Field Letter Archives
In the monthly Field Letter, TCG's executive director provides a personal and direct summary of current ideas, trends and resources shaping the field. All Field Letters since January 2006 are archived on the website. Select a year below to see all archived Bulletins from that year.
January 2008 Field Letter
In her first Field Letter of the year, Teresa reports on the $20.1 million increase for the NEA, which is the single largest dollar increase for the agency since 1979, shares TCG grant news and makes some observations on theatre and movie attendance. She writes, “It’s always interesting to listen in on conversations about what might be influencing the results….In theatre, when discussing an unpredictable audience picture, we talk about competition for leisure time, the trend toward collaborative online creation and the absence of arts education in the schools as influencers. With respect to the idea of new formats taking over from the old—and for theatre, that was supposed to be radio and then film and then TV—why did theatre keep on growing? Hmmm…clearly, we are not alone in wrestling with this issue.”
February 2008 Field Letter
In the February Field Letter, Teresa promotes various upcoming convenings, reports on the most recent TCG board and National Council for the American Theatre meetings and ponders the new economic realities that we are all facing. She writes, “Meanwhile, in real life, news reports are building about the possibility and/or reality of a recession—and what it means for many segments of our economy. For theatres, the consumer belt tightening that accompanies recessionary times can affect programming, ticket sales and contributions. But paradoxically, some theatres have experienced steady or increased attendance during past recessions. It behooves us to consider the impacts of various weak economy scenarios and possible impacts on the field, its organizations, artists and patrons—as well as recalling how we’ve handled such environments in the past.”
March 2008 Field Letter
Writing her March Field Letter from a site visit in Denver, Teresa recounts a meeting with Congressman Norm Dicks, at which arts service leaders thanked him for his support for this year’s major NEA increase and discussed the proposed cuts the President included in next year’s budget. She also reports on preparations for the National Performing Arts Convention in June, and she depicts Denver’s cultural community as a beacon of bold vision-setting and collaborative action. During her ride from the Denver airport, she and her cab driver, a Sudanese refugee who became a U.S. citizen last year and is voting in his first U.S. presidential election, discussed politics and the performing arts. After contemplating that conversation, Teresa writes, “It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to flee a country known for some of the worst human rights atrocities in the world, spend years in refugee camps and finally to arrive in a place of relative peace and civility, to be able to vote, to talk to a random taxi cab passenger about your views on elections, to participate in and discuss the rich and wide availability of art and creative expression in one’s own community. And these contrasting realities remind me of the things we sometimes take for granted and why our performing arts convening is so very important.”
April 2008 Field Letter
In the April Field Letter, Teresa promotes the upcoming TCG National Conference, Theatre at the Center, and announces two exciting new TCG teleconference series. She reports on her travels to the Bogota International Theatre Festival, and her participation in the Dual Leadership: Partnering from the Inside Out seminar in New Orleans. In other news, Teresa discusses the importance of reinstating NEA site visits for the theatre field, and she writes, “as I speak with colleagues, I am also hearing a strong desire to use this moment as an opportunity to make modifications to the site visit/reporting system to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. We plan on forming a focus group to discuss the current system, what’s working and not working, and what aspects we might propose for a redesign.”
May 2008 Field Letter
In the May Field Letter, Teresa updates the community on her participation in Arts Advocacy Day 2008, and a gathering of international theatre artists co-sponsored by TCG and the Martin E. Segal Center. She discusses an exciting new audience research program for Free Night of Theater which will survey focus groups of non-theatregoing high school students. Teresa also reports on the recent Leadership Teleconference with Robert Rubin. Responding to Robert Rubin’s observation that that the theatre community has yet to establish a strong voice on the national level, Teresa remarks, “it’s an important discussion for us and for the field—how we are even more at the center of discourse on the direction of our nation. The TCG National Conference and the Performing Arts Convention are an excellent place to engage in that conversation with colleagues from theatre and other disciplines.”
June 2008 Field Letter
In the June Field Letter, Teresa plugs the National Performing Arts Convention for the final time and announces the upcoming Leadership Teleconference, The Contributed Income Quest: New Strategies to Maximize Results with Dory Vanderhoof. She introduces the last round of Expanding the Theatre Manager’s Repertoire, TCG and Target Corporation’s popular human resources training program, and encourages member theatres to submit videos to TCG’s YouTube Channel. She tackles the recent controversy over charities’ tax-exempt status, observing that “while theatres are notoriously under-endowed, they also have ticket prices that are significantly lower than the actual cost of creating productions and provide productions intended to educate and benefit the public. They provide important services to the community such as arts education in schools, as well as community and neighborhood development programs. It is critical to realize that our ability to exist and deliver on our public mission would not be possible without charitable contributions and tax exemptions made possible by state and federal exempt status.”