Message from the President
Western Arts Alliance's new President, Joe Mclalwain, shares his thoughts on this moment of uncertainty and WAA’s role in moving our community forward.
“There is no clear path back to what we were before—back to whatever we might define as ‘normal.’”
I can't tell you how many times and how many different ways I tried to begin this letter to you, the loyal members of WAA. It would be easy to restate the obvious, that these are challenging and unprecedented times and that the pandemic, without warning, has turned our industry upside down. There is no clear path back to what we were before—back to whatever we might define as "normal." At this point, nearly a year after the initial cancelations of our events and closure of our venues, many of the pandemic's impacts on artists and the performing arts infrastructure and ecosystem are clear. Still, we know there are many more impacts we have yet to identify and take on.
But it is precisely this uncertainty that makes me thankful for my partnership with and connection to all of you and for an organization that helps make these critical relationships possible. Western Arts Alliance exists to help us all face moments just like these. If WAA had not allowed me to develop the business relationships and friendships I have built over the years, it would be even more daunting (if not impossible) to try to navigate my own organization through this crisis. I lean heavily on many of you for advice and guidance, and I am thankful for the connections, leadership, and support the WAA team, and my fellow WAA members and colleagues have provided to me this past year. Because of this, I am especially honored and humbled for the privilege of serving as WAA's president.
“We have a long and complicated journey ahead of us as a sector. It is not just a matter of recovery but of reinvention.”
We have a long and complicated journey ahead of us as a sector. It is not just a matter of recovery but of reinvention. WAA exists to support and advance the field of performing arts presenting, and we will continue to serve this essential purpose. We provide peer-to-peer connection and business development, yes. But we also facilitate professional development and the exchange of the very ideas and innovations that will bring us not only to the other side of this crisis but far beyond it.
I want to thank each of you for your partnership. And I want to thank you in advance for the work we are all about to do to rebuild and reimagine. With your help, and despite the challenges we all face, WAA will continue its laser focus on racial equity and lifting up BIPOC artists and arts leaders through programs like Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP), Black Arts at WAA, Conexiones, and more. Our Conference Committee is already hard at work planning for a hybrid conference experience in August that will ensure our attendees' safety and health. The Albuquerque conference will offer a useful forum, both in-person and online, for the desperately-needed sharing of ideas, discovery, and re-emergence of live performance in 2021, 2022, and beyond.
I want to express my gratitude to our Immediate Past President, Eleanor Oldham of 2Luck Concepts, for her remarkable leadership over the past two years. I also want to thank the WAA Board, our Executive Director, Tim Wilson, and the fantastic WAA Staff for their passion and tireless efforts on behalf of the organization and its members. Knowing we stand together fills me with hope and the courage to undertake this mission. I can't wait until artists are back on stage again—with audiences in seats—right where they belong.