From Welcoming
To Cooperation
TRC's first annual symposium on March 15, 2024, will assemble our accumulated lessons and knowledge about creating a cross-cultural community by harnessing the power and energy of creating music. Throughout this session, participants will learn, discuss, and share ideas that build on TRC's own experiences to produce a relationship-building toolkit. This toolkit will be created as the discussions happen so that participants will receive it at the end of the session.
March 15, 2024
This event will run from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM at UW YMCA (Room 304) in Tacoma. A light breakfast and lunch will be included in the ticket price.
During this time, participants will learn about Tacoma Refugee Choir's journey to creating a welcoming community, our "choir family." As we continue to learn how to intentionally create a cross-cultural and multicultural community through the arts, we are codifying our learnings in the hopes of sharing and benefiting like-minded partners in this work. We will engage in smaller conversations and group work to co-create a "toolkit" that will assist participants with practices that will enhance a spirit of welcoming and engender belonging.
If you work in the space of arts programming, nonprofit, community-building, mental health research, public health, any kind of institutional decision-making, or if you just love what TRC does, we think you will find this event very informative and inspiring. You can register with the button above or by clicking here.
FRAMING QUESTIONS
What is Welcoming and how do you actualize welcoming?
What does it mean to be welcoming? As artists, practitioners, change makers, and people passionate about building a connected community, we will examine the spirit of welcoming, concrete actions that create a sense of belonging, and explore how Tacoma Refugee Choir has evolved in its journey to create a cross-cultural and multicultural community through song and music.
How to build leadership from within?
TRC's mission is about creating spaces, and in the right space with the right conditions, everyone's leadership abilities can emerge. Throughout the Choir's existence, we have seen members stepping up, singing with a louder voice, or even creating impact beyond the Choir. TRC continues to build on those practices and processes that promote internal growth, which fulfills our goal of building leadership from within.
How can we creatively cooperate to make our community more welcoming?
With the social challenges that we face today, particularly around isolation and polarization, we need to adopt ideas that creatively break down barriers and encourage connection. How do we infuse ideas on outreach, policies, activities, and projects with creativity so that they contribute to existing problem-solving approaches? Where do the arts fit into this picture?
Event Schedule
8:30-9:00 Check-In
9:00-9:05 Welcome
9:05-9:25 Director's Address
9:30-9:40 What is Welcoming?
9:40-10:2 Group discussions on Welcoming
10:20-10:35 Break
10:40-11:00 Keynote Address by Gadine Niyotwizeye-Boutin
11:00-11:30 The Role of Arts and Arts-based Organizations
11:30-12:00 Group discussions on Arts and Cooperation
12:00-12:45 Lunch
12:50-1:30 Group discussions on leadership and outreach
1:30-2:15 Panel - Actions to Build an Inclusive, Welcoming Space
2:15-2:30 Thank you and Goodbye
Keynote Speaker
Gadine Boutin is Member Coordinator of Tacoma Refugee Choir, and the team member responsible for inspiring, uplifting, and connecting Choir members to our mission and to each other. Gadine's remarks will focus on how she took on this unique challenge and the lessons that TRC have codified along the way.
Contact Us
For any questions about the event or registration, please contact Jefferson Mok via email or call (253) 528-4948