As cultural producers who hold space for artist residencies, incubators, and exchanges, we are confronted with constraints of all kinds. Responding to the ever-changing conditions of the contemporary world, we must adapt to the limitations encountered and decipher the possible.

In a moment of climate crisis, international pandemic, and political polarization, we are challenged by the limits of place, mobility, and infrastructure. How will we create together when the borders are closed? And when they open, how can we justify transoceanic flights that further destabilize the climate? Yet without these connections across distance and difference — without being embodied in each other’s presence — how are we going to feel together? Can we build community in place by constructing digital infrastructure — networks and video conferencing and online collaboration platforms? With a space of co-creation built, who will we invite to come together and how will they relate to each other?

Together we will wrestle with existing models and contemporary responses to these questions. Join Ellen Pearlman, Jule Phelps and Shamsher Virk for a discussion of these topics — part panel, part round table. We will share ideas, tools, and tactics as a group.