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- “Trump”-l’Oeil & “Entrumpy”: Museums’ Re-envisioned Missions Under a Capricious Ruler
Call it entrumpy—a “gradual decline into disorder” (riffing on “entropy”), attributable to the unpredictability of our unprecedented President.
Exploiting his
- Arizona Opera seeks General Director
Arizona Opera has reopened an international search and invites nominations and applications for the position of General Director, available July 1, 2025.
Arizona Opera, founded in 1971, is a cornerstone of the arts and culture community in Arizona, serving both Phoenix and Tucson with a mission to connect and inspire its communities through artistically vibrant programs and productions that combine music, storytelling, and the human voice. Over the years, Arizona Opera has become known for its innovative productions, prolific education and community-centric programming, and commitment to both classic and contemporary works. Alumni of Arizona Opera’s Pullen Opera Studio regularly appear with leading opera companies throughout the world.
At the heart of Arizona Opera’s vision is a deep commitment to creating transformative experiences through the power of opera. This commitment is evident in Arizona Opera’s mainstage productions, its community engagement initiatives, and its education programs that reach across the state, bringing the art form to diverse audiences and inspiring future generations of artists and opera lovers alike.
Like many performing arts organizations around the country, Arizona Opera is navigating the challenges of the post-pandemic landscape, including issues affecting attendance and contributed income. To address these challenges, Arizona Opera has recently adopted a new strategic plan, focused on financial and organizational sustainability; community impact and awareness; and innovation.
The 2024/25 Season features groundbreaking initiatives aligned with this strategic plan. Notably, Arizona Opera has introduced the “Beyond Downtown” program, part of the McDougall RED Series, which brings opera beyond its traditional venues and into the broader Arizona community. The season includes productions of classics, La Bohème and Aida, the Arizona premiere of the adventure opera Zorro, and the expansion of its annual Tucson recital program into the Phoenix metro area as well. Additionally, Arizona Opera continues its robust statewide education programs, thus ensuring that opera remains accessible and makes an impact across the entire state. The Company presented more than 130 in-school performances in the past season alone.
Arizona Opera continues to incorporate cutting-edge technology into its productions as part of its commitment to both innovation and sustainability. The 2024/25 Season will showcase an AI-supported concert version of Verdi’s Aida, utilizing Arizona Opera’s state-of-the-art LED Video Wall to create an immersive and visually stunning experience that redefines how opera can be presented. This innovative approach addresses the cost challenges of large-scale productions while opening new avenues for artistic expression and audience engagement.
Arizona Opera is governed by a 32-member Board of Directors and has 18 full-time staff members. The Company receives valuable support from the Valley Friends of Arizona Opera, the Arizona Opera League Tucson, and the Prescott Friends of Arizona Opera. The annual operating budget is $5 million.
Joseph Specter, President & General Director, will conclude his eight-year tenure with the Company at the end of the 2024/25 season. Specter, who has led Arizona Opera through a transformative period, will continue to oversee the organization during the search for new leadership.
The Opportunity
The next General Director of Arizona Opera will join an organization that has responded to significant pandemic-related financial and operational challenges by making necessary reductions in operating costs while increasing institutional energies directed toward fundraising and audience development. The Company has embraced a framework for long-term budget and program growth that will reimagine how a vibrant regional opera company produces both traditional opera and new work in ways that ensure financial stability, deepen community impact and awareness, and expand the audience for opera in Phoenix, Tucson, and throughout the state. The next General Director will influence and lead the implementation of Arizona Opera’s growth plan for a strong and sustainable future.
