Building Civic Infrastructure for the Culture and Arts Sector
PANEL DISCUSSION
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 6:00-8:00 PM BRIC HOUSE, 647 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
What if the problem isn’t a lack of data, but a lack of infrastructure to share and reuse it responsibly over time?
When working with data, we often treat collection as the end of the story—focusing on efficient ways to acquire and store it—while neglecting the data’s longer life: making it findable, interpretable, re-usable, and actionable beyond its original purpose. Responsible reuse depends not just on technical infrastructure but also on shared practice.
With the Culture Data Commons as a starting point, join us in conversation with Stefaan Verhulst, Co-founder of The GovLab and The DataTank, on responsible data reuse and the opportunities of data stewardship through collective practices and participatory governance.
Organized by the Culture & Arts Policy Institute and hosted by BRIC, this session, part of Open Data Week 2026, invites cultural leaders, researchers, technologists, policymakers, and funders to rethink data governance in the arts and to consider how collective data infrastructure can transform information into shared power.
ABOUT THE CULTURE DATA COMMONS
Developed by the Culture & Arts Policy Institute, the Culture Data Commons (The Commons) is a collectively stewarded shared data space for the culture and arts sector. It brings together datasets, tools, and governance practices to enable organizations to share, access, and reuse information responsibly. More than a portal, it is a collaborative framework that centers participation, transparency, and collective decision-making in how culture data is stewarded and applied.
PANELISTS
SARAH CALDERÓN is a U.S. Cultural Policy Fellow at Stanford University, focusing on national cultural policy and systems change. She recently served as Executive Director of Creatives Rebuild New York, where she led groundbreaking guaranteed-income and employment programs that reached 2,700 artists statewide. Previously, as Managing Director of ArtPlace America, she shaped national strategies at the intersection of arts, community development, and higher education. Her career spans leadership in arts institutions, public-sector data initiatives, and education research, with a long-standing focus on equity and artist support systems.
GONZALO CASALS is Co-Director of the Culture & Arts Policy Institute, where he advances data-driven cultural policy and systems-level change in the culture and arts sector. He recently served as Senior Research and Policy Fellow for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation, leading national research on artists’ livelihoods. He previously served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, guiding the city’s cultural sector through the COVID-19 recovery. His earlier leadership roles include Director of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and senior positions at Friends of the High Line and El Museo del Barrio.
MAURICIO DELFIN is Co-Director of the Culture & Arts Policy Institute, where he leads research and initiatives focused on open data, cultural governance, and civic infrastructure for the arts sector. His current work centers on building the Culture Data Commons, advancing models of data stewardship, participatory governance, and shared data ecosystems for culture. Mauricio is a Research Associate at the Center for Artistic Activism and a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility.
STEFAAN G. VERHULST is Co-Founder of The GovLab and Research Professor at New York University, where he leads work on data governance, AI, and public innovation. He is a global leader in advancing data collaboratives and the emerging field of data stewardship, with projects spanning governments, civil society, and international organizations. He currently serves as Chair of the Data for Children Collaborative with UNICEF and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Data & Policy. His work has significantly shaped international debates on how data can be used responsibly to address complex societal challenges.