Arts Administration

Early career arts manager Al Heartley speaks with Jennifer Bielstein, executive director of American Conservatory Theater, about active listening, how to balance focusing on the details with looking at the bigger pictures, management values, and more.

Iris McQuillan-Grace writes about the importance of providing an advocacy structure with a human resources lens to the performing arts landscape.

Brídín Clements talks about the accessibility of educational and professional programs, like internships, in theatre administration.

Charles M Pepiton discusses professional theatre’s commercial roots, how mission statements of non-profits today focus on social engagement, community-based development, and more.

Part II of the conversation between Michael J. Bobbitt, the recently appointed artistic director of Boston’s New Repertory Theatre, and Raymond Caldwell, the new leader of Washington’s Theater Alliance, who talk about post-show conversations and self-care.

Michael J. Bobbitt, the recently appointed artistic director of Boston’s New Repertory Theatre, and Raymond Caldwell, the new leader of Washington’s Theater Alliance, sit down to talk about race equity work, the guilt they felt leaving their previous posts, and more.

Nicole Kelly and Jenn Poret, two arts managers with disabilities, reflect on the most and least accessible aspects of the jobs, accommodations they need, and the future of accessible theatre management.

Talleri A. McRae and Mickey Rowe, co-founders of the National Disability Theatre, introduce their series “The Future of Theatre is Accessible,” talk about some key takeaways from the upcoming articles, and discuss how language is a barrier to inclusion.

Carl(os) Roa offers thoughts on how organizations can create healthier workspaces, weaving in ideas from artists at Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Applied Mechanics.

Owais Lightwala talks about how Toronto’s Why Not Theatre grew from a scrappy startup to an institution in their own right—which came with a greater responsibility to tackle some of Toronto theatres’s biggest challenges: space, childcare, and diversity.

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, reflects on the many recent leadership changes in North American theatre and asks, “What now?”

Scott Artley talks about the decision to wind down activities of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis after over thirty years on the scene and details the steps taken to “sunset” the organization in a respectful, beautiful way.

Howard Shalwitz, co-founder of Woolly Mammoth, talks with Carey Perloff, longtime director of American Conservatory Theater, about their decades-long tenures at their respective companies, covering everything from the throughline of founding manifestos, to the five- to six-year cycles companies go through, to how lonely it is to be an artistic director, and more.

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, introduces the leadership series with thoughts and advice from his past experiences with major leadership transitions over his thirty-year career.