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Delaware Division of the Arts

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Visionary Arts Leader Deborah F. Rutter to Headline 2025 Delaware Arts Summit

Event graphic for the 2025 Delaware Arts Summit themed “Agents of Change.” Black marble background with gold Art Deco accents. Large white text reads “CHANGE.” Details: October 27th, Hotel du Pont, Wilmington, DE. Tagline at bottom: “Advancing New Ideas and Practices.” At right, a circular headshot of a smiling woman with short light-brown hair wearing a green jacket and a black-and-white patterned scarf.

Posted on August 20, 2025

STATEWIDE (August 20, 2025) – The Delaware Division of the Arts is pleased to announce the return of the Delaware Arts Summit, taking place on Monday, October 27, 2025, at the historic Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington. This year’s theme, “Agents of Change: Advancing New Ideas and Practices,” will spotlight the idea of strategic change to meet challenges and opportunities in the arts.

Anchoring the day’s events will be keynote speaker Deborah F. Rutter, a nationally renowned arts executive and visionary who recently concluded more than a decade as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was recently named the Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University. Rutter made history as the first woman to lead the nation’s cultural center, where she expanded access to the arts, centered the voices of artists, and championed programs that bridged performance, education, social impact, and wellness. Her legacy includes the launch of the Kennedy Center’s Social Impact programming, the creation of the Hip Hop Culture Council, and groundbreaking collaborations with the National Institutes of Health and National Endowment for the Arts exploring the intersection of the arts and well-being.

“We are honored to welcome Deborah Rutter to Delaware,” said Jessica Ball, Director of the Delaware Division of the Arts. “She is a bold and inspiring leader whose work embodies the spirit of change-making. This year’s Summit is an invitation to embrace new ideas and affirm the importance of the roles each of us play in ensuring the vitality of Delaware’s creative sector.”  

The Delaware Arts Summit is a biennial gathering of Delaware’s arts community, including artists, arts administrators, board members, and volunteers, as well as community non-profit administrators, arts educators, and advocates from across the state. The 2025 convening will feature a dynamic keynote address, interactive workshop sessions, networking opportunities, and timely conversations about the future of arts leadership, innovation, relevancy, and sustainability.

Registration is open now at arts.delaware.gov/summit. The Summit’s schedule, workshop, and speaker descriptions can also be found at that link. Tickets are $65 and include free parking, breakfast, lunch, and a post-event reception at the Hotel Du Pont.

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