The Position
The General Director is the chief executive officer of Arizona Opera and reports to the Board of Trustees through the Chair. The General Director provides leadership to ensure that the Company fulfills its mission and realizes its vision “to be a statewide cultural community connected through resonant experiences that create a sense of inspiration and belonging for all Arizonans.” Within the strategic framework established by the Board of Trustees, the General Director ensures that the Company achieves its goals for organizational stability; community impact and awareness; and innovation. As the visible spokesperson for Arizona Opera, the General Director builds public awareness and appreciation for the Company within Phoenix and Tucson and throughout the state of Arizona, and ensures that Arizona Opera embraces, engages, reflects, and celebrates the rich diversity of the greater Arizona community.
The General Director is responsible and accountable for the artistic, financial, and organizational success of Arizona Opera. The General Director provides leadership and direction in determining repertoire, productions, singers, conductors, stage directors, designers, and composers for the Company’s main stage and other productions. The General Director ensures that the Company negotiates, implements, and observes the terms and conditions of collective bargaining agreements and other contracts and fosters an environment that allows singers, conductors, orchestra musicians, chorus members, technical staff, and production staff to do their best work.
The General Director is responsible for the overall management of Arizona Opera’s $5 million budget, ensuring the Company’s long-term sustainability. The General Director oversees the development of annual and multi-year budgets that balance artistic aspirations with financial realities and oversees all aspects of the Company’s operations. The General Director provides direction, management, and oversight to a high-performing artistic and administrative staff team.
The General Director devotes significant time and energy to fundraising, and takes a leadership role in the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of gifts. The General Director provides support to the work of the Board in both annual and endowment fundraising. The General Director provides guidance, support, and oversight to the marketing staff as they develop innovative ways to attract and welcome both veteran and new audiences to Arizona Opera performances in both Phoenix and Tucson.
The General Director ensures a safe and supportive work environment and a culture that celebrates diversity and instills the values of equity, inclusion, and belonging throughout the Company. The General Director encourages teamwork within and across operating departments, ensures effective communication, and promotes transparency throughout the Company. Working with the Board Chair, the General Director provides impetus and support to the work of the Board and its committees, identifies potential Board and committee members, and ensures that the Board has timely and accurate information for decision-making and good governance.
The General Director is the visible representative and spokesperson for Arizona Opera in Phoenix, Tucson, and throughout the state, and is an active participant in the business and cultural life of the community.
Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be an experienced executive with a passion for opera and a thorough knowledge of artists, repertoire, and all aspects of opera production. The candidate will be a strategic thinker with excellent planning, financial management, fundraising, marketing, and overall business skills. The candidate will have a strong commitment to the principles of access, equity, and inclusion in all aspect of the Company’s work and operations. The candidate will have a record of success in engaging, expanding, and retaining audiences for both traditional opera and contemporary work.
The successful candidate will have the demonstrated ability to recruit, motivate, supervise, and evaluate professional administrative and artistic staff. The candidate will have successful experience working in partnership with Board leadership to recruit, engage, and inspire a volunteer Board of Trustees.
The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic fundraiser with a proven record of success in cultivating, soliciting, and providing excellent stewardship for gifts from individual and institutional donors. The candidate will have experience structuring and implementing fundraising campaigns for annual support, underwriting and special project support, endowment, and planned giving. The successful candidate will inspire both trustees and staff to achieve and exceed annual and long-term fundraising goals. The candidate will be able to speak and write persuasively about the importance of opera in general and Arizona Opera in particular.
The successful candidate will have a deep commitment to the highest possible artistic standards in all aspects of the Company’s work. The candidate will have the demonstrated ability to work effectively with artistic leadership to achieve mutually held artistic goals. The candidate will have successful experience working with professional musicians in a collective bargaining environment. Experience overseeing an effective young artists program will be an asset.
The successful candidate will have a vision for future of American opera and a personal desire to help move the art form forward in the decades ahead. The candidate will be creative, curious, and imaginative. The candidate will be kind and generous in spirit. The successful candidate will be a person of integrity and high ethical standards with a strong commitment to transparency in all aspects of the work.
