Nearly 50 attendees gathered for the Alliance’s meeting in New York City, beginning with an opening night reception at the Studio Museum in Harlem, followed by two days of seminars, roundtable discussions, and tours at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

The group discussed the role of alumni of residencies, building greater diversity within our organizations, conducting creative brainstorming, going digital with the artists’ application process, and working together for consortium funding. Pace University was host to a public information session on residencies, attended by roughly 200 local artists, and led by panelists from 18th Street Arts Center, Art Omi, The MacDowell Colony, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

The meeting space gave attendees an opportunity to experience the spare, urban setting of LMCC’s Swing Space residency, while the reception at the Studio Museum showcased an exhibit of the most promising African-American artists of the past year.