The Art of Mass Gatherings in Santa Barbara

This free one-day workshop and networking event is for music presenters, arts administrators, artists, emergency professionals, and event organizers. It utilizes the infrastructure and grounds of the I Madonnari Street Painting Festival as a hands-on classroom for elevating the safety, safety, accessibility, sustainability, and community responsiveness of events, and to build resilience in our communities.

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Program highlights include:

• Solar-powered event design workshop in collaboration with Direct Relief, Footprint Project and Overdrive Energy
• Opening talk from Rev. Dr. David Moore
• Accessibility site tour and workshops on designing more inclusive events with Spanish interpreter Viviana Marsano and ASL interpreter Josephine Black
• Chance to meet your Santa Barbara Office of Emergency Management and FEMA and learn about resources and training available to you and your staff/volunteers
• A special panel on the role of the arts and events in fortifying community response to climate change, featuring artist Kym Cochran of The Environment Makers, Robin Gose of MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, and Christian Erickson, Community Preparedness Officer, FEMA Region 9.
• ... and more!

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Performing arts and live entertainment events are catalysts for culture and community-building. How can they also drive meaningful social transformation, equitable emergency response, and increased economic resilience for arts and events workers? What do our events look like when safety, accessibility, sustainability, and community are conscientiously placed at their center?

The program includes sessions led by specialists and advocates in these four areas, inviting participants to share their own experience and expertise throughout and encouraging speakers and participants to all take turns as both teachers and learners. The training also includes demonstrations of sustainable power and waste infrastructure and equipment, focusing on cross-fluencies between event production and emergency response. Participants will leave with concrete practices and resources to increase the safety, sustainability, accessibility, and community centeredness of their work.