Applications are NOW OPEN for WAA OAK 2026!

We're doing what the performing arts community does best: gathering close, sharing resources, and building collective solutions together. Whether you're an artist ready to showcase your work, a producer wanting to provide more opportunities onsite, or an industry professional with insights to share, this is your moment!

Find out more about the field and what your colleagues are up to in NYC!

The performing arts field is a highly rhizomatic ecosystem supporting a wide array of convenings for presenters, artists, agents, managers, producers, and more. Each year, a high concentration of professionals (nearing 45,000, if not more) intersect in New York City for a wide array of convenings, independently sprouting around the anchor of the APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) conference in Midtown New York City.  

The recent government shutdown and current continuing resolution (funding the government only through year-end) have created significant uncertainty around our Performing Arts Discovery (PAD) Program funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

TICKETS: free
January 9, 2026
11:30am - 12:30pm ET
12:30 - 1:30pm ET

Ray’s Pizza
831 Seventh Avenue, New York, 10019
Space is limited, RSVP required

TICKETS: free
December 9
4:30 - 8pm PT

Portland, Oregon
RSVP required

TICKETS: free
November 4, 13, 18 & 20
11:30am - 1:00pm PT

Online via Zoom
RSVP required

TICKETS: free
Friday, October 13, 2025
12:00-2:00pm PT

Online via Zoom
RSVP required

WAA’s Board of Directors plays a vital role in our capacity to serve you — our members. Our board supports us in fulfilling our mission to advance excellence in the performing arts, through innovative thinking and ground-breaking initiatives, by anticipating the future needs of the field, and through sound governance and stewardship.

U.S. artists on the rise and ready to tour internationally. Catch some of their showcase performances at the WAA conference in LA!

TICKETS: $17.71 + Conference Registration
Tuesday, September 2
Doors open at 12pm

JW Marriott at LA Live
900 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Registration Closed

TICKETS: $60-$150
Tuesday, September 2
Doors open at 8:30am

JW Marriott at LA Live
900 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Register by August 22

Starts October 2025

100% Online

Monthly sessions through June 2026

$250 for the full series 

Space is limited. Register by Sept 24, 2025! 

TICKETS: FREE & open to the public 

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

10–11 AM PT  

Online Zoom Meeting

Please register in advance for this meeting.

Volunteering on a committee is one of the most rewarding experiences at WAA. Not only can you contribute your time and expertise to a worthy cause, but you make new connects and forge lasting friendships with folks with colleagues across the Western United States and beyond. 

TICKETS: FREE
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Doors open at 5pm
Performance begins at 6pm

Esther Short Park
605 Esther St
Vancouver, WA 98660

WAA’s Board of Directors plays a vital role in our capacity to serve you — our members. Our board supports us in fulfilling our mission to advance excellence in the performing arts, through innovative thinking and ground-breaking initiatives, by anticipating the future needs of the field, and through sound governance and stewardship.

Congratulations to the recipients of the Leadership, Emeritus, Mentoring, and Tim Wilson Distinguished Service Awards, who will be honored at the WAA Annual Conference. We recognized the 2025 WAA Service Awardees last week, honoring three extraordinary organizations for their leadership, compassion, and resourcefulness of the Los Angeles community.

Congratulations to our three (3) 2025 WAA Service Awardees, whose commitment(s) to serving their hometown of Los Angeles with compassion, creativity, and urgency in times of crisis and need was nothing short of inspiring.