For four days last week, Memphis was the center of the arts world. More than 600 funders, artists, and cultural leaders from across the country came to town for the national Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) Conference, held October 18 to 21 under the theme “As the South Goes: Blueprints for Cultural Infrastructure and Collective Power.” It was a chance for the people who help fund art all over America to see, up close, how Memphis makes it.
GIA is the national association of public and private arts funders, and its annual conference lands in a different city each year. In 2026, it chose Memphis. The welcome fit the city: the opening plenary took the stage at the Orpheum Theatre downtown, and the week spread out across venues all over town instead of staying inside one convention hall.
Why Memphis
The case for Memphis made itself. This is the city that gave the world Sun Studio and Stax, Otis Redding and Three 6 Mafia, and a creative current that still runs through every neighborhood. The conversations leaned into that history while pointing at what comes next: how a city builds the kind of lasting support that keeps artists here and keeps culture growing.
Memphis Showed Out
All week, the city’s cultural organizations put their work on full display for a national audience:
- Music Export Memphis spotlighted the ecosystem behind the city’s recorded music, with live performances from its Ambassador Access artists.
- Hattiloo Theatre brought its Bridging Worlds International Black Theatre Festival, drawing companies from as far as Norway, Nigeria, and South Africa.
- Opera Memphis, now in its 70th season, shared the story of its free 30 Days of Opera that fills the city with song each fall.
- Collage Dance Collective, a nationally recognized ballet company rooted right here, represented the strength of classical dance built in Memphis.
- The BIG We, led by founder Anasa Troutman, closed the opening session with a look at Memphis as a place that has always done things its own way.
What Comes Next
Having the nation’s arts funders in town is more than a nice weekend on the calendar. It puts Memphis institutions, and the artists coming up behind them, in front of the people who can help them grow. And the momentum keeps rolling: the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art opens its new downtown home on December 6, with free admission for Shelby County residents.
Memphis has always made the art. Last week, the rest of the country got a closer look at how we do it, and why it matters that we keep investing in it. Learn more about the conference at gia-conference.org.
Photo via Choose901.
