Making Moves: Virtual Study Group

Join NCCAkron’s organizational dramaturg, Delphine Lai, for a series of four interactive study groups as part of the book launch for Artists on Creative Administration. Book club participants will delve into four essays, and Delphine will guide attendees in applying the book’s administrative experiments to their own artistic and administrative practices. We will talk about community building, organizational transitions, revenue generation, artistic longevity, and more. All artists, arts administrators, and arts advocates are welcome to join the conversation!

NCCAkron study groups are free, just purchase your own copy of Artists on Creative Administration online (30% off through the UAkron Press website with code AOCA30) or from your local bookstore. Each session is limited to 8 participants, so register today to reserve your space. Participants must have access to the book and Zoom in order to join this study group. If you are not able to purchase a copy of the book due to financial barriers, contact connect@nccakron.org.

Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography will be published September 24, 2024, by The University of Akron Press as part of their NCCAkron Series in Dance. Edited by artist/cultural strategist Tonya Lockyer (Suquamish, WA) this book features essays from and interviews with 30 artists and advocates from the dance and performing arts worlds, sharing first-hand stories of creative administration in action through case studies, interviews, life tools, and experiments.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

Delphine Lai (she/her) is a writer, arts advocate, and arts administrator with over twenty-five years of nonprofit experience. In 2009, she founded Del Arts Consulting to make the arts more accessible to all, to support the creation of new work, and to further art as a means for social change. Delphine works with artists and arts organizations across the country, and she is the organizational dramaturg for NCCAkron. Delphine is also one of the contributing authors for Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography

Throughout her career, Delphine has experimented across mediums, studying the creative process as a dancer, designer, engineer, visual artist, and writer. At Stanford University, she earned a B.S. in Product Design Engineering and a B.A. in English with a poetry writing emphasis. Her previous positions include Assistant Director for Dance Through Time, Marketing and Development Director for Bay Area Youth Fund for Education, and Associate Director of Individual Giving for the Director’s Circle at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Photo credit: K.B.

Image description: A Chinese American woman smiles at the camera. She has straight hair and purple glasses. Her shirt is blue and brown. Tree branches and green leaves are in the background behind her.