ArtsTalk: Shaping the Future of Arts and Culture With Author Alex Sarian

Alex Sarian is president and CEO of Arts Commons, a best-selling author and a sought-after speaker on the topic of institutional relevance. Known for his commitment to civic engagement, fundraising expertise and experience designing sustainable business models in the arts sector, Sarian has worked on cultural projects in 15 countries on five continents—where no two initiatives and outcomes were ever the same. Before beginning his current tenure at one of Canada's largest and busiest arts centers, where he leads the largest cultural infrastructure project in the country's history, Sarian spent two decades in New York, most notably as a senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Born in Toronto and raised in Buenos Aires, Sarian holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in education and administration from New York University, is a graduate of the CommunityShift program at Western University's Ivey School of Business and was an inaugural graduate of the Impact Program for Arts Leaders at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. In addition to teaching at New York University, Pace University and City College of New York, Sarian has served on governing boards and special advisory committees for institutions such as Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, SXSW, Tourism Calgary and the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize. His critically acclaimed book The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts & Culture (ECW Press / Simon & Schuster, 2024) has been praised by Forbes as a "manifesto for the arts in times of crises" and has become required reading for arts management programs in universities around the world.

Johann Zietsman joined the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County as president and CEO in 2019. During his term, Johann has overseen nearly 2,000 performances, successfully led the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and launched a five-year strategic plan to connect the Miami community more closely to the arts and to the Arsht. Since 2019, the Arsht has taken the show on the road, with 100 performances annually across Miami-Dade County, expanded educational and community programs, employed thousands of Miami artists and hosted two nationally televised U.S. presidential debates.

Born in the 1950s in South Africa and raised under the apartheid regime, Zietsman has been inspired throughout his life by the transformative role that the arts can play in a community. After earning degrees in architecture and music and living in the United States for two years, Zietsman returned to South Africa, where he began a 20-year career in various executive arts-management positions. His pioneering work in the arts in support of the political transformation of his homeland resulted in recognition from President Nelson Mandela’s government.

Zietsman (and his family) returned to the United States in 2002 to lead the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) in New York City and, subsequently, the Mesa Arts Center; the arts and culture division for the city of Mesa, Arizona; and Arts Commons in Calgary, Canada, before moving to Miami to take the helm at the Adrienne Arsht Center.