Alexandria Arts Forum

About Us

Page links: Leadership | Meetings | Special Projects

Mission Statement
The Alexandria Arts Forum is a coalition of area artists and arts administrators, advocates, and patrons working together to advance the arts in Alexandria through advocacy, communication, collaboration, and education.

Any individual or organizational member of the Arts Forum has a vote in determining the direction and projects of the Forum. An Executive Committee that oversees these activities is elected on an annual basis. Elected terms begin in June of each year. The current Executive Committee is listed immediately below.

Leadership
President: Alan Wile
Vice President: Sherry Brown
Secretary: Bill Clayton
Treasurer: Kathryn Brown

Chair, Advocacy: Alice Merrill
Chair, Collaborations: George Chadwick
Chair, Communications: Susan Landess
Chair, Education: Kate Graham

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Forum Meetings
The Arts Forum meets regularly on the fourth Thursday of every month (see Calendar). Noon, brown-bag lunch meetings are held at the Durant Center, 1605 Cameron Street, Alexandria, Virginia (click here for a map). Evening meetings are held at a variety of arts venues.

For Arts Forum meeting dates, locations, and topics, see the Calendar.

Forum Meetings include:

Guest Speakers: Programs with guest speakers addressing professional development and organizational development issues.
Spotlight: Providing artists and arts organizations an opportunity to describe their work.
Bulletin Board: Highlighting grant deadlines, workshops, meetings, and other calendar items.
Announcements: Providing artists and arts organizations an opportunity to announce upcoming events, exhibits, or performances.

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Special Projects

Candidates’ Night
A public form held every three years for local City Council and Mayoral candidates to speak on their support for the arts.

Press List
Development and maintenance of area press list.

Advocacy
Active advocacy to the City Council resulting in the Council making a three-year commitment to double the City’s funding of art grants.

Jefferson-Houston School for Arts and Academies
Active support of Alexandria’s arts-focused elementary school.

Alexandria Commission for the Arts
Work with Alexandria Commission for the Arts on its Art Chat program, a forum for Alexandria’s citizens.

Website
Development of website with links to organizational members and other useful information.

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