FREE Emergency Preparedness Webinars from NCAPER

From National Coalition for Arts Preparedness & Emergency Response –

NCAPER is pleased to share a series of free webinars presented by Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) designed to support performing arts organizations in strengthening their emergency preparedness.

A well-prepared organization can respond more effectively to crises, recover more swiftly, and ensure continuity in its performances and programs.

These webinars, led by industry experts, cover a range of topics from fire safety to risk assessment and community recovery through the arts.

The Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project is offering the free emergency preparedness webinars listed below that are tailored to the needs of performing arts organizations. The better prepared an organization is, the more quickly and effectively it can respond to emergencies and crises, re-open for performances and programs, and return to normal operations.

Webinars:

Event Preparedness: Active Shooters and Hostile Activity at Your Venues, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 2:00-3:30ET
Description: In recent years we have seen an increase in hostile attacks across all sectors, including events. These attacks have come in a variety of methods. Performing Arts and Cultural Heritage organizations must be prepared for all scenarios and need to be able to react to all emergencies. This webinar will cover the types of attacks to prepare for, as well as the training you should consider for your venues and staff. Our instructor, Emma Stuart, also presents the “Safety and Security for Performing Arts,” “Road to Recovery: Performing Arts During COVID,” and the “Pandemic Response for Performing Arts Organizations” webinars for the PAR project.
Instructor: Emma Stuart

Risk Assessment for Performing Arts Organizations, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 2:00-3:30ET
Description: Natural disasters, local emergencies, and other disruptive events can have devastating effects on all sizes of performing arts organizations. This webinar will focus on mitigating risks at institutions, to prevent disasters from happening and to reduce the impact of unavoidable disasters. The session will clarify the need for risk assessment as a part of an organization’s disaster preparedness strategy, provide basic information on risk assessment tools and practices, and address how risk assessment can benefit performing arts organizations. The instructors will also present case studies as a part of the session, so participants can learn from actual disasters in performing arts organizations.
Instructor: Tom Clareson

Networking for Disaster Management in the Performing Arts, Thursday, March 20, 2025, 2:00-4:00ET
Description: Emergency response and preparedness for performing arts organizations can be a difficult task for individual organizations. This free 2 hour webinar will demonstrate how working with multiple organizations in a network for disaster management can be accomplished. The history of networking for improved emergency preparedness in the cultural heritage, arts, and government sectors will be examined, with an exploration of existing networks. Case studies of the Pennsylvania Cultural Resilience Network and CultureAID in New York City will be presented to help guide you on how to start your own, or join an existing, cooperative disaster network. You will learn how to use the Cultural Placekeeping Guide to direct your networking efforts.
Instructors: Tom Clareson and Amy Schwartzman

Health and Safety in the Performing Arts, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 2:00-3:30ET
Description: Safety in the theater extends to crews, casts, and audience members as well as the venue. This includes performance and rehearsal spaces, shops, and other work spaces. It requires awareness, common sense, and perseverance to eliminate hazards and guard against carelessness. The goal of this free webinar is to ensure that a safe, healthy environment is maintained at all times. This includes the control and minimization of all known and potential hazards associated within creative, artistic, and performance development. These risks can be minimized and controlled through proper training, equipment, and use of appropriate precautions, restrictions, and established safe-work practices.
Instructor: Ellen Korpar

Community Recovery Through Arts and Culture, Thursday, April 3, 2025, 2:00-4:00ET
Description: Arts and culture—through the artists and organizations that bring them to life in communities — have a vital role to play in recovery from disasters. Whether connecting people through music, dance, theater or other experiences; providing moments of respite, joy and humor; allowing people to tell their personal stories of the disaster through visual, verbal or other means; or even just providing a place to congregate, gather information or grab a cup of coffee, arts and culture and the organizations that produce them enable us to move from victimhood to personhood, even if only for a moment, and help us rebuild the social infrastructure of our individual and community lives.
In this webinar, we will focus on how artists and arts organizations can engage in this work. We will provide background in basic disaster management principles, share good practices, give guiding principles and brief how-tos, leave you with resources for further study, and answer any questions you may have. Rebuilding social infrastructure strengthens communities’ abilities to move forward after disasters. Learn how to be part of the process and gain a seat at the table in your community’s recovery.
Instructors: Mary Eileen Fouratt, Amy Schwartzman, Mollie Quinlan-Hayes

Introduction to Archival Programs for Performing Arts Institutions, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 2:00-3:30ET
Description: With many performing arts organizations operating for some time, legacy records have been created that can benefit not only staff but also the public. Join us for an introduction to what archival programs do and how they can help your organization. This class will be organized into two parts. First, participants will learn what practical actions they can take now with minimal resources and then learn about program components for consideration in the future. By the end of the class, participants will be able to:
– Learn what archives do and what archival work entails
– Understand what materials are considered historical
– Acquire skills in basic preservation and safe storage practices, including electronic materials
– Become aware of what is needed to develop archival programs over time
Instructor: Katy Klettlinger

The complete list of PAR webinars may be found here.