The Bay Area arts community is at an inflection point, facing accelerating changes on a host of fronts. Technology is driving new ways for artists to create and audiences to experience and participate in the arts. Demographic shifts are posing challenges for many long-standing arts institutions trying to engage new audiences. Securing space for performances and artists in the Bay Area’s white-hot real estate market tests the sector’s resourcefulness as never before. Amidst all this change, the funding landscape is shifting too, with longtime arts funders leaving the field and new business models showing great promise.

What is the state of the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018? Join the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and arts experts from across the region and around the country for a discussion of where we go next. The panel discussion will be followed by the presentation of the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions 2018 awards in theater, musical theater and spoken word.