A mutually beneficial alliance: That’s how leaders of Leland’s Old Art Building (OAB) and the Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) International Affairs Forum (IAF) describe the bond they’ve been building between their two organizations. While Leland technically falls well outside of NMC’s district, the town has become a hub of support for the college’s IAF program, thanks to regular screenings of IAF events at the OAB. Now, the IAF is bringing one of its global affairs discussions to the OAB stage – a special event that IAF leaders say marks the start of ambitious expansion efforts for the program.

For those who aren't familiar, the IAF is a recurring event series at NMC that seeks to promote “understanding of critical global issues through education and public dialogue.” Each year, the IAF brings leading experts in global issues to Traverse City to address local audiences. This fall, IAF events will touch upon the crisis in Gaza, global security threats posed by Russian leader Vladamir Putin, worldwide migration trends, and the energy landscape amidst climate change.

Typically, IAF events take place at Milliken Auditorium, the core performing arts and event venue on NMC's main campus in Traverse City. This season, though, IAF will travel outside of Grand Traverse County for the first time, setting up shop at Leland’s OAB for a night on Thursday, October 3. The special event will feature Chris Elstoft (pictured right), Australia’s Consul-General in Chicago, who will speak on various topics of United States - Australia relations, ranging from international trade to climate change to nuclear submarines.

IAF Executive Director Alex Tank says the idea of pushing IAF’s programming beyond NMC’s backyard has been percolating for a while now. Tank only took the helm at the IAF this past summer, but he’s been on staff since 2020, right around the time the program pivoted to virtual events due to COVID-19. But where many other events organizations ditched their livestreams as soon as they could, the IAF has continued to offer the choice of watching its events virtually.

“During the pandemic, so many organizations started using online livestreams for their events solely out of necessity,” Tank says. “For us, though, it opened our possibilities to expand the geographic footprint and the impact of our programming. When we looked at our streams, we saw that our programming was reaching further. It was reaching more students, more educators, and more of the general public. And so, now, even though we’ve gone back to holding in-person events at Milliken Auditorium, all of our events are still hybrid, where we offer that in-person experience but also offer the livestream possibility.”

For the past six months, one of the most notable users of that livestream capability has been the OAB. According to Tank, a former member of the IAF advisory board noticed a sizable membership overlap between the two organizations and proposed looping the OAB in as a “satellite partner.” That partnership took off in February of this year, and the OAB has offered screenings of every IAF livestream since.

“The idea was to open up an environment as a ‘third place’ where people could convene together, instead of watching the IAF livestream at home,” Tank says. “While the option to watch at home is great, we think our events are most effective when a group of people can get together and then have some discussion around what they just watched, where they’re really thinking critically about the world’s toughest global issues.”

“This whole thing really has been a win-win for both of us,” says OAB Communications Director Mary Winowiecki. “It’s been an opportunity for people out in the county to not make that drive all the way into Traverse City, but still be able to go somewhere, be with community, and have that connection with other people. We are a community center, and a huge part of our mission is bringing people together – whether it’s for art, or culture, or learning and expanding your mind. We’ve been so happy to be able to promote that with these IAF events.”

Since February, Tank says the OAB has been so successful in convening “a group of lifelong learners” for IAF events that IAF wanted to recognize that portion of its audience in a more meaningful way. Hence, the decision to host an in-person event at the OAB this fall. Per Winowiecki, the news has already been extremely well received by the OAB membership; she’s expecting “a big crowd” for the October 3 event.

But Tank doesn’t just see the OAB event as a tip of the hat to the IAF’s Leelanau County contingent. Instead, he views the event and the partnership as prototypes for how IAF will continue to expand in the years to come.

“We’re tracking to increase membership by 15-20 percent over last year, and partnerships are a big part of how we’re looking to drive that growth and widen our reach,” Tank says. “The satellite partnership concept we’ve established with the OAB has been really successful, and we’re definitely looking to replicate that in other areas. I’ve been in discussion with other regional nonprofits – not just in Leelanau or Grand Traverse counties, but further afield – to replicate that model of off-site group viewing sessions.”

Tickets for the Chris Elstoft event at the OAB are officially on sale to the public starting today.