Chiwoniso Kaitano, Executive Director of MacDowell
- Annie Saldaña, Creative Community Development Center Manager, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
- Sharbreon Plummer, Interim Artistic Director of Threewalls
- Michael Ano, Deputy Director of Artistic Programming for 18th Street Arts Center
- Yuliya Bruk, Executive Director of Future Arts
- Elisheba Johnson, Curator, Public Artist, Administrator, & Distruptor
- Randy Engstrom, Owner & Principal, Third Wave Creative
- Sharon Ullman, Strategy & Operations Consultant
- Emily Weiss Schaffer, Assistant Vice President, Fine Art Risk Strategies
- Brandon Gryde, Office of Strategy, Programs, & Engagement, National Endowment for the Arts
- Lauren Ruffin, Director and Lead Strategist, Michigan Central
- Scott Pollack, Executive Director of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum
- Alana Hernandez, Senior Curator, ASU Art Museum
Spotlight Artists:
- Asa Jackson, Artist + CAN Foundation Executive Director
- Salty Xi Jie Ng, Social Practice Artist
- Margo Gray, Experience Artist
Artist Performances:
2023 Emerging Program Institute
Wednesday, October 18 + Thursday, October 19, 2023
Wednesday, October 25 + Thursday, October 26, 2023
This four-day virtual intensive included faculty-led sessions, artist presentations, interactive exercises and group discussions to provide attendees with the strategies, tools and networks to develop and strengthen all elements of their programs utilizing ACA’s Five Pillars of Healthy Residency Framework: Identity, Program Design, Operations, Resource Development, and Stewardship.
The EPI workshops allowed participants to:
- Activate tangible resources to develop, launch, and expand the initial stages of their residency program.
- Learn artist-centered practices for building effective programs,
- Use inclusive, practical frameworks to identify and understand barriers
- Connect with colleagues across the field;
- Leave with actionable next steps to accomplish organizational goals.
Faculty:
- Lisa Funderburke, President + CEO, Artist Communities Alliance
- Mary-Kim Arnold, Interim Academic Dean, Vermont College of Fine Arts
- Beth Bienvenu, Accessibility Director, NEA
- Katryna Carter, Grants Management Specialist, Multidisciplinary Arts Division, NEA
- Chyla Graham, President, CNRG Accounting Advisory
- Brandon Gryde, Director, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works and Artist Communities, NEA
- Brea Heidelberg, President, ISO Arts Consulting
- Chiwoniso Kaitano, Executive Director, MacDowell
- Faythe Levine, Hauser & Wirth Institute Archivist, Women's Studio Workshop
- Craig Peterson, President and CEO, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
- Bruce Rodgers, Founding Director, Hermitage
- Thaddeus Squire, Chief Commons Steward, Social Impact Commons
- Brandi Turner. Co-Director, Sipp Culture
Spotlight Artists:
2022 Emerging Program Institute
Virtually, across two weeks in October, ACA hosted the Emerging Program Institute (EPI), an annual intensive that supports people and organizations in the early stages of creating a residency program. Since 2011, this yearly networking and learning opportunity has welcomed emerging leaders at all residency development phases — from the initial ideation stage to residencies preparing to launch.
Topics explored during EPI sessions include:
- Community engagement and relevance of place;
- Resource-building to sustain residency programs;
- Equity and access in artist outreach and selection; and
- Business planning and ongoing assessment
Faculty:
- Chyla Graham, CPA, President, CNRG Accounting Advisory
- Brea M. Heidelberg, PhD, ISO Arts Consulting
- Amanda Kik, Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology, Co-founder & Co-director
- Faythe Levine, Arts Consultant
- Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, Arts Consultant
- Jennifer Shropshire, Shropshire Nonprofit Consulting, LLC, Principal
- Thaddeus Squire, Social Impact Commons, Chief Commons Steward
- Aisha N. White, Nailah Studio, Arts Organizer
Spotlight Artists:
- Jordan/Martin Hell, Artist, Writer + Scholar
- Haus of Glitter, Dance Company + Performance Lab + Preservation Society
- Adam Chau, Artist
