Season's Greetings! 

We are grateful for our clients, colleagues, friends and families for their strength and continued support of our work and we look forward eagerly to 2021 and to seeing the back of the annus horribilis 2020.

Some highlights of this difficult year included:

• Working with four national museums, including delivering the redevelopment feasibility study for the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, a strategic plan for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., a business plan for the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi and technical assistance for the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo;
• Creating a Scenario Planning Toolkit for Arts and Culture for the Wallace Foundation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and an accompanying report reflecting the perspectives of over 160 not-for-profit arts leaders on the implications of the virus for the sector; 
• Strategic planning assignments completed or underway for the American Symphony Orchestra, Frick Collection, Walker Art Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Flint Cultural Center and Rhode Island School of Design;
• Delivering business and operating plans for the John and Alice Coltrane Home, the planned Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail in New York and the planned Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library;
• Feasibility studies for the historic Ritz Theatre in Newburgh, New York and a new concert hall in Prague;

• The release of the 2019 Cultural Infrastructure Index, highlighting projects that focus on the repurposing of existing spaces and the relaunch of our newsletter The Platform and sectoral round-up of articles, Dispatches. 

• Writings, interviews and speaking engagements for The Art Newspaper, artnet News, Le Quotidien de l’Art, King’s College London, Opera America, The Wallace Foundation and many others.

Global Cultural Districts Network

Our Global Cultural Districts Network continued to grow as a unique forum for those responsible for developing, funding and operating cultural and creative districts around the world. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the network began an online series, GCDN Conversations, as a forum for leaders to share individual experiences with peers and to explore short- and long-term solutions to the impacts of the virus on the sector.

GCDN released its fifth research report, Capturing Value and Preserving Identity, by Kiley Arroyo, Executive Director of the Cultural Strategies Council. The commissioned report describes diverse tools that cultural districts can use to spur investment and create new revenue streams while protecting the local character and neighborhood identity.

We also welcomed the following as new members:

• Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism
• Arizona Arts, University of Arizona
• Goldsmiths, University of London
• MiSK City
• The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage
• Southbank Centre, London
• DesignSingapore (affiliate member)
• Grimshaw (affiliate member)
• wHY (affiliate member)

We are working hard to stay connected with one another and our clients, and have learned more about one another and ourselves along the way. We are hopeful that 2021 brings to all of us health, happiness and plentiful vaccines, and we hope to see you all in the flesh soon.

Happy Holidays from AEA!