2025 Emerging Creatives Student Summit: “Resonate: Making Waves”
About Emerging Creatives
a2ru is thrilled to announce that Georgia Tech will host the 2025 Emerging Creatives Student Summit, taking place March 13-16 in Atlanta.
This year’s theme will be “Resonate: Making Waves.” How can our ideas resonate? Waves can be immediate and intense, like an earthquake; or they can accumulate through reverberations over time, like the actions of 1960s civil rights leaders. Together, we will explore waves–their wake, momentum, and impact. From the atomic to the emotional to the artistic to the cultural to the galactic, how can we make waves today?
Emerging Creatives is a three-day collaborative experience in which students form small cross-disciplinary teams to explore a specific area of the Summit’s theme. Over the course of the event, teams make something that represents their exploration: a syllabus, cookbook, podcast, app, opera, pair of shoes, urban blueprint, pop-up store, musical score, website…the list of possible outcomes is endless.
At Emerging Creatives, students not only envision and create their project; they also take field trips, meet extraordinary interdisciplinary thinkers, practice presenting their work, and exchange ideas about their project with peers and experts. Students also build collaboration skills in micro-workshops with a2ru staff.
Image Above: “Continuing the Conversation”, a public art work on Georgia Tech’s campus by Atlanta sculptor Martin Dawe. It depicts Rosa Parks at age 42 — the year of the Montgomery Bus Boycott — and at age 92, the year she died.
Nominating Students
a2ru member institutions are eligible to nominate up to 3 students to attend the 2025 Emerging Creatives Student Summit. Graduate students and undergraduate students in their junior year or above are eligible. One representative from each institution should submit the names of the nominated students via the form below no later than February 1, 2025.
In order to maintain the interdisciplinary nature of Emerging Creatives, a2ru asks that the students nominated by each institution represent a broad range of disciplines both within and outside the arts. The contributions of students from disciplines in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, business and other fields are essential to the success of the Summit.
Funding Opportunities for Students
For this year’s Emerging Creatives, a2ru can offer a number of $250 Travel Grants, which are open to all participants, as well as 2 $1000 Scholar Grants, which are designed to support the participation of those from historically underrepresented groups. Campus representatives can indicate on the nomination form linked below which student(s) they would like to be considered for Travel Grants or Scholar Awards.
Travel and Lodging
Students should make travel arrangements so they are available to participate in Emerging Creatives activities starting at 4pm on Thursday, March 13 (registration will open at 3pm) and ending on Sunday, March 16 at 1:30pm. Travel and hotel arrangements are the responsibility of the participating students and/or their home institutions.
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) serves Atlanta. Atlanta’s MARTA train system connects the airport to the Georgia Tech campus and to recommended hotels (below) via the Red or Gold Line: North Avenue Station.
a2ru and Georgia Tech have secured room blocks for Emerging Creatives participants at two hotels. Both are near the Georgia Tech campus where Emerging Creatives activities take place.
Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel: 866 W. Peachtree Street.
$189/night single or double, $199/triple, $209/quad; room rate based on availability (first come, first serve) and does not include taxes and fees; parking $50/night; cut-off date Feb 20, 2025.
Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center: 800 Spring Street NW.
$209/night single or double, $219/triple, $229/quad; room rate based on availability (first come, first serve) and does not include taxes, fees, or parking; cut-off date Feb 10, 2025.
FAQ
- What do I (or my school) pay for?
- Travel: planes, transportation between airports and destinations, any additional car-fare
- Lodging. We have recommended hotels, but you can stay where you choose.
- Food: any meals not provided by a2ru
- Are meals provided?
- The following meals will be provided as part of the program:
- March 13: dinner
- March 14 and 15: coffee and continental breakfast (students are responsible for lunch and dinner on your own)
- March 16: coffee and continental breakfast, lunch
- In keeping with a2ru’s commitment to sustainability, all provided meals are largely plant-based. Some meat options will also be available.
- The following meals will be provided as part of the program:
- Where will Emerging Creatives take place and how do I get there?
- Emerging Creatives will take place on and near the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, Georgia. Planning and paying for transportation to and from the summit are the responsibility of the student and/or their institution. See Travel and Lodging for planning your trip.
- Emerging Creatives registration and opening day activities will take place at the Krone Engineering Biosystems Building, 950 Atlantic Drive. All activities for the remainder of the summit will take place at the Coda Building, 756 West Peachtree Street. Both sites are on or adjacent to Georgia Tech’s campus, and both sites are less than a mile from recommended hotels. Students are responsible for transportation to and from summit activities.
- On Friday, March 14, we will visit the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA). MODA is just over a mile from the Coda Building. Students are responsible for transportation and can choose to walk as a group or use ride-share.
- Where will I stay?
- Lodging is the responsibility of the student and/or their institution. a2ru and Georgia Tech have secured room blocks for Emerging Creatives participants at two recommended hotels, but students may stay where you wish. Both recommended hotels are near the Georgia Tech campus where Emerging Creatives activities take place. See Travel and Lodging to book a room in one of these blocks.
- What are we going to do at Emerging Creatives?
- meet other Emerging Creatives from across the country
- explore the theme of “Resonate: Making Waves” through a panel discussion with inspiring Georgia Tech scholars, a visit to Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), and hands-on art-making and discussion
- form small teams to go deeper into an aspect of the theme that interests you
- brainstorm and prototype new ideas
- get feedback on your prototype from peers and mentors
- present your prototype in a Fair on the final day
- learn strategies to make interdisciplinary collaboration more fun and effective
- What should I wear?
- We recommend casual and comfortable clothing. Some students like to dress more professionally for their final presentation, but this is not necessary.
- How should I approach Emerging Creatives?
- With excitement about sharing your insight and ideas, and with curiosity and openness to the ideas that mentors and other students bring to the summit.
- What should I do if I still have questions?
- Ask us! Email vstanich@umich.edu
Sponsors
