The Ohio Arts Council is gearing up for Arts Impact Ohio, our biennial statewide professional development conference–be sure to save the dates! Content development is well underway, but we’d love to round out our offerings with the richness of your unique experiences and voice. Have a session proposal we should feature in Toledo? Submit it here!

Conference Dates:
May 15-16, 2024

Conference Location:
Renaissance Toledo Downtown, 444 N. Summit St., Toledo, Ohio 43604

All proposals must be submitted by Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 5 p.m. to be considered for the Arts Impact Ohio 2024 conference.

Contact Katie.Monahan@oac.ohio.gov with any questions.  

Before You Begin

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• Be prepared to complete the form in its entirety in one sitting. Everything must be entered and uploaded at one time. You cannot save and return to the form. 

About Arts Impact Ohio

Arts Impact Ohio provides relevant, action-oriented, forward-looking content for members of the state’s arts and cultural sector at an affordable price. Arts Impact Ohio 2024 is expected to attract about 300 Ohio arts administrators, educators, and artists to Toledo for two days of professional development sessions, visits to nearby arts and cultural institutions, and chances to meet local and national thought leaders–with fantastic performances, arts experiences, networking opportunities, and celebrations mixed in.

Arts Impact Ohio conference goals are to:

• stimulate in-person connections
• highlight best practices
• showcase transformative experiences
• elevate a broad range of diverse viewpoints and voices
• provide a platform to celebrate the ongoing innovation and engagement championed by arts leaders in every corner of Ohio
• build skills to make our state’s creative industries even stronger

About the Ohio Arts Council
The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. We live our mission in all 88 counties.

Session Types

• Workshop Session – These 60- to 75-minute sessions are designed to share best practices or engage participants in a skill-building activity. Workshop sessions can be led by a single presenter, two co-presenters, or panels of up to three people. Workshop session capacity is typically 30-40 attendees.

• Pecha Kucha/Flashes of Inspiration – Have an inspiring story to share? These 10- to 15-minute storytelling “flashes” provide the opportunity for individuals and organizations to share stories about projects, successes, and lessons learned.

• Peer Discussion – These 60- to 75-minute free-form sessions offer the opportunity for attendees to gather in various peer groups (e.g. artists, organizational staff, arts educators) for a facilitated discussion on a topic of interest.

Session Topics and Content

Arts Impact Ohio sessions should be designed to fulfill one or multiple conference goals, as listed above. Proposals should speak to the needs of a wide audience and offer actionable or replicable content through a conceptually strong perspective.

Arts Impact Ohio workshop audiences typically include arts administrators (organizational staff, board members, development folks, and community organizers), arts educators (school administrators, teachers, and teaching artists), and emerging and professional individual artists of all artistic disciplines.

For 2024, the Ohio Arts Council is particularly interested in the following topics that might be compelling to attendees:

• Implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the arts and cultural sector
• Time management and productive work
• How to build authentic inclusion into community engagement 
• Late/post-pandemic shifts in strategy, programming, budgeting, marketing, audiences, etc.
• Combatting learning loss in K-12 education
• Emergencies, disasters, and the arts
• Creative aging
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and access
• Overcoming common challenges faced by artists

Curious about past conference content? View the Arts Impact Ohio 2022 event program.

Additional Information

• Proposals will be accepted from individuals or groups of up to three speakers.
• You may submit multiple proposals.
• We realize we are several months away from the conference and that proposals submitted today are subject to change. OAC staff will work with presenters as needed to finesse content as the conference approaches.
• All conference meeting rooms will be equipped with a podium, microphone, LCD projector, and laptop for presenter use.
• If your proposal is selected, presenters will be eligible for a modest honorarium that takes into consideration costs associated with travel to the conference as well as preparation for and presentation at the conference.

Proposal Review Criteria and Scoring

All proposals are reviewed by the Arts Impact Ohio planning committee. Proposals will be evaluated on overall quality, originality and relevance, method of engagement, and target audience and inclusion. The committee aims to ensure a breadth of topics and session styles will be offered at the 2024 conference.

Key Dates

• Proposal Submission Deadline – Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 5 p.m.
• Proposal Submission Status Notification – November 2023
• Conference Registration Opens – January 2024
• AIO Presenter Best Practices Webinar – March 2024
• Draft Presentation Materials Due to OAC – May 1, 2024
• Arts Impact Ohio 2024 Conference – May 15-16, 2024

Questions?
Contact Communications Strategist Katie Monahan at katie.monahan@oac.ohio.gov

Please note: Submitting a proposal does not guarantee the proposal will be selected for presentation at Arts Impact Ohio 2024. If your proposal is accepted, OAC staff will work with you to finalize your session title and description as the event nears.

Review and Submit Your Proposal

Please use the "Review Your Proposal" button below to review your proposal and ensure all files uploaded successfully and all necessary form fields are complete. 

After you've reviewed your proposal, the "Submit" option will appear. You must hit "Submit" to finalize your proposal submission. 

Once you hit "Submit," a confirmation message will appear on your screen (see example below). You will also receive an email from JotForm containing a copy of your submission. 

Sample confirmation message:

Note: If you do not receive a confirmation message, please contact Katie Monahan at katie.monahan@oac.ohio.gov to ensure your proposal was successfully submitted.