NALAC Brings 20th Anniversary Latino Arts Conference to San Jose, April 14-18, 2010

The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) will convene its 20th Anniversary National Conference from April 14-18, 2010 at the San Jose Marriott Hotel in San Jose, CA.  The five-day event will feature workshops, panel discussions and presentations by leading Latino arts figures from around the country as well as special performances by Grammy-award nominated musical group Sones de Mexico from Chicago, New York Puerto Rican music pioneers Los Pleneros de la 21 and Bay Area favorites Los Cenzontles. For information about registration, special student rates, hotel and schedule information, please visit conference.nalac.org.

NALAC, which is the nation’s leading Latino arts service organization, is a major provider of leadership training, professional development services, funding and advocacy for the national Latino arts and cultural field.  This will be the first NALAC National Conference to take place in California, and the event will culminate a yearlong program of special 20th Anniversary projects, advocacy efforts and new research on the dynamic Latino arts field.

“We’re very excited to be bringing the National Conference to San Jose,” says NALAC Executive Director Maria De Leon. “California is a site of innovation, dynamism and diversity, and we feel this reflects the spirit and energy of today’s Latino arts and culture community.”

The NALAC National Conference in San Jose will feature panel discussions, workshops, performances and in-depth dialogue with celebrated artists, performers, scholars, arts administrators, cultural workers and representatives of funding agencies from California and throughout the U.S. and Latin America.

The NALAC Conference draws participants from the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America.  The local conference Host Committee is led by several prominent San Jose organizations, including MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, 1stACT Silicon Valley, Teatro Visión and the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley.  Noted producer Dan Guerrero will serve as Conference Special Events Producer.

The NALAC National Conference is the only forum that convenes the national sector of Latino and Latin American cultural workers and artists around social, political, and aesthetic issues relevant to the field.  The Conference also serves as an important cultural ‘incubator,’ creating opportunities leading to artistic collaborations, information-sharing and networking on a national and international scale.  The 2010 National Conference will focus on advocacy and strategies for strengthening the Latino arts and cultural sector.

Early Registration rates for the conference are $275 for non-members. $235 for members, $75 for students and $90 for a one-day registration. The deadline for early registration is March 15.

A limited number of scholarships to the NALAC Conference are available for artists and arts administrators in Los Angeles, San Jose and the Bay Area from the Center for Cultural Innovation’s Creative Capacity Fund. Application forms must be received by March 15.  Visit www.cciarts.org/ccf for guidelines and application form.

The Creative Capacity Fund (CCF) is a collaborative initiative designed by a consortium of California arts funders to strengthen the work of artists and arts administrators by providing them with access to a wide range of professional development and peer learning opportunities.  The Creative Capacity Fund partners include the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, San Francisco Arts Commission, The San Francisco Foundation and San José Office of Cultural Affairs.

The San Jose Marriott Hotel is offering a special rate of $109 per night for single or double rooms. Reservations must be made by Monday, March 23, 2010 in order to take advantage of this special conference rate. Call the San Jose Marriott Hotel at 408-280-1300 to make reservations today. The San Jose Marriott Hotel is the official hotel of the 20th Anniversary National Conference.

The 20th Anniversary NALAC National Conference will take place April 14-18, 2010 at the San Jose Marriott Hotel, located at 301 South Market Street. Early Registration rates for the conference are $275 for non-members. $235 for members, $75 for students and $90 for a one-day registration. The deadline for early registration is March 15. For more information, visit conference.nalac.org, email info@nalac.org or call 210-432-3982.

About NALAC: Founded in 1989, NALAC is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, NALAC plays a vital role in fostering understanding, providing advocacy, conducting original research, creating networking opportunities and delivering administrative instruction that ensures the health and sustainability of the national Latino arts field.  NALAC’s core programs include the NALAC Fund for the Arts, the annual NALAC Leadership Institute, Regional Arts Training Workshops, the NALAC National Conference, El Aviso Latino arts magazine and the monthly eBoletin online newsletter.  For more information, call 210-432-3982, email info@nalac.org or visit www.nalac.org.

The San Jose NALAC Conference Host Committee is comprised of the following organizations: Castellano Family Foundation, 1stACT Silicon Valley, MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, Teatro Visión, Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, City of San Jose, The Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University, County of Santa Clara Office of Human Relations, The Tech Museum of Innovation, La Peña Cultural Center, Filco Events and Kooltura Creative Studio.

Support: The 20th Anniversary NALAC National Conference is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Southwest Airlines, Target, California Arts Council, City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, MetLife Foundation, Castellano Family Foundation, Arts Council Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Center for Cultural Innovation and the National Performance Network through a partnership with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

conference.nalac.org

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