In light of the impending generational shift in leadership the field of the arts and arts education is about to experience, there has been much talk about the future: who will be our new leading arts thinkers, administrators, policymakers, and practitioners—and in what social, cultural, and political landscapes will these individuals operate? While there is great concern surrounding this matter, little is being done to provide a platform for tomorrow’s leaders to share their ideas with the larger field.

20UNDER40 endeavors to collect twenty essays about the future of the arts and arts education, each written by an emerging leader under the age of forty. In doing so, this anthology will provide a unique arena for new ideas by formally gathering the thoughts of young artists, teaching artists, administrators, researchers, and other arts and arts education professionals—legitimizing the talent of young leaders by bringing their ideas out of the margins and into the forefront of our dialogue.

20UNDER40 is now scheduling collaborative workshops, interactive lectures, and lively happy hour events that build support for young arts professionals in your community and promote an intergenerational dialogue addressing the complex issues pertaining to emerging arts leadership. All 20UNDER40 offerings may be tailored to suit the specific needs of your organization or constituency group. For more information about 20UNDER40 workshops, lectures, and happy hours, click here.

In our last burst to inspire young arts professionals to submit their ideas we published an OPEN LETTER TO YOUNG ARTS PROFESSIONALS. Though the submission deadline for chapter proposals has passed, you are encouraged to read this essay by clicking here.

Since June 15, 2009 20UNDER40 has been in search of essays demonstrating the most innovative and unique perspectives on the future of the arts and arts education from artists, teaching artists, researchers, administrators, and cultural activists under the age of forty. Though the submission deadline for 20UNDER40 has now passed, the dialogue surrounding this project rolls on.

Thank you for all who have submitted and those of you who have played a pivotal role in encouraging your colleagues to submit a chapter proposal. Please read below to check out some of the landmark events we've encountered along the path of our short history—and stay tuned for progress on this project and the discussion that surrounds it.

March 2010

• Full chapters are due back from invited authors by March 1, 2010.

April 2010

• On April 29, 2010 20UNDER40's Edward Clapp will be the featured speaker at the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable. Edward will facilitate a discussion on leadership in the arts for arts education professionals who are both new—and not so new—to the field. For more information about the NYC AIE Roundtable, click here

June 2010

• On June 4, 2010 20UNDER40's Edward Clapp will be in Washington, D.C. participating on the panel "Emerging Arts Leaders—What Do They Have to Tell Us?" at the 2010 Association for Arts Administration Educators Conference entitled "Making Connections—Preparing Cultural Leaders for Future Challenges." For more information about the AAAE conference, click here.
• On June 26, 2010 20UNDER40's Edward Clapp will be moderating a Visionary Panel entitled "The Future of Leadership" at the Americans for the Arts Half-Century Summit in Baltimore, MD. Scholarships to attend this historic conference are now available. Click here to apply.
• 20UNDER40 anticipates finalizing its selections for the twenty essays that will ultimately be published in the anthology. Once the chapters of the publication are finalized, the 20UNDER40 team will begin the editorial process.

December 2010

• If all goes well, 20UNDER40 aims to hit bookshelves by the close of 2010.

January 2009

• On a snowy afternoon in a parking lot in Sunapee, NH, Edward Clapp connects with Eric Booth for the first time to discuss an idea for an anthology about the future of arts leadership.

February-May 2009

• Under the guidance of Steve Seidel at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Edward begins engaging in research that will serve as the theoretical underpinning for what will later become the 20UNDER40 project.
• Edward Clapp and webdesigner Margaret McKenna purchase the domain name www.20UNDER40.org and begin building the 20UNDER40 website.

June 2009

• On June 15, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. EST the 20UNDER40 website and call for submissions was launched by Edward and web designer Margaret McKenna in the front room of Edward's apartment in Somerville, MA. The original website included a context-setting article entitled Why Talk About Leadership Now? You may access this article by clicking here.
• Less than 24 hours after its initial call for chapter proposals was released, 20UNDER40 received its first submission.
• During late June, the 20UNDER40 Facebook Group Page was established. Please join us!

July 2009

• On July 3, 2009, the 20UNDER40 call for chapter proposals was posted on the New England Consortium of Artist-Educator Professionals (NECAP) listserve. The following day, a dismayed veteran artist/arts educator referred to the 20UNDER40 project as "heinous" and "repugnant." A lively discussion ensued, centering on the concepts of ageism, exclusion, and bias. Over the following week this small listserve of less than 150 people experienced an unprecedented spike in its participation and attracted national attention. To view a transcript of the NECAP dialogue, click here.
• During the following week, 20UNDER40 transferred the debate from the NECAP listserve to its Facebook Group Page, where many of the original comments still exist, and new comments are welcome to join the discussion. To view this debate, click here.

August 2009

• After receiving several disheartening emails from talented young leaders who felt as though they had ideas to contribute to the field, but did not feel as though they had the authority to speak their minds, on August 22, 2009 20UNDER40 published THIS IS OUR EMERGENCY: An Open Letter to Young Arts Leaders. A flurry of activity and a new enthusiasm for the project and its goal of raising the voices of young arts leaders ensued. To read the full text of this document, click here.
• At 11:59 p.m. on August 31, 2009 the 20UNDER40 call for submissions came to a close. Approximately 100 chapter proposals were received in the final hour, bringing the 20UNDER40 submission total to 304 chapter proposals from 343 authors on five different continents. As a result, 20UNDER40 project director Eric Booth lost a ten dollar bet to editor Edward Clapp.

October 2009

• 20UNDER40 founder Edward Clapp teamed up with Ann Gregg (Carnegie Hall), Nancy Kleaver (DreamYard Project), and Heath Marlow (Community MusicWorks) to present a workshop entitled Re-Inventing the Arts for the 21st Century at the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) Fall Forum in Cambridge, MA. The room was packed as the session served over 50 participants—more than 25% of the conference's attendees!
• Following the AEP conference, 20UNDER40 welcomed over 30 individuals from across the country to it's first Happy Hour event at the Queen's Head Pub on the campus of Harvard University.
• During the week of October 19-23 20UNDER40 teamed up with Americans for the Arts (AftA) to launch an online Emerging Leaders Salon on ARTSblog. Within the first 24 hours of the online affair, the blog received over 2,100 hits, nearly double the previous ARTSblog record 1,100 hits in a single day. The 20UNDER40-themed blog went on to break the previous record for five consecutive days, making the 20UNDER40/AftA event the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most popular in ARTSblog's history. To read the bloggers' posts and the responses they received click here.
• After a rigorous process of blind review, during the last week of October the 20UNDER40 editorial team advanced 32 chapter proposals from 43 authors to the final round of review for the 20UNDER40 publication. Invited authors have till March 1, 2010 to submit their full chapters for consideration.
• On Halloween 20UNDER40 founder Edward Clapp partnered with Aliza Greenberg (Roundabout Theatre) to present an interactive workshop on leadership entitled What's Next? at the Arts in Education Continuing the Conversation conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

November 2009

• On Friday, November 13, 2009 Americans for the Arts broadcasted the first portion of a two-part podcast interview with 20UNDER40 founder Edward Clapp. Listen to the podcast online by clicking here.
• On Friday, November 20, 2009 Americans for the Arts broadcasted the second portion of its podcast interview with Edward. Listen to the podcast online by clicking here.