Earlier this year, we lost a dear friend and colleague in Marcelo Avilés. In his memory, WAA has established the Marcelo Avilés Scholarship Fund to support talented young arts professionals in attending the WAA Annual Conference. It is a fitting tribute because Marcelo’s career was shaped in part by this community. He was also a WAA scholarship recipient, which helped bring him to our 2022 conference in Calgary. Afterward, he wrote to us:

“Thank you for creating an event that brings the industry together in a thoughtful way that leaves us inspired to go out and make a better world.”

— Marcelo Avilés

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.

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.

Our parks and streets are transformed into festive landscapes filled with Juneteenth cookouts and Pride parades and we get to see what the United States is truly made of – people of all colors and backgrounds partying together. But underneath the veneer of block parties and family reunions…

Beginning today, we present to you Trying Times, a collection of resources that have helped our community navigate The Pandemic, The Great Recession, A Racial Reckoning, and more. Over the next five months, we will release past conference sessions, performances, articles, and other resources that offer important lessons for the present.  

WAA’s new and improved member portal has launched! Read on for everything you need to know.