The successful candidate will welcome the opportunity to make a home in Arizona, become an active full -time participant in the life of the communities of greater Phoenix and Tucson, and realize Arizona Opera’s vision to bring opera to audiences throughout the state.
Compensation
The salary range for this position is $180,000 to $200,000 per year, depending on qualifications and experience. Arizona Opera offers a competitive benefits package as well.
Applications
Arizona Opera welcomes recommendations, nominations, and applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.
Applicants are asked to submit a cover letter that describes specific interest in Arizona Opera and outlines experience and qualifications for the position as described in the candidate profile. Please send this letter with a resumé. On a separate sheet, please also include the names and contact information for several professional references. All applications will be treated as confidential and references will not be contacted without the applicant’s knowledge and agreement. Electronic submissions are requested.
The position will remain open until filled; the Transition Committee will begin to review credentials in late February.
Arizona Opera
c/o Catherine French Group
2500 Q Street NW, Suite 623
Washington, DC 20007
applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com(Adobe Acrobat PDF attachments only, please)
- Wales’ National Museum Closes Indefinitely For Repairs
The closure comes nine months after Wales’ Culture Secretary assured the historic building would remain open, despite concerns from the museum’s director over its deteriorating condition. – BBC
- A Cantonese Opera About Donald Trump
A Hong Kong troupe specializing in the traditional form (a sort of cousin to the better-known Beijing opera) has produced a modern-dress piece based on the 2024 election, with Trump and Kamala Harris singing in Cantonese — and it’s a hit. – AP
- Streaming Companies Will Outspend Commercial Broadcasters This Year For The First Time
Of that figure, Ampere claims that streaming services will spending $95 billion on content this year, a 39% share, while commercial broadcasters will comprise 37%. The rest of the spend will be made up by public broadcasters (9%), theatrical studios (8%) and pay-TV (7%). – Variety
- Hollywood’s Latest War For Music Talent
Alex Shustorovich, who built his fortune buying Russian science journals after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is using his newfound control of IMG Artists, a small business known for managing classical musicians, to take on his much larger rival. – Financial Times (MSN)
- Why Alexei Ratmansky Is Not Recreating Petipa’s “Paquita” This Time Around
Back in 2014 in Munich, he and historian Doug Fullington did a full reconstruction of Petipa’s 1881 version of the piece for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. This season at New York City Ballet, he’s decided on a “new, freer approach.” Here’s why. – Playbill
- Arts Organizations Fret About Threats To Arts Funding Under Trump Administration
The fate of those grants now appears to be in limbo. A spokesperson for the NEA said the agency is “currently reviewing the recent executive orders, accompanying guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget, and related documents to ensure compliance and provide the required reporting.” – Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- David Pountney Is 77, And He Plans To Be Directing Operas For A Long Time Yet
Not only is he directing, he writes librettos and does translations; in fact, he still hates supertitles and thinks opera should be in the audience’s language. He has other strong opinions, too: Arts Council England has “got it in for opera. It hates the art form.” – The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
- How Blurbing Books Wrecked My Life
Early in my career I decided it was my duty to write at least twice as many blurbs as I received. I’ve now written about 20 times as many, and I’ve been happy to do it. But recently three things broke me. – The New York Times
- Trump’s Threatened Tariffs Throw Gallery Owners Into Uncertainty
For both galleries in Mexico and those traveling to Mexico City to participate in the city’s three fairs—Zona Maco, Material, and Salón Acme—there appears to be both worry and uncertainty over what effect the impending tariffs might have on collectors’ purchasing behavior, if any, or what costs galleries will have to absorb. – ARTnews
- Meet British Theatre’s New Crop Of Artistic Directors
The leaders of four London theatres, including the National Theatre and the Young Vic, along with theatres in Sheffield, Liverpool, and Wales, talk about their goals. – The Guardian
- The “Socratic Method” Rather Misses The Point
Such attempts to mimic him miss the point, which is that true thinking should be dangerous to your intellectual equilibrium. It should strive for answers that overthrow the terms of the questions being asked, not simply prove a point. – The New Republic
