Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery… 

2015 was busy and exciting, a year in which AEA strengthened its position as the leading global arts and culture consultancy. From our perches in New York and London, our staff delivered over 40 cultural strategy and planning projects for clients in 11 countries, working for the first time in Russia, India and Germany, and we expanded significantly our Global Cultural Districts Network.

Highlights of last year include:

Creative concept development for Dubai Design District, Genesis Holdings in Beijing, Lodha Group in Mumbai, and the Powerhouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn

A governance study of leading orchestra halls around the world on behalf of the Barbican Centre and the London Symphony Orchestra as they consider the case for a new state-of-the-art Centre for Music in London, as requested by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Mayor of London

Strategic master-planning for the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the world’s leading museum of Russian art

Feasibility study and business planning for Philadelphia Film Society; Massey Hall in Toronto; Boston’s Huntington Theater; Houston First Corporation; and Stephen Petronio Company

Welcoming 14 Founding Members to the first year of the Global Cultural District Network, which fosters co-operation and knowledge-sharing among those responsible for conceiving, funding, building, and operating cultural districts and/or clusters with a significant cultural element

Feasibility studies for Athens’ Benaki Museum, Seattle’s EMP Museum, Sydney's Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences and London’s Florence Nightingale Museum

Major audience development strategy for Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the site of Woodstock

Extensive, community-oriented cultural planning in Brooklyn for Brooklyn Bridge Park, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance

Strategic planning engagements with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Banff Centre, Canada’s leading arts, culture, and educational organization; The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia; the Preservation Society of Newport County (home of Cornelius Vanderbilt's famous "summer cottage" known as The Breakers); and Tyler Arboretum, one of the oldest arboreta in the northeastern United States

In 2016, we will be delivering major cultural planning projects for Infrastructure New South Wales, the City of Sunny Isles Beach in Florida, Kuwait City, and Friends of the High Line in New York; a feasibility study for Munich’s Haus der Kunst which, under the directorship of Okwui Enwezor, prepares for a major renovation project led by David Chipperfield Architects; strategic plans for Houston Grand Opera and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Company; conducting audience research for The Frick Collection; developing an Arts Leadership Training Programme in Canada; and authoring a report on field-building in the arts commissioned by the James Irvine Foundation.

We have recently hired two new consultants, John Bair and Natalia Vartapetova, who strengthen our team with their experience in cultural and government policy, research, and communications.

Here’s to another exciting year in 2016. We very much hope you are a big part of it!