Laura Sievert-Hesseltine

Storytelling for Civic Pride: There’s More Here

This presentation will center on storytelling through the lens of shared public spaces. It’s no secret that our public art, museum, and history records are largely missing the stories of women, people of color, and marginalized communities. Laura explores the real logistics of how we change the way we tell our community stories. Participants will learn that changing our collective storytelling isn’t just a moral imperative, but a sound investment for our Illinois economies.

With real-world examples, compelling economic data, and a framework that can apply as easily to your local arts council as it does inside local industries, Laura will energize attendees to take a critical look at the stories we’re telling and how expanding the public narrative makes our communities more attractive and competitive. Our communities’ quality of life, talent attraction and retention programs, and future economic vitality depend on our ability to create new cultural conversations.

Laura will also draw on her background as a marketing executive with Hallmark and Arts Quincy: America's First Arts Council,  to talk about the best practices marketing for arts and culture nonprofits to talk about their public artwork, historic sites, and significant cultural landmarks. She will give actionable ideas to small and volunteer-led groups to attract more audiences to hear these stories the community has invested in.

Program Logistics

The presentation takes approximately 45 minutes, with extra time at the end for Q&A, making it approximately one hour. No equipment is required.