In a lot of ways I still can’t believe it’s really over. All the planning, and phone calls, and emails and coordinating is done and now we start planning for next year. The wheels are already turning out new ideas for ways to improve Expo, to bring everyone together as more of a community, and to find out exactly how we managed to get such amazing weather. But before we get too far into ideas for next year, lets acknowledge the amazing work that made this year happen.

First, highest honors and accolades go out to Jessica Brown, who is by far the most talented events planner I have ever worked with. Jessica has a method and energy that is both fun and reassuring. She is one of the coolest cookies I’ve ever seen, and I highly recommend her for planning any event of any size. Jessica knows all the best people, places and resources in San Francisco, and truly she is the greatness behind this year’s event.

Next, a big shout out to Josh Wilson, Indy Arts Co-Founder and Expo Brain Trust. I had a sudden realization yesterday of what I had been entrusted with when I was hired to do this job. This event, now moving into it’s eleventh year was created so artists and culture makers could get their message out, but also so they could come together, collaborate, and make even more interesting art and culture. The Expo for Independent Arts would never have made it this far without the vision, tenacity and persistence of Josh. We all owe him a great debt of gratitude.

Cristina Ibarra, whom many of you probably spoke to throughout this year’s planning is a great new talent to Indy Arts. Not only did she single-handedly coordinate the Four Corners Mural project, she worked tirelessly on the Symposium as well. Then she went out and hustled many of the donations we received this year. She has a make it happen attitude and amazing energy that is essential for this kind of work. Even as the rest of us could do little more than sit and drink beer at the after-party, she was dancing to the great salsa tunes going in the background.

Melinda Adams is a long time Expo volunteer and also part of the Expo Brain Trust. This year Melinda did so much for us, from keeping us on track as to who we are as an organization for the Symposium, to helping to find us an Emcee for the Expo Performance Stage, to setting up tables in the morning, to being our stage manager to many, many other large and small contributions that she has made along the way. In a lot of ways, Melinda is the Queen of us All, so please be sure to bow down and kiss her ring when you see her.

Brianna Toth was instrumental in many many ways. Brianna helped with outreach and booking tables for the event, she secured many of the goodies we had at the hospitality table that kept us fed and caffeinated throughout the day, she worked many hours organizing our contacts, helped book speakers for the Symposium and was a great reminder of Indy Arts’ DIY roots and ethos.

Susie McKinnon was our fill in the cracks volunteer. She is ever cherry, always efficient, and a true team player. Susie helped us with a lot of the admin work related to Expo, including database management. She did outreach, did some promotional writing for us, and even some graphic design. Then she came out just a day after her vacation to help us with the Symposium and then again to help run the Info Table at the Expo. We are looking into having her cloned.

Anita Linker is another new but faithful Indy Arts volunteer. Anita’s forte is for the detail work that has to be done well and right. Anita acted as support for both the Expo and the Symposium and also worked both events. Her steadfast and devotion to arts is what led her to us, and we hope it will keep her with us for the next Expo as well.

Special thanks go out to our Emcees and all of our “day of” volunteers who helped with set up, moving tables, moving vehicles, moving everything. You were the backbone of the event and we could not have done it without you!!! Please do continue to wear your I (heart) Indy Arts T-Shirts with Pride!

And finally, Thank You to all of our Exhibitors and Performers for creating an exciting and interesting pastiche of arts and culture for the day. At the Info Table we got many, many compliments about how great and interesting the exhibitors were. And for the performers, I personally talked to one guy at the end who came to get a T-shirt who said he was just passing through the park in the morning, saw something going on, on the stage and then stayed all day. He said he just couldn’t bring himself to leave because he wanted to see what would be on next.

Thank you so much to everyone involved, everyone who helped, everyone who attended.

You made Expo amazing!

Very best,

Clarisa Morales Roberts
Executive Director
aka
Indy Arts Boss Lady