- Barnes & Noble To Open 60 New Stores In 2025
“In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019 . . . [The company] is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful.” – Fast Company
- How To Read Like A Translator
Translators deal with the “especially strong constraint” of the tight relationship between the original text and the new one, but the latter is still, well, new. At the end of the day, the translator’s job, the essential aspect of moving a text from one language to another, is to write a new book—and write it well. – The Nation
- Malaysia Promotes Abroad Films It Censors Or Bans Domestically
“Even as the Malaysian government lauds local films that win praise and prizes abroad, some of the most-celebrated ones are either not shown in domestic theaters or are heavily censored.” – The New York Times
- Sales Of Two Fiction Subgenres Are Soaring Thanks to BookTok
“Sales of science fiction and fantasy books rocketed last year, with their value increasing by 41.3% between 2023 and 2024. The booming popularity of romantasy – the subgenre blending elements of fantasy and romance that is a favourite of TikTok’s BookTok community – helped drive the rise.” – The Guardian
- Chrysler Building Has Been Repossessed by Cooper Union
The art/architecture/engineering school, which owns the land under the midtown Manhattan landmark 35 blocks uptown, had been leasing the building to real estate developer RFR Holdings, which fell $21 million behind on the rent. – Curbed (MSN)
- Temple University Buys Main Academic Building Of Now-Shuttered University of The Arts
“Terra Hall at Broad and Walnut Streets, just a few blocks from (Philadelphia’s) City Hall, is the second UArts building to complete the sales process through the (bankruptcy) court.” Temple, located in North Philadelphia, intends to make Terra Hall its Center City campus. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Van Gogh Museum Summarily Rejects That $50 Garage-Sale Painting; Experts Suggest Different Attribution
The LMI Group spent years using high-teach chemical and data analysis to produce a 431-page report arguing that the portrait of a fisherman is a late van Gogh painting. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam promptly dismissed LMI’s argument, while other observers pointed to someone else as the likely artist. – ARTnews
- The Case for Support: Mixed Blood Theatre Produces Positive, Quantifiable Impact for the People of Minneapolis
There is a theater company sitting right in the heart of America that dedicates every activity, every program, and every human interaction to the notion of radical hospitality.
The idea of “radical hospitality” is not new.
The Torah: “The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19: 33–34).
The New Testament: “What you do to the least of my brethren you do unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
The Quran: “Serve God… and do good to… orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer that you meet, and those who have nothing” (4:36).
The Hindu scripture Taittiriya Upanishad: “The guest is a representative of God.”
These are not extremist views. In fact, radical hospitality serves as a North Star to most nonprofit organizations whose purposes are about lifting those who need it.
In the world of nonprofit arts organizations, however, radical hospitality is difficult to find. Some use the phrase because their leaders (or often, one leader) may want to incorporate the most generous assistance possible, above and beyond the norm.However, when some of these arts organizations come into contact with financial distress, the “luxury” of radical hospitality disappears for the perceived “nitty-gritty” of producing a subjective notion of excellence.
The best nonprofits work the other way around. Community impact is far more important than any structured program.
Welcome to the Mixed Blood Theatre Company.
The core of its mission — “Mixed Blood uses theater to disrupt injustice” – reveals its nature as a social justice organization that happens to use art as a tool, not as a product. This is exactly what all nonprofit arts organizations could do, but refuse due to some preconceived, unbacked notion that the production of art is the service to the community.
“I think it’s clear that many of our theaters have distanced themselves from their audience and community,” said Mark Valdez, the artistic director for Mixed Blood. “As the field professionalized, that gap grew. Now we look down on community theater, when before most small towns supported one or two theaters and an opera house. Funders pushed the field to structure themselves as corporations, and so regions lost acting companies. Executive directors and managing directors eventually took the reins from artistic directors (who, to be fair, just as often handed those reins over). Our field sold itself out. Separated itself. Now we wonder why nobody cares about our organizations and our work. Duh!”
