Join us for “Audacity in the Arts: Reviving Cultural Relevance,” as part of the Arts & Culture District Collab’s ongoing Creative Conversations series on September 16, 2025, at 6:30pm at The Scott Block Theatre. This is an essential engagement for Central Albertan arts & culture workers and the public.
Alex Sarian will lead a thought-provoking conversation exploring how the arts and culture sector can transform in times of crisis. Drawing from his critically acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance, Alex makes the case that the challenges we face today, including declining audiences, shifting philanthropic priorities, and growing social complexities, are not new. They are the result of long-standing issues of relevance that the pandemic has brought into sharp focus. Through personal stories from his career and insights from his book, Alex invites us to reimagine our organizations as places brimming with potential for reinvention.
This event is free to attend. Donations are welcomed. Reserve your free spot at https://www.showpass.com/alexsarian-rd/.
Doors open at 6:00 PM, with the talk beginning at 6:30 PM. The Scott Block Theatre is located at 4816 50 Avenue in downtown Red Deer. This talk is presented with support from the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance and The City of Red Deer.
Alex will be available for further conversations after the presentation, with light refreshments offered. Copies of Alex’s book will be available to purchase and be signed by the author afterwards. E-Book and Audiobook copies are also available through the Red Deer Public Library’s Libby app to read the book in advance of the presentation.
About Alex Sarian
Alex Sarian is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture (ECW Press, 2024), and President & CEO of Arts Commons (soon to be Werklund Centre), where he is responsible for leading the $660 million Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) project—the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canadian history. Prior to moving to Calgary in 2020, he spent 18 years in New York City, where he served as a senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A proud member of the 2022 class of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University, is a graduate of the CommunityShift program at Western University’s Ivey School of Business and was an inaugural graduate of the Impact Program for Arts Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
These critical conversations shine new light on how to make lasting change. If you want to understand how the world is changing – and what to do about it – Alex Sarian shows you the way.