November 13 & 14, 2025
The Shubert Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, and Livestream
Preliminary Program*
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Concurrent Tours
Come to New Haven early and make the most of your Summit experience. Join us for specialty tours at local cultural gems on Wednesday, November 12.
include Yale West Campus Tour, Center Church on the Green: Crypt and Meetinghouse Tour, and the Beineke Library.
More information coming July 2025.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13
8:00 a.m. Breakfast | Omni Hotel
8:00 a.m. Summit Check-in Opens | Shubert Theatre
9:00 a.m. Opening Welcome
9:20 a.m. Welcome Remarks
9:30 a.m. Opening Keynote
10:00 a.m. Culture Building
Opening Conversation
How can we develop creative environments that foster connection, engagement, and learning, and how can these environments in turn support healthy, vibrant communities?
10:30 a.m. Morning Break
10:50 a.m. The Future is Now: Involving Young Voices in Planning and Preservation
Conversation
How can collaborative projects in cultural heritage and urban development benefit youth education, while bringing in essential perspectives of younger generations?
11:35 a.m. Memory Keepers
Special Features
How can preserving and sharing knowledge fuel more just, equitable, and democratic societies? What role can community archives play in capturing stories, amplifying voices, and safeguarding the knowledge that shapes a better future for all?
12:15 a.m. Contextualizing the Preservation Landscape
Special Feature
12:40 p.m. Lunch | Shubert Theatre
1:40 p.m. Afternoon Keynote
2:10 p.m. Heritage, Transformed? Cultural Institutions in the Time of AI
Panel
Artificial Intelligence (AI) challenges fundamental ideas of truth and authenticity, while at the same time offering promises of expanded efficiency, broader reach, and new ways to engage. What does the widespread adoption of AI mean for the future of cultural institutions? Leaders in the field examine questions surrounding authenticity, access, engagement, representation, and sustainability in a time of rapid technological transformation.
3:10 p.m. Afternoon Break
3:30 p.m. Special Feature
3:45 p.m. Stopping to Look: The Power of Historical Markers to Inspire Human Connection
Conversation
Historical markers validate and offer tangible connections to stories of the past. The staff of Stopping Stones, a national public art and education initiative committed to identifying, researching, documenting and convening around the lives of enslaved individuals, offer their perspective on the power of this critically relevant and expanding initiative, now part of Historic New England.
4:15 p.m. Somebody Should Do Something: Empowering Action at the Local Level
Conversation
Local action is a necessary part of protecting our collective future, but talking about the environmental, economic, and social challenges that face our communities, which often intersect, can feel fraught with difficulties. How do we overcome these difficulties to engage our communities in conversations, and how to we move from talking to taking action?
5:00 p.m. Arts Are for Every Body
Conversation
How can performance arts sustain vibrant, healthy, and equitable communities by telling inclusive stories and serving as inclusive spaces? Hear from speakers at the intersection of dance, social justice, and wellbeing, who are addressing these issues and building community.
5:30 p.m. Closing Remarks
Evening Networking Reception to Follow
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
8:00 a.m. Breakfast | Omni Hotel
9:00 a.m. Opening Welcome
9:20 a.m. Opening Keynote
9:45 The Civic Center: Spaces for Engagement, Connection, and Dialogue
Conversation
How have New England’s cities evolved as places of shared civic purpose, and how are community values and obligations are expressed through its architecture and public realm?
10:15 a.m. The Haverhill Center
Conversation
11:15 a.m. Morning Break
11:35 a.m. Finding Common Ground: Urban Planning, Zoning Reform, and the Future of Preservation
Marquee Conversation
The urgency of the affordable housing crisis has impacted municipalities’ ability to plan strategically for the future. How can cities and towns balance growth with the preservation of irreplaceable historic resources? How can we shape our communities for the better through long-range thinking around regulations?
12:20 p.m. Awards Ceremony
12:40 p.m. Lunch | Shubert Theatre
1:40 p.m. Special Feature
2:10 p.m. Special Features
2:55 p.m. Shifting Shores: Planning for the Future of Coastal Communities
Conversation
Shorelines are eroding as a result of climate change. How can coastal communities approach responses such as managed retreat while considering equity and historical community roots?
3:40 p.m. Closing Remarks
End of 2025 Historic New England Summit
*Times and descriptions subject to change. All sessions will be held in plenary, at the Shubert Theatre
