Performing Arts Exchange coming to B.R. in September

The Performing Arts Exchange, a conference for artists and event bookers, will be held in downtown Baton Rouge Sept. 21-24. As many as 600 regional booking agents are expected to attend the conference, which will be spread across downtown venues ranging from the River Center and the Shaw Center to Boudreaux & Thibodaux’s and the Lyceum, says Philipa Blair of the Baton Rouge Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Wendell Pierce, a New Orleans native who has starred in the HBO series The Wire and Treme, will be the keynote speaker at the conference. Along with featuring a variety of educational sessions, there will be performances of every kind, from chamber music to children’s puppet shows. Most of the showcase performances will be free to the public, since they’re set up to let booking agents see how a crowd reacts to an artist. Blair says the CVB hopes the conference puts Baton Rouge on the map as an artists’ venue. For more details on the exchange, click here. The event is sponsored by South Arts, an Atlanta-based group that was founded to build on the South’s unique heritage and promote the public value of art.