For Immediate Release: October 7, 2025
Media Contact: Joshua Henry Jenkins | [email protected]
Theatre Communications Group to Publish Champions for the Arts, a New Guide to Equitable Community Engagement by Donna Walker-Kuhne
Available for pre-order now from the nation’s foremost expert in audience development.
New York, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of Champions for the Arts by Donna Walker-Kuhne, the nation’s foremost expert in audience development. A groundbreaking guide to creating equitable, inclusive, and diverse community engagement in the arts, Champions for the Arts will be published on October 21, 2025, and is available for pre-order now.
“Donna Walker-Kuhne has transformed how our field thinks about community, access, and belonging in the arts. With this book, she offers not only visionary strategies but also practical tools for leaders seeking to build sustainable, inclusive audiences,” said LaTeshia Ellerson, Co-Executive Director of National Engagement at TCG.
“I am excited to share what I believe is a critical roadmap, strategy and multiple case studies that illustrate how we can thoroughly, honestly and sincerely engage and celebrate the wonderful diverse communities in America and worldwide," remarked Donna Walker-Kuhne. “When we think about how to build healthy, happy communities, providing access to the arts is fundamental. Champions for the Arts provides the opportunity to make this happen wherever you are”
In this new book, readers will find:
- Sustainable, measurable strategies for equitable community engagement
- Insights into deepening organizational work in diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Case studies from around the world offering models for building sustainable audiences and membership
- A practical, visionary approach to community engagement as a vehicle for change
Considered the nation’s leading authority on audience development, Donna Walker-Kuhne has spent her career developing successful strategies for increasing access to the arts. Over the past ten years, she has traveled to more than 100 U.S. cities and 5 continents to give lectures, workshops, and keynotes specifically focused on community engagement.
Walker-Kuhne’s first book, Invitation to the Party: Building Bridges to Arts, Culture and Community (2005), has become a widely celebrated and influential text on audience development, laying the groundwork for the insights and strategies expanded upon in Champions for the Arts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donna Walker-Kuhne is an award-winning thought leader, writer, and strategist for community engagement, audience development, and social justice. She is President of Walker International Communications Group, Inc., a 40-year-old boutique marketing and audience development consulting agency. She was formerly Director of Marketing for both The Public Theater and Dance Theatre of Harlem, as well as Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Community Engagement at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. She provides consulting services to numerous arts organizations throughout the world and has generated over $22 million in earned income.
Former clients include WNYC Radio, The Louis Armstrong House, The Apollo Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and New York City Opera. She was an Associate Producer for George C. Wolfe’s Harlem Song. She is also co-founder of Impact Broadway, a socially and technology-driven audience development initiative serving 300 African American and Latino students across New York City’s five boroughs. These students participated in Broadway productions, social networking, seminars, and lectures.
A veteran of 22 Broadway productions providing multicultural marketing and group sales, her credits include Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, STICK FLY, A Raisin in the Sun, August Wilson’s Radio Golf, and Once on This Island.
She is currently Senior Advisor, Social Impact at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where her portfolio includes social justice initiatives and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion workshops. Her current clients include The Whitney Museum of Art, March ON! Festival, Harlem Stage, and The Black Orchestral Network.
Ms. Walker-Kuhne has traveled to five continents, 11 countries, and 49 states sharing her expertise, skills, and experiences. She has presented keynote speeches for numerous national and international organizations including Dance USA, Theatre Communications Group, LORT Theater Conference, Broadway League, Opera America, League of American Orchestras, Grantmakers in the Arts, and The Wallace Foundation Convening Arts and Business Council. She has presented strategies at Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, Columbia University, American University, University of South Carolina, Temple University, Northwestern University, and the Canada Council for the Arts. She has also conducted lectures and workshops in Moscow, Russia; Australia; Bloemfontein, South Africa; and Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms. Walker-Kuhne regularly conducts staff development diversity workshops for theater, dance, and arts administration programs.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2025 Ignites Artistic Freedom Award, 2024 A Planter of Seeds Award, 2022 Margot Adams Signature Award, 2021 SGI-USA Distinguished Pioneer Award, and the 2019 League of Professional Theatre Women Rachel Crothers Leadership Award.
She is an adjunct professor at New York University, Bank Street College, and Columbia University. She serves on several boards, including Mid-Atlantic Arts, Signature Theater, Newark Arts Council, and The Harlem Arts Alliance. She is vice-chair of The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Arts, Culture and Entertainment Committee. Her first book, Invitation to the Party: Building Bridges to Arts, Culture and Community, was published in 2005 by Theatre Communications Group. walkercommunicationsgroup.com
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Champions for the Arts
By Donna Walker-Kuhne
200 pages | $18.95
Published by Theatre Communications Group
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781636702582
Since its founding in 1984, TCG Books has grown to become North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 22 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on its book list. The book program commits to the life-long career of its playwrights, keeping all of their plays in print. TCG Books events are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 750 organizations (including member theatres, affiliates, universities) and over 3,000 individual members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the biennial TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 21 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of “a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre” can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by Emilya Cachapero, LaTeshia Ellerson and Alisha Tonsic. www.tcg.org.