THE BIG WE: A CREATIVE CONVENING

March 27, noon-8pm* & March 28th, 9am-noon**, 2026

*A box lunch & buffet dinner provided  ** Coffee, beverages, & light breakfast provided

WHO IS INVITED

ALL Austin-area artists, musicians, performers of all types, writers, electronic media artists, arts administrators, curators, technicians, board members, and philanthropists.

VENUE & PARKING

The Asian American Resource Center is located at 8401 Cameron Rd, Austin, TX 78754. Additional parking is available just south of the AARC at the City of Austin Rutherford Campus at 1520 Rutherford Lane. A supervised child activity area will be provided by reservation (see below).

WHAT IS THIS EVENT?!

Austin’s creative community has experienced a perfect storm of reductions or delays in Federal, State, and City funding; a lack of performance, rehearsal, and studio space; and little civic infrastructure to provide a safety net for artists, performers, and arts organizations when hard times fall. More than a few arts spaces and institutions have closed, some as old as 35 years, while arts organizations “hunker down” into silos, to keep producing their work on less while protecting what little they have.  

After years of increasingly hard times, a group of ten Austin arts leaders from all genres began gathering informally to discuss how to manifest a more cohesive community among creatives. They asked, “How can we work together on a purpose greater than our differences?” “How can we create a meeting space that is expansive enough to encompass divergent opinions but focus on solutions that we create for ourselves?” The Creative Congress was born.

With the facilitation and sponsorship of A3 Art Alliance Austin, (a newly formed Local Arts Agency) they developed a plan to host a city-wide convening of artists, musicians, performers and others in the creative community to develop a more cohesive artistic community for the purposes of networking resources, opportunities, spaces and expertise; for creating solutions to our creative community’s issues through collaboration; and to gather plans, collaborative groups and leaders to create a self-defining Community Arts Plan. 

GOAL

Fostering collaboration between different sectors of Austin’s creative community, the convening will emphasize the importance of purposeful cross-pollination across art forms, networks, and cultural arts organizations to chart a self-defined course for our creative community. 

Objectives include:

• Celebrate the successes of our creative community and share information about the opportunities that were created by our peers. 

• Inspire and empower a new group of leaders to develop plans to solve tangible problems in the creative community. 

• Network community resources with those who have needs and develop an ongoing mechanism for continued information sharing.

• Create a sense of identity for our diverse creative community through relationship building

• Develop a written plan for the goals and objectives of our creative community through the feedback received at this convening. 

The convening has been planned for creatives by creatives from every discipline who are passionate about finding connection for their people. All creatives will be invited to this gathering through our growing network, and the network is ever-expanding.

Utilizing Open Space Technology, a meeting style emphasizing democratic values and collaboration, the problem-solving break-out sessions will be decided at the March convening with the participation of those who attend. Up to 20 break-out sessions can be accommodated for community discussions. Learn more about Open Space Technology in this video.

ITINERARY

Friday, March 27

12:00pm THE BIG WE Convening Box Luncheon featuring “flash" keynote speakers from the creative community, each of whom has done something extraordinary to change the status quo

1:15pm Training sessions with Shana Merlin on “Open Space Technology” and Karen LaShelle, Executive Director of Austin Together on “The Art of Collaboration”

2:30pm Break

3:00pm Open Space Technology: “Pitch Sessions” 

3:30pm-4:30pm Community Discussions - Session I 

4:30pm-5:30pm Wrap-up Session

5:30pm Break

6:00pm Networking Mixer with dinner, music, beverages

7:00pm The Big We video + 3 more “flash” keynote speakers. Asaf Ronen from Austin Creative Alliance facilitates and provides Day 2 outline

8:00pm Adjourn

Saturday, March 28

9:00am Breakfast Gathering in the Ballroom with an Introduction to Open Space Technology with facilitator Shana Merlin

9:15am Open Space “Pitch Session #2”

10:15am-11:15am Community Discussion – Session 2

11:15pm-12:00pm Session 2 - Wrap-up discussions

12:00pm Adjourn

Produced in collaboration with the City of Austin Arts Culture Music Entertainment Department’s Cultural Education Programs Division

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE CREATIVE CONGRESS (THE BIG WE PLANNING COMMITTEE):

Laura Esparza (Executive Director of A3)

Sharron Anderson (Founding Executive Director of ATX Theatre, Arts Commissioner)

Gina Houston (Arts Commission Chair, Downtown Commissioner, Actor)

Pat Buchta (Executive Director/CEO, Austin Texas Musicians Fund)

Heather Barfield (Performance Artist, Teacher, Founder of Grotto 101)

Bruce Willenzik (Executive Director of Armadillo Christmas Bazaar)

Nagavalli Medicharla (Singer/Composer/Promoter, Austin Music Commissioner and Arts Commissioner, Board Chair of EQ Austin)

Raasin McIntosh (Executive Director of Raasin in the Sun Murals) 

John Riedie (Chief Executive Officer of Austin Creative Alliance)

Ray Price (Executive Director of Notes for Notes)

Steven Hatchet (Co-Founder of Of Color) 

Mary Alice Carnes (Board Chair of ATX Theatre)

Rudi Dizer (Co-Founder and Board Chair of Of Color)

Saul Paul

Janet Seibert

Funding for The Big We provided by:

Texas Commission on the Arts

Austin Arts Culture Music and Entertainment Department (AACME)

H-E-B

A3 Art Alliance Austin

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar

Ruth Rubio

Kim & Tom Harkness

GET IN TOUCH

(512) 588-0369 or info@a3austin.org