Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl spoke to a crowd of artists and art-lovers from across the state Monday morning about the crucial role art plays in a community.

Tisdahl spoke to more than 300 people in the ballroom of the Hilton Orrington hotel, 1710 Orrington Ave., at the inauguration of the One State Together in the Arts conference, a series of events hosted by different cities in Illinois every other year. This is One State’s first time hosting the conference in Evanston.

“Arts and culture make cities livable and people better,” Tisdahl said. “That’s why we’re so happy to have One State Illinois here today.”

Tickets for the ninth biennial One State conference sold out before the event began. The conference — hosted by Arts Alliance Illinois and the Illinois Arts Council Agency — is intended to bring artists, professionals and citizens from across the state together to meet and collaborate on artistic works during breakout sessions. Programming also includes a series of keynote speakers, performances and local art tours over the course of the two-day conference.

Ra Joy, the executive director for Arts Alliance Illinois who used to live in Evanston, said the city was chosen because of its support for community art initiatives and local artists.

“We’re all with One State because we’re all people who deeply care about the culture of this state,” Joy said. “Evanston is a great place to show off the culture of Illinois but also show what community engagement in art looks like.”

The conference opened with performances by Cocodaco Dance Group, an Evanston dance company based at Foster Dance Studios, and Light Opera Works, a local professional nonprofit theater. Tisdahl and local arts managers also spoke about the different creative endeavours in Evanston and the support they get from the city, Northwestern and community.

“People here are passionate about arts and get involved,” Tisdahl said. “You don’t need to convince them about importance. If anything, they feel guilty if they don’t do enough with the arts here.”

Along with showcasing Evanston’s community art projects and performances, the conference focused on providing artists with resources and connections to survive and succeed in the artistic world.

Tatiana Gant, the executive director of the Illinois Arts Council Agency, said the conference’s theme of “Flourish” is meant to reflect the opportunities given to Illinois artists to fully express their talents and build more connections in the artistic sphere.

“Our goals are to feed ourselves and support the arts sector,” Gant said. “With the help of this conference, we want to feel the impact of arts in communities around Illinois.”

The event’s first full night culminated with an opening reception at NU, with tours of the Block Museum, The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, Dittmar Gallery and Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts.

Joy said to The Daily that because it is a challenging financial time for the state — which remains without a budget three months into the fiscal year — it has become even more important for the conference to inspire artists to persevere.

State Rep. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) said the conference serves as a way to get people across Illinois on the same page regarding what is valuable to the state and its future.

“There’s so much right now that should be funded and should be made a priority,” Fine said. “But because of the fact that we’re in the midst of this budget crisis, there are a lot of important issues that are getting lost in translation.”

Evanston/Skokie District 65, which stands to lose millions in state funding cuts, is doing the best it can to sustain its arts program amid the budget crisis, superintendent Paul Goren said.

“A lot of the arts and culture starts before the kids even land at school,” Goren said. “We have to nurture everything we can in arts and culture.”

Events continuing Tuesday include sessions on visual art with Evanston painter Jevoid Simmons, performances by Tim Rhoze, artistic director of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and Chicago television actor Michael Patrick Thornton.

Julia Jacobs contributed reporting.

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Twitter: @robinlopsahl