May 2008 Field Letter
Written on April 21, 2008
Dear Colleagues,
April showers have brought daffodils, cherry blossoms—and
some extraordinary programs, discussions and visitors to TCG. Big
thanks to Robert Rubin for participating in the first TCG Leadership
Teleconference. In this pilot TCG professional development
program, the executive committee chair of Citigroup and former Secretary
of the Treasury presented his views on the economy and where we
are headed in the short and long term, particularly in the wake
of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. One hundred people dialed in from
theatres across the country and had the opportunity to listen and
ask questions. He also spoke about the restructuring of the global
economy, and how the next President will have a delicate balancing
act with respect to international issues and the domestic agenda.
Obviously, there are concerns about how economic turmoil will affect
theatres, and he advised caution in budgeting. There was also an
important discussion, initiated by Kent Thompson, artistic director
of Denver Center Theatre Company, about how best to keep the art
from suffering. Even in the best of times, theatres are scraping
to make their budgets work. So when the economy is in turmoil, where
do theatres go for budgetary safeguards? The group seemed in agreement
that pulling back on artistry and risk may save some bucks in the
short term, but has longer term negative impacts on audience and
donor base. Of course, it’s up to individual theatres to balance
risk and investment, in a time when contributions and ticket sales
may be down.
When asked if the theatre field—with a new administration—could
angle to occupy a larger place on the domestic agenda, he stated
that it’s possible but it won’t happen overnight. He
observed that the field has not yet mobilized the kind of clout
it’s developed in cities and regions across the nation to
establish a more prominent voice at the national level, and it could
take some time to do this. But 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.
You can listen to the Robert Rubin teleconference, which is available
as an MP3 file in the Teleconferences
section of the website.
Advocacy Underway
Arts Advocacy Day took place on April 1 in Washington, DC. TCG’s
delegation included Martha Lavey, artistic director, Steppenwolf
Theatre Company, Chicago; Michael Ross, managing director, CENTERSTAGE,
Baltimore (both of whom also serve on the TCG board of directors);
Lynn Deering, chair, CENTERSTAGE, Baltimore; Moya Vazquez, trustee,
Intiman Theatre, Seattle (who are both members of the TCG National
Council for the American Theatre); and Jennie Greer, director of
institutional advancement at New Dramatists in New York. They joined
TCG staffers Laurie Baskin, Martha Neighbors, Jenni Werner and me.
We had the chance to meet with Congressmen or their staffs and presented
five different issues for the arts. A reminder that Presidential
candidate position papers on the arts can be found at ArtsVote
2008 website and current Issue Briefs for each of the
issues we are working on can be found in the Advocacy
section of our website.
TCG and a number of its service organization colleagues, as part
of the American
Arts Alliance, along with Americans
for the Arts, have been working to build awareness in Washington,
and to lobby for legislation that positively affects the arts. On
April 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to
improve the artist visa process. The "Arts Require Timely Service
(ARTS)” Act would improve the reliability, efficiency and
affordability of the artist visa process. The legislation would
require the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to
treat any arts-related O and P visa petitions that it fails to process
within 30 days as a “Premium Processing” case without
any additional charge. This would reduce processing times for O
and P visas filed by not-for-profit arts organizations to a maximum
of 45 days. The next step is for the legislation to be approved
by the U.S. Senate. We'll let you know more news as it becomes available.
TCG Audience Research Programs
A regular part of TCG’s annual Free
Night of Theater has been the research conducted by Shugoll
Research, to determine who is participating in the program, why
they are participating and whether they are returning to buy a full
price ticket. On behalf of TCG, Shugoll recently began a series
of focus groups with high school students who don’t attend
theatre, completing sessions in Washington, DC and Chicago. Mark
will present his findings at the National Conference. I attended
one session and it was fascinating to listen in as students talked
about how they would be interested in attending theatre but don’t
know much about what’s happening in their own communities
and that theatres are not promoting their work in ways that get
their attention. There was also the issue of sitting still for two
or three hours—and the desire for a more interactive experience
than theatres typically provide. Thanks to Mark, and we look forward
to a full report!
International Convening
TCG, in collaboration with the Martin
E. Segal Center, recently held a gathering of approximately
60 internationalists. This meeting was intended as a preliminary
gathering to begin conversations on a larger international convening
in December 2009. Present last Monday were veteran practitioners,
who have been involved with international exchange for decades,
alongside newcomers, who are just beginning to push an international
agenda for their organizations. There’s a remarkable range
of work happening internationally—some of it very ambitious.
Many thanks to Frank Hentschker and the Segal Center for their commitment
to international artists and dialogue.
Thank You Visitors
The last few weeks have seen many a theatre traveler in New York.
I had a wonderful lunch with Gordon Davidson, in which we discussed
everything from the beginnings of the regional theatre movement
to our tricks for growing tomato plants in pots. Arthur Bartow,
who was an early employee of TCG, artistic director of New Playwrights
in Washington, DC and both chair and artistic director of the Drama
Department at NYU’s Tisch School, had some fascinating insights,
including a discussion of the genesis of ARTSEARCH, which
started with 50 subscribers in a department under Arthur’s
watch. He also recalled the details of the very first TCG conference
that was held at Yale University. Dianne Brennan, director of development,
and Antay Bilgutay, director of corporate & foundation giving,
were here from the Guthrie Theater, giving us an update on the exciting
things happening there, including a Tony Kushner Festival that will
occur next season; and Steve Libman, managing director of La Jolla
Playhouse met up with me at the Tick Tock Diner for breakfast after
the opening of their production of Cry Baby on Broadway.
We had a grand time!
Until next month, all the best,
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director