Mark Valdez Valdez is no stranger to the field. With a career spanning more than 20 years, he has created a wide range of work and has been recognized with a 2021 Zelda Fichandler Award and an inaugural 2021 California Arts Council Legacy Artist Fellowship.
What separates Mixed Blood from its competition is simple. The company does not see its impact as being artistically focused. It does no art for the sake of indulgence. It always intends to serve those who need it, at all costs.
“We are first a social justice organization, then a theater,” explained Valdez. “We use theater to achieve our social justice aims.”
In every activity and every decision, Mixed Blood ensures that its service to the community is nontoxic, intended to serve those in the community.
“Radical hospitality includes no-cost admission,” said Valdez. “We rely exclusively on donations. We have wealthy donors, but they support our organization for the benefit of the community, not themselves. In fact, few of those donors participate in our programing.”
“As for serving the public need,” he continued, “we are increasingly creating work with community members. We want them to have agency in the work. We boost civic imagination, working around pressing civic issues such as affordable housing, health, and climate resilience. Our work aims to provide opportunities for audiences to do something, believing that if they can do one thing, they can do something else. Our work is driven towards taking action.”
And there is a public need.
The infamous 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer who knelt on his neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds did not indicate a new type of local police violence, but a continuation and exacerbation of old racial sores that did not heal the wounds predicated by racial covenants (segregationist legal rules inserted into property deeds and titles that made it impossible for land to be owned by non-White people). Those racial covenants forced Black people, for example, to live in only a few pockets of the city of Minneapolis. Even though those covenants were made illegal in 1968 by the Fair Housing Act, their scars resulted in a 2019 study by 24/7 Wall Street that named the Twin Cities as the fourth worst metropolitan statistical area in the United States for Black citizens.
One neighborhood that allowed Black residency was near the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the very corner at which George Floyd was murdered. As Olivia B. Waxman reported in the May 28, 2020, edition of Time Magazine (three days after the killing):
Photo by Lorie Shaull from flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0. “Floyd’s death ‘falls within a larger pattern’ of clashes between police officers and residents in black communities that ‘goes way back to the period of Reconstruction, when a lot of police departments were created to surveil black communities and control and corral large black populations,’ said Keith A. Mayes, a professor of African American & African Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.”
There are numerous arts organizations in and around Minneapolis. But as liberal as the state’s voting record has been through the years (it was the one state that voted for favorite son Walter Mondale in the presidential election of 1984), the city is split along racial lines. Among the arts organizations, that community bifurcation has led to a history of large, predominately White nonprofit arts organizations (the Guthrie Theatre, for example) that serve their privileged donors and audiences, paying token attention to the people not included, not represented, and not respected.
Mixed Blood has found that to be both hindrance and opportunity. Their strengths are found in performing social justice activities for those historically overwhelmed.
“Since its founding, Mixed Blood has centered those most on the margins,” said Valdez. “As a social justice organization, we want to use our work to influence public policies, knowing that much of the discrimination and bias in place is enshrined in our laws. We’re focusing on greater affordable housing, equitable healthcare, and climate resilience. BIPOC communities are often hit first and hardest by climate change.”
It should be self-evident, but it’s often a good reminder to nonprofit arts organizational leaders and board members that work that positively impacts the least privileged among us benefits all of us. While most arts organizations believe that their collective purpose is to produce artistic excellence — even to the detriment of including its own community’s artists (instead hiring those from arts hubs such as Toronto, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles) — Mixed Blood is a very personal, very local, couldn’t-exist-anywhere-else point of Minnesota joy. It’s the kind of work that allows a leader like Valdez to look up and visualize instead of down and weep.
