The Anne Arundel County Arts Council, The AngelWing Project

The Chesapeake Arts Center Presents…..

2023 DEIA Conference

Thursday, August 17, 2023

8am Breakfast/ Check-In | 9am Conference Starts

at the Chesapeake Arts Center

in the Hammonds Lane Theatre

There is no cost to attend, continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. This is a ticketed event and only registered guests will be permitted to attend.

On August 17th, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County in partnership with The AngelWing Project and the Chesapeake Arts Center will host the 2nd conference on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts in our area. We look forward to a day of learning, discussion, and networking. Topical presentations, panel discussions, and interactive sessions will begin to provide stakeholders with the tools they need to reach underserved populations, build partnerships, engage broader audiences, and build diversity in their staff, boards, and volunteer base.

All members of the Anne Arundel County arts community are welcome. Board members, staff, and volunteers of ACAAC grantee organizations are highly encouraged to attend.

On-site check-in opens: 8 am
Program: 9 am - 4 pm , which will include:
• Keynote speakers
• Topical presentations
• Work sessions
• Artist panels

DEIA 2023 Facilitator

Angela Wilson - Founder and CEO, The AngelWing Project

Angela is the founder and Executive Director of the AngelWing Project, Inc. She leads the non-profit organization in their mission to “positively impact the community by providing uplifting, entertaining shows and events to inspire appreciation for and participation in the arts.” The AngelWing Project is currently in residence at the Chesapeake Arts Center, a premier arts center in the region and they collaborate on many projects.

Wilson is an award-winning playwright, producer, director, and an independent artist with a vision. As a teacher and artist, Angela has found her niche in writing plays that tell stories of her cultural experiences in honest and compelling ways. Her plays are truthful and sincere and tell important stories about the African American experience in a highly entertaining yet thought provoking manner. She is able to move audiences as she ensures that they are learning as they are being entertained, informed and inspired. Angela’s work has been widely recognized and she was one of 69 artists from across the state selected to receive an Independent Artist regional award from the Maryland State Arts Council for Literary Arts in 2022. Angela’s critically acclaimed stage play, Tears of the Soul, premiered at the Chesapeake Arts Center in 2018 and has been published and licensed by Heuer Publishing, one of the oldest publishing houses serving the educational community theater markets from amateurs to stock (professional) performances in the US and several countries. Tears of the Soul also won the DC Black Theater and Arts Festival in Washington, DC in 2019 as it was voted the Festival Favorite in the full-length play category. Her latest work, Clay's Place: Inside My Blue Mind was a quarterfinalist in the 2021 Screencraft national playwrighting competition.

Angela’s writing style is real and honest. Her fictional characters are authentic, valid and amazingly human which is why they feel very familiar to her audiences. Her plays provide a reflective look at life and the intermingling of its beauty and atrocities. Her skillful prose enables her to write fictionalized stories with multifaceted characters and communities during historically real moments; with people living in and through fear, pain, and unspeakable challenges yet still finding a way to live courageously and love with an endurance of spirit that touches hearts. She states that she writes what her soul tells her and believes this authenticity is why her audiences are moved by her work. Her writing themes focus on respecting our shared human experience, and the similarity of our individual frailties.

Angela also has had a successful career in HR for over 23 years. She has a BS in Business Management and an MS in Organization and HR Development and has been a leader in Learning and Development, and Diversity and Inclusion. She left her corporate job in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to start her own consulting company and to commit more time to her writing, leading the AngelWing Project and helping others learn skills and tools to help them improve outcomes through effective communication and inclusive practices.

While there is nothing new under the sun; she believes that what makes someone a true artist is their unique perspective on life expressed through their individual creative lens.

DEIA 2023 Morning Kickoff Speaker:

Alysia Lee - Community, Liberation, and Creativity.

Formerly the education program supervisor for Fine Arts for the Maryland State Department of Education, Alysia's work centers on anti-racism, creativity, and justice.

Presently, Alysia Lee is the inaugural President of the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF), the bold hyperlocal grantmaker stewarding $14 million in public funds this year to support the success of Baltimore’s young people. Lee is also a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist and the Founding Artistic Director of Sister Cities Girlchoir, the El Sistema-inspired, youth empowerment choral academy operating in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Camden.

Lee composes music for vocal ensembles and is the series editor of Hal Leonard’s Exigence for Young Voices, the new choral series uplifting Black and Brown composers for young ensembles.

Read more about Alysia Lee HERE.

DEIA 2023 Keynote Speaker:

DARYL DAVIS- Musician, Author, and Activist

Daryl Davis is an international recording artist, actor and bandleader. He is considered to be one of the greatest Blues & Boogie Woogie and Blues and Rock’n’roll pianists of all time, having played with the Legendary Blues Band (formerly the Muddy Waters band) and Chuck Berry. As an actor, he has received critical acclaim for his performances on stage, film, and television, including a role in HBO’s series The Wire.

However, Daryl is probably best known as a race relations expert who has directly inspired more than 200 Klansmen to leave the organization and has effectively dismantled the Klan’s operation in the state of Maryland. An encounter with prejudice early in life led black musician Daryl Davis on a quest to determine the source of the hate, and led him to attend KKK rallies. His TEDx Talk about his experiences, Why I, as a Black man attend KKK rallies, has garnered more than 12 million views. Daryl has been widely acclaimed for this work, and is the recipient of the Elliott-Black Award, the MLK Award and the Bridge Builder Award among many others.

Read more about Daryl Davis HERE.

FUNDING FOR THIS EVENT IS PROVIDED BY: