First Delaware Arts Alliance Conference set Oct. 3 in Dover

Guillermina Gonzalez, executive director of the Delaware Arts Alliance, announced that DAA will hold its first arts advocacy conference, DEArts Lab: Standing Room Only: Face to Face with the Digital Divide, in collaboration with the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and the Delaware Art Education Association Friday, Oct. 3, at the EH Theatre at Delaware State University in Dover.

This arts advocacy conference will address the need to expand audiences across arts disciplines. DEArts Lab marks the first collaboration of its kind among UD, DSU, and DAEA. DEArtsLab is sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts and the Delaware Community Foundation.

Celebrated author and writer Lorene Cary will be DEArts Lab’s keynote speaker. A senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania, Cary will address attendance declines among young audiences and the lack of diversity in arts participation. Cary is the best-selling author of "Black Ice," her memoir, and novels including "The Price of a Child."  In 1998 Cary founded Art Sanctuary, which uses the power of black art to transform individuals, build community, and foster cultural understanding within inner-city Philadelphia.

DEArts Lab will convene artists, arts employees, arts educators, and civic leaders, along with UD and DSU students. Conference panels will consider how to reach intergenerational and diverse audiences. Nancy Karibjanian, vice president of Delaware First Media and adjunct professor of communication at UD, will moderate the morning session, How To Expand Arts Audiences in Delaware: an Intergenerational Panel. Event details and registration are at www.delawareartsalliance.org/events.

Gonzalez said, “DEArts Lab presents a unique forum for the Delaware arts community to address how to best reach intergenerational audiences. DEArts Lab will be a content-rich conference that yields a productive dialogue on the arts in Delaware. We are honored to launch this inaugural program with UD, DSU, and DAEA.”

DEArts Lab is $20 for registrants, and students attend free. The conference begins at 9:30 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m. Continental breakfast and boxed lunches will be served. Advance registration is recommended.