“I want to be of use, useful to my community and the greater society,” he said. “Similarly, I want our theater to be useful to its community. Can we build civic imagination to see past the dystopian futures pop culture feeds us? Can we co-daydream beautiful futures? Artmaking lets us build consensus, make meaning, foster belonging, build worlds, and rehearse actions. These skills, these actions are vital to the health of our communities. There is no lasting solution to the giant social challenges we are facing that doesn’t include the arts. It’s our time to take leadership.”
Photo from 2017 production of “Vietgone” by Qui Nguyen When financial duress happens, how does the connection to the community continue?
“Community is not a monolith. When faced with financial hardships, we have to look at the various communities we serve. One of those communities is our own staff. We have a responsibility to care for our staff, the people at the organization who are doing the work. Then we ask how this group can serve our other communities? For instance, at the moment [2024], we are currently producing fewer shows in our own facility. We are doing more work outside our building, meeting the community members where they are — not necessarily with fully produced plays, but with mobile, flexible work that feeds the imagination and creates a forum for action and discussion.”
The flexibility of the company stems from its interpretation of radical hospitality. When faced with challenges, they seek the ways in which to help those who need it over those who merely want it. And that includes its own staff.
“There is a tension,” explained Valdez, “that every employee holds, from entry level to top management: the balance between mission alignment and amount of salary. We try to remain aware of that balance, paying people fair wages and looking for individuals who have common values, whose skills augment others’ deficits. It’s not a science, rather alchemy. Sometimes you get it wrong and need to course correct. That’s usually unpleasant, but necessary. When it works, though, you feel it. You see it in how the team works. Individual leadership and care for the community (our own community).”
Mixed Blood’s “Northside Vibe,” a cultural and storytelling series (Photo by Rich Ryan) The power of the arts is not limited to exuding beauty, providing an escape, or showcasing artistic skills. In fact, those aren’t community powers at all. Any or all might be present within a particular artistic activity, but the value comes from the tangible, quantified positive impact the company has on the community… just like any other kind of nonprofit.
Mark Valdez gets up in the morning to “serve my community and the greater society. That provides meaning for my life. Theater lets me serve; to do good.” Shouldn’t that be why every nonprofit arts organization exists? Isn’t that more deserving of a seven-figure check than one that merely puts on a great show?
In case you’re wondering, I’m a donor to Mixed Blood. They’re a beacon of charity in a nonprofit arts sector in which there are few…for now. And as I would do with a good movie, a great restaurant, or a terrific store, I want you to share in my good fortune for having found them. Send them a donation. They deserve it.
And it goes without saying, but the cynics among us request this: no, they paid not a cent for this article. This is not an “advertorial.” In the coming months, I’ll continue to feature more companies that walk the walk — if for no other reason than to show you that it is, in fact, possible to use art as a tool and not as a product. And to national foundation program directors: do a mitzvah and include Mixed Blood in your giving portfolio. They’ll make your foundation more valuable.
If you’d like your nonprofit arts organization to be as impactful and successful as Mixed Blood, why not pick up copies of both books in the SCENE CHANGE series? It’s a great way to increase innovation, improve communication, and just have a better chance of making your community a better place to live. At less than $12 a copy for SCENE CHANGE 2: THE FIVE REAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF NONPROFIT ARTS BOARDS, you’ll want to get one for each board member! 
