The National Council on the Arts public meeting took place on October 28, 2011 from 9:00 - 11:30 am EDT. The meeting opened with Chairman Lanesman talking about recent travels, a presentation on the Knight/NEA Community Arts Journalism Challenge, a discussion about trends in opera with 2011 NEA Opera Honoree Speight Jenkins, producer Beth Morrison, and Opera America president Marc Scorca; an NEA research presentation on artists and arts workers; and a presentation on arts festivals by FoydFest's Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson.