Join Alex Sarian for a thought-provoking dialogue and open conversation exploring how the arts and culture sector can transform in times of crisis. Drawing from his critically acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance, Alex makes the case that the challenges we face today, including declining audiences, shifting philanthropic priorities, and growing social complexities, are not new. They are the result of long-standing issues of relevance that the pandemic has brought into sharp focus. Through personal stories from his career and insights from his book, Alex invites us to reimagine our organizations as places brimming with potential for reinvention.
This event is free for arts & culture workers, donations are recommended. Copies of Alex’s book will be available for pre-purchase through the ticket link and a select few will be available the evening of the event.
Doors open at 6:00 PM to explore KALEIDOSCOPE and EYEPOOL with the talk beginning at 7:00 PM. Alex will be available for a book signing at the end of the evening.
About Alex Sarian
Alex Sarian is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture (ECW Press, 2024), and President & CEO of Arts Commons (soon to be Werklund Centre), where he is responsible for leading the $660 million Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) project—the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canadian history. Prior to moving to Calgary in 2020, he spent 18 years in New York City, where he served as a senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A proud member of the 2022 class of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University, is a graduate of the CommunityShift program at Western University’s Ivey School of Business, and was an inaugural graduate of the Impact Program for Arts Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