- Trial For Knife Attack On Salman Rushdie Begins This Week
Hadi Matar faces attempted murder charges for repeatedly stabbing the author as he was onstage, about to give a public lecture, at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York state. Matar was subdued and arrested at the scene. – AP
- Filmmaker Convicted Of Sexual Assault In Major French #MeToo Trial
Christophe Ruggia was found guilty of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel, starting when she was the 12-year-old lead in his film The Devils. – BBC
- Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art seeks Director of Advancement
The Director of Development (DoD) will have primary responsibility for all aspects of the museum’s fundraising and philanthropic programs and will serve as a key member of the leadership team. Reporting to the CEO, the DoD will be responsible for conceiving, planning, and executing the museum’s fundraising strategy and engaging donors in the museum’s strategic direction while fostering a vibrant culture of philanthropy. The DoD will work closely with the CEO, board, senior staff, volunteers, museum partners, and community to cultivate new donors while energizing the donor base. The DoD will identify and secure six-figure major gifts, corporate partnerships, and institutional grants. They will also conceive and implement annual and capital fundraising campaigns, energize and grow membership, reinvigorate special fundraising events, and expand the legacy gift program. The DoD will be responsible for leading the division team of eight and directing the activities of Major Gifts, Membership, Grants, Database Management, and Events and Rentals to achieve fundraising goals of more than $5 million annually.
Roles and Responsibilities
Fundraising Leadership
- Develop a vision and strategy to increase contributed revenue, including restricted and unrestricted support from individual, government, foundation, and corporate donors, for exhibitions, major initiatives, acquisitions, endowment, and annual operating support.
- Guide, cultivate, and increase the regular and premier membership base and affinity groups while actively developing a pipeline for community engagement and support.
- Work with and oversee the activities of the museum’s affinity organizations in general and specifically in their activities to fundraise for the museum such as with the annual Festival of Trees and Traditions and Fine Art and Flowers.
- Drive the planning and execution of the annual museum gala, establishing and working with a robust committee structure to coordinate all activities necessary for its success.
- Cultivate and inspire legacy gifts and oversee the stewardship and benefit of planned gifts to the museum.
- Prepare and organize for a major capital campaign in 2026-27 to help build the endowment, fund capital improvements, and support financial well-being.
- Invigorate and implement annual fundraising events, activities, and special campaigns to grow donor participation and welcome new communities to the museum.
- Collaborate with the CEO and Nominating and Governance Committee Chair to strengthen and expand the Board of Trustees, deepen existing relationships, and serve as a primary point of contact and an effective partner with the board.
- Support the Board’s development activities to advance development goals
- Serve as one of the Wadsworth’s key representatives in the community, actively seeking opportunities to engage with the broader stakeholders and participate in events that position the museum for improved support.
- Advise the CEO and board on ways to increase their community, regional, national, and international networking capabilities and advance the museum’s community engagement plan.
- Embrace other fundraising leadership tasks as needed.
Departmental Strategic Planning and Operations
- Collaborate with the CEO and the Director of Finance to establish fiscal goals and provide projections that accurately reflect anticipated revenues for the organization, presenting regular progress reports.
- Create an ambitious and comprehensive written annual development plan and calendar with clearly defined goals, objectives, timelines, and assignment of responsibilities.
- Train, mentor, and support museum colleagues and the board in their donor and prospect engagement activities, seeking ways to maximize their personal giving and participation in philanthropic programs.
- Collaborate with curatorial staff to secure the necessary funding for the thoughtful and illuminating exhibits that are vital to community engagement and the national and international reputation of the museum.
- Ensure that all departmental resources are properly and efficiently allocated, and that prospect research, outreach, solicitation, and stewardship are expertly executed to meet all fundraising goals and benchmarks.
- Provide oversight and support to grant writing activities and final submissions.
- Direct the strategic use of the Tessitura database and other development communication tools, coordinating development communications with existing and potential donors to ensure the highest level of donor engagement, satisfaction, and expressions of appreciation.
- Embrace other departmental strategic planning and operations as needed.
Team Mentorship, Administration, and Oversight
- Ensure that the museum’s internal culture, technological systems, and procedures support the development team as the foundation of a vibrant organization.
- Manage the day-to-day operations to ensure that all administrative and operational aspects of development are executed at a high level of quality and efficiency.
- Establish and oversee annual fundraising calendars, including deadlines for grant reporting and applications.
- Motivate, supervise, evaluate, and mentor development staff.
