News & Views

Reflections on the 2025 Arts & Culture Summit

A weekend of creativity, connection, and moments we’ll carry with us

What does it feel like when artists, culture-bearers, and curious minds gather—not just to learn, but to listen, play, and show up with their full selves?

This year’s Summit reminded us.

Held in Traverse City over two days, the 2025 Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Summit was full of learning and logistics—but also full of laughter, awe, tears, and belonging. More than just a schedule of sessions, it was a lived experience of what a connected creative ecosystem can look and feel like.

Here’s a glimpse into the moments that shaped it.

Two Keynotes, One Shared Fire

We were honored to welcome Nafeesah Symonette and Brad Montague as our keynote speakers—two very different voices, both unforgettable.

• Nafeesah’s talk, Keeper of the Flame, offered a deep, affirming reminder of our worth and responsibility. It was a call to action for the creative community to do what we do—now more than ever. Her presence was rooted, radiant, and powerful.
  
  "I was left breathless by Nafeesah Symonette's keynote address. She created a work of art in prose, methodically and rhythmically incorporating calls to action and call-and-response techniques. She invited us in to understand her family and her heritage, and to connect on a more human level."

• Brad brought laughter, wonder, and deep humanity with Joyful Rebellion, inviting us all to stay playful and participate in hope. His heartfelt call to beautiful people to make meaningful things in a messy world struck a major chord with all in the audience.
  
  One idea I'm most excited to take back with me is: Putting all my efforts into the broader context of who I am. 'You are not your art' - Brad Montague.

Audience members laughed, cried, joined in, and left changed. It’s no exaggeration to say they both blew us away.

A Collaboration You Couldn't Script

Saturday morning’s closing performance became something no one could have planned: a spontaneous, completely improvised collaboration between Charlie Millard and dancer Benjamin Cheney.

They ran into each other backstage—old friends—and decided, right then and there, to create something live. The result was pure magic. A moment of embodied artistry that perfectly captured the spirit of the Summit.

The Opera House, Reimagined

Projection artist Super Nuclear (Matthew Stafford) turned the historic City Opera House into a vivid, moving canvas. With psychedelic visuals that shifted and shimmered with each performance, Super Nuclear set a tone of surprise and wonder—bringing new dimension to everything from strings and spoken word to ballet and indie rock.

Performances throughout the Summit were described by attendees as on par with those at national arts conferences. The diversity and high level of artistry showcased at the Summit was a testament to the vibrancy of the arts in northwest Michigan!

We enjoyed performances by:

• Mashup Rock & Roll Musical
• Hail Your Highness
• String Quartet (members of Traverse City Philharmonic and Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra)
• Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet
• Charlie Millard
• Ben Cheney (dancer and Artistic Director of The Croft Residency)
• Rachael Davis (with special guest, her mom!)
• Amber Hasan

We are Participating

This wasn’t a sit-and-listen kind of gathering.

Attendees worked together on polished artist statements, re-evaluated long-running fundraising events, explored adaptive leadership strategies, and even rehearsed for their very first theater auditions. Sessions were designed to create—not just consume.

Meanwhile, the sidewalk outside became its own studio, thanks to ClaySpaceTC and their hands-on pottery wheel. And inside, Pokey Robinson’s handpoke tattoos drew curious onlookers and excited recipients. What seemed like a wild idea in the planning stage became a signature moment—giving some attendees a lifelong (literally) memento of their experience.

Workshops included:

• Should You Quit Event Fundraising?
• So, You Think You Want to Throw a Festival
• Creative Placemaking: Three Steps to Improving Community Vitality
• Ashes, Embers & Sparks: What Could a Real Arts Network Look Like?
• Make a (artist) Statement
• Crafting Visual Branding That Captures Your Audience
• Try It On: Your First (Not-So-Scary) Theater Audition
• Advocacy in Action: Crafting Your 30-Day Plan

Panel Discussions:

• Holding Ground, Finding Direction: Adaptive Leadership for Museums Today
• Making Space: The Role of Artist Residencies
• How to Approach a Gallery and Perspectives on Rejection

Artist Talks

• Piggery Pete: Collaborative Folk Ritual, Speculative History, and Public Art — Kevin Summers
• Top Ten Lessons to Do Something Big (For Less) — Joseph Beyer & Jordan Anderson
• Escaping Isolation, Embracing Beauty — Alyssa Smith

It was big-hearted, unfiltered, generous conversation from incredible facilitators, panelists and presenting artists.

 

 

One-on-One Moments That Hit Home

Nearly 50 attendees signed up for individual mentorship sessions with our curated group of mentors. These weren’t just “ask me anything” chats—they were intimate conversations that offered clarity, encouragement, perspective, and in many cases, validation.

Sometimes what a creative person needs most isn’t a new tool or bits of information—it’s the quiet assurance that they already belong.

Forming a Web of Relationships

Throughout the weekend, everywhere you looked, people were gathered—in sessions, in stairwells, on the sidewalk, over coffee.

People who had never met were suddenly in deep conversation. Strangers were becoming collaborators. Mentors, friends. This is exactly the type of relationship-building that the Summit and the Network is designed to cultivate.