"Charge" is a two-day practicum to platform and convene artist led alternative models, to open up conversations around equitable compensation of artists and to consider artists' work in the larger economy. The event will feature a selection of local and national presenters (artists, curators, organizers and researchers) who have been commissioned to conceive and host discussions, direct actions, lectures and workshops that explore conceptual, organizational and economic models of sustaining one's art practice, engaging critically and generatively within the arts ecosystem as well as with broader communities, and advocating for equitable compensation along the way.

"Charge" will focus on supporting, celebrating, convening and hearing real talk from those who've been piloting alternative models, experimenting creatively with how to sustain an art practice, intersecting arts and activist communities, actively intervening in current standards and practices of compensation, engaging both critically and generatively in the arts ecosystem, and compiling research on how artists' work ties into the larger economy.

Advocacy for equitable compensation of artists and more effective and sustainable models in the arts is nothing new. As Houston's arts funding policies are currently being rewritten and the city is undergoing a major cultural initiative, an event like this, centered on and starting with the artists is vital in establishing equitable policies for the future.