- Create a supportive, collaborative, productive, and healthy work environment based on respect, teamwork, and clear expectations and responsibilities.
- Set performance standards, provide timely and constructive feedback, and support opportunities for professional development.
- Embrace other team mentorship, administration, and oversight responsibilities, as needed.
Traits and Characteristics
The DoD will be a goal oriented and confident self-starter with the ability to influence and motivate others around a clear strategic vision. Energized by working in the community, the DoD will be a passionate, visible, and informed advocate for the museum who can effectively engage existing and potential supporters in its mission and programs. Comfortable balancing both relationship-oriented and task-focused responsibilities, the DoD will structure compelling opportunities for support to positively impact the organization’s long-term success.
Other key competencies of this role include:
- Donor Focus and Diplomacy – The dexterity to commit to donor and member satisfaction with a high value on multiple stakeholder needs, anticipate challenges, and develop appropriate solutions while building rapport and relating well to many community members regardless of cultural differences.
- Leadership and Teamwork – The ability to organize and motivate others to accomplish extraordinary goals while creating a sense of order, direction, and active participation among team members.
- Interpersonal Skills – The capacity to build rapport and relate well to many different kinds of people.
- Goal Orientation – The tenacity to achieve inspirational and attainable goals while building trust and demonstrating the ability to lead, motivate, and organize a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders.
Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree is preferred (advanced degree desirable) with a minimum of eight years of fundraising experience leading an integrated multimillion dollar annual fund. Significant knowledge of museums, art galleries, or related educational institutions is strongly preferred. Familiarity with the New England philanthropic landscape is a plus. Experience working in a leadership role with board members, senior management, staff, patrons, and support organizations is needed. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office and donor research and customer relationship management systems, are necessary.
Compensation and Benefits
The Wadsworth provides a competitive and equitable compensation package, with a salary range between $135,000 to $175,000 commensurate with experience, coupled with a robust package of benefits, generous paid vacation, and an employer funded retirement savings plan.
Applications and Inquiries
To submit a cover letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please visit https://artsconsulting.com/opensearches/wadsworth-atheneum-museum-of-art-seeks-director-of-development/. For questions or general inquiries about this job opportunity, please contact:
Nan Keeton, Senior Vice President
503 East Jackson Street, Suite 337
Tampa, FL 33602-4904
Tel (888) 234.4236 Ext. 203
Email WadsworthDoD@ArtsConsulting.comThe Wadsworth is a progressive, equal opportunity employer
and all candidates are encouraged to apply. - Opening: Assistant Director of Educational Programs
General Summary
The Assistant Director of Educational Programs manages all facets of the educational and curricular initiatives that form the core of BMC’s mission. This position directly supports the Senior Director of Artistic Planning & Educational Programs in shaping and executing the Brevard Music Center’s (BMC) educational vision, delivering an unparalleled learning experience for all students.
The primary emphasis of this role focuses on the direction and management of the day-to-day operations of BMC’s summer educational programs. Other priorities include collaborating on the development of performance and educational schedules, assisting in the recommendation and selection of seasonal faculty and repertoire, and developing new educational activities and ventures during the summer and year-round.
The Assistant Director of Educational Programs collaborates with the Director of Admissions & Student Services to enhance student recruitment and enrollment. Additionally, this role involves the management of staff and faculty who directly support BMC’s educational mission and student development.
Learn more at www.brevardmusic.org/employment
- Chief Financial Officer – La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse (the Playhouse) is seeking its next Chief Financial Officer, the senior leader charged with the management, oversight, and strategy of one of the nation’s premiere regional theatres. The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for overseeing and managing the organization’s financial planning and accounting, as well as providing the required data and analytical information for the overall successful financial management of the organization.
The Chief Financial Officer ensures the Finance Department functions as a high-performing team, focused on supporting business needs across the entire organization. This position works closely with and reports to the Managing Director, providing data and analysis to assist in making responsible financial decisions for the organization. