ROOTS Weekend Whitakers, NC, 2023. Photo by Melisa Cardona.
——————ROOTS Week 2023: CONNECT
——————Tuesday, August 8 – Sunday, August 13
——————Lutheridge Conference Center, Arden, NC
——————Registration is open!
——————- –• On-campus tickets have sold out, but you can still join the waitlist.
——————- –• There are still plenty of tickets available without lodging.
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This ROOTS Week’s theme is CONNECT.
After a 4-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we gather together once again to make community and make space for all that we bring as justice-loving cultural workers!
At ROOTS Week 2023 we will connect deeply – as we have done for close to 50 years; we will be together. We will reconnect in all the ways we know, and find new ways.
And you don’t have to wait until ROOTS Week to start connecting. Here are three ways you can do that now.
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Join the ROOTS Week Work Group
The ROOTS Week Work Group is where members and staff come together to help shape ROOTS Week. The group will be meeting twice a week via Zoom through the end of July to develop the week’s schedule, curate programming, help integrate the Annual Business Meeting into the week’s activities, and more.
As we gather at Lutheridge for the first time in 4 years, it feels more important than ever that members help design our time together. Please reach out to rootsweek@alternateroots.org if you would like to join or have any questions.
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Attend a July Porch Sit: Monday July 10, Monday July 17, Monday July 24
We’ve heard from members that folks want to engage before ROOTS Week, to help reconnect after four years apart and to open up conversations about some big topics that have risen up during that time. Topics like values, money, and our strategic direction in the midst of all the change we’ve undergone. We’re inviting all members – especially those attending ROOTS Week – to come together in conversation at three Porch Sits throughout the month of July.
We want to emphasize that these Porch Sits will be a member-led space, amplifying the voices and agency of our vibrant community of artists and cultural organizers. These Porch Sits will be a dynamic space where each members’ unique perspectives about the issues that are on their minds – funding, leadership, and more – are valued and celebrated. In this spirit, the first Porch Sit on Monday, July 10 will be a conversation about how members want to co-design what the following two sessions will be. Members from the UpROOTing and Heal/Team teams will be present to help hold the space.
To join these Porch Sits, register HERE. You can also add these events to your Google Calendar using this link.
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Special Invitation from the ATL ROOTers: The Rhizome Challenge
Greetings from the Atlanta-area ROOTers!
We are getting all giddy about the prospects of gathering again at ROOTS Week in August. We’ve been apart for nearly three years, and more ROOTers are in our circle now, so we know it’ll be a challenge to connect and reconnect in our short time together. So we’re meeting that challenge with another challenge!
We are planning THREE Rhizome get-togethers over the summer (see below). We feel that this will give us time and space to begin to re-knit our fabric of community, and we CHALLENGE you to join us! Start your own Rhizome and get a jump-start on the networking that happens at ROOTS Week. A Rhizome can be initiated by any current member (with an active member profile) and there’s support – funding up to $250 – space, food, honoraria, etc., and ancillary support to make it a success. Who’s up to meet our challenge?
More info on hosting a Rhizome here.
All Atlanta-area ROOTers are invited to join the two remaining ATL Rhizomes:
—————- • Tomorrow: Saturday, June 24, 11am -1pm at the ArtsXchange:
——————-2148 Newnan St, East Point 30344, hosted by Marquetta Dupree and Kathie deNobriga
—————- • Wednesday, July 12, 7:30pm at No Tomorrow in Underground Atlanta:
——————-50 Upper Alabama St. 30303, hosted by Priscilla Smith
What’s a Rhizome? Rhizome events are a cornerstone activity of the ROOTS Membership, a tool for members to network, connect, and build relationships.