Media Advisory 
Media Contact:
Jenny Thomas
 
Interviews with APAP President and CEO Lisa Richards Toney Available
 
The All-Online Edition of APAP|NYC+ 2022, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals’ 65th Annual Global Gathering of the Performing Arts Industry Kicks Off January 10, 2022
 
With APAP’s Planned In-Person Return Forced Online by the Omicron Surge, APAP and Its Nationwide Community of Artists, Agents, Producers and Presenters Dig Deep for Reinvention, Resilience and Purpose
  
January 6, 2022 (Washington, DC)---The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) today announced programming updates for its newly all-online APAP|NYC+ 2022, the world’s leading global performing arts gathering, marketplace and members conference, taking place from January 10-15, 2022. For details, visit https://www.apap365.org/online-conference.
 
The annual conference, all-online in January 2021 at the seeming height of the pandemic, was accelerating towards its highly anticipated return to New York City in January 2022. Impacting nearly all in-person activities, the COVID virus had different plans for APAP.
 
On December 23, 2021, APAP made the decision to cancel its in-person return and move its conference entirely online, as described by President and CEO Lisa Richards Toney in a recent statement that you can view here: https://youtu.be/fGTbuZpUk-s

As performing arts professionals, “we have all been through so much, and we are stretched so thin, and yet we are still here. And that is a victory against the odds in itself.” Toney said of the decision. “That is why this moment is so difficult, and so necessary.”
 
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In just two short weeks, APAP has reflowed its hybrid schedule, originally planned to happen online January 10, 11 and 13, and in-person January 14-17, to an expanded online-only event, January 10-15, 2022. APAP quickly got to work transforming in-person experiences to online ones, including its unmatched EXPO Hall of 300+ talent agencies and artist representatives, and the 1000+ independently produced artist showcases that usually occupy venues and performance spaces, centered around APAP conference hotel headquarters in midtown Manhattan and across New York City’s boroughs.
 
As the world approaches the two-year mark for the COVID-19 pandemic, APAP is tightly focused on issues to help the performing arts sector recover and reinvent itself. Critical, fieldwide sessions will focus on the status of reopening and recovery; navigating uncertainty and transformation; the future of work and workforce challenges in the arts; mental wellness and resilience; recruiting, hiring and retaining BIPOC professionals; and supporting new work and underrepresented artistic voices.
 
APAP announced the highlights of its programming schedule today, including:
 
  • Opening Plenary: The Arts in 2022: Recovery, Resilience, and Purpose with a welcome from APAP Board Chair Renae Williams Niles and APAP President and CEO Lisa Richards Toney and remarks from Ben Cameron, President of the Jerome Foundation - January 10 at 12:00 p.m. (EST).

  • Mental Wellness with Dana Fonteneau - January 11 at 12:00 p.m. (EST).
 
  • Time for Transformation: Digital Engagement, Social Justice, and Recovery in the Arts & Culture Sector - January 13 at 12:00 p.m. (EST). Jen Benoit-Bryan, Vice President and Co-Director of Research at Slover Linett, will highlight the key findings of Culture + Community in a Time of Transformation – A Special Edition of Culture Track. Find the report here: https://culturetrack.com/research/transformation/

  • Vu Le, Time to Flip Some Tables: The Future of Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and the Arts - January 13 at 4:00 p.m. (EST). The originator of the popular blog, Nonprofit AF (https://nonprofitaf.com/), known for his pointed insights, irreverent humor, and love of unicorns, asks “How do we use this moment to transform systems that are not working?”

  • The Long Runway – Managing Uncertainty: What (the #$*!#^) Now? with Steven A. Wolff, CMC, Principal, AMS Planning and Research - January 14 at 12:00 p.m. (EST). APAP, in partnership with AMS Planning and Research, is launching a re-opening survey of the field to gather data from presenters, venues, promoters and artists and managers to collect insights into the sector’s return and the status of programming, attendance and business operations. This session introduces this new research initiative.

  • Finding the Keys with Sharifa Johka: Anti-Racist Approaches to Radical Recruitment in the Arts - January 14 at 2:00 p.m. (EST). The creative producer, strategist and social connector shares how to use antiracist approaches to assist in identifying, selecting, and on-boarding diverse candidate pools.

  • The Show Must Go On…But Can It? The Future of Work Part II - January 14 at 4:00 p.m. (EST).
 
  • Supporting New Work, BIPOC and Underrepresented Artistic Voices with CIPA – Creative & Independent Producer Alliance - January 15 at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

View the schedule-at-a-glance here: https://apap365.org/conference/schedule-at-a-glance/
 
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APAP is a founding partner of JanArtsNYC. Every January in New York City, more than 45,000 performing arts leaders, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe converge for JanArtsNYC. A partnership among independent multidisciplinary festivals, indispensable industry convenings, international marketplaces and supported by the New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, JanArtsNYC includes events such as the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and globalFEST, both incubated at the APAP conference. JanArtsNYC is one of the largest and most influential gatherings of its kind. For more info, visit https://www.janartsnyc.org/. #JanArtsNYC
 
MEDIA CREDENTIAL REGISTRATION CLOSES JANUARY 7 at 12 p.m. (EST): https://form.jotform.com/213086595302152
 
The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) is the national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting, booking and touring field and the professionals who work within it. Among its more than 1,600 APAP members are leading performing arts centers, municipal and university performing arts facilities, culturally specific organizations, artist agencies, managers, touring companies, consultants, service organizations, and self-represented artists.
 
Learn more about the conference at https://www.apap365.org/online-conference. Follow APAP on Twitter and Instagram at @APAP365 and using the hashtag #APAPNYC, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/APAP365/. APAP membership information can be found at https://www.apap365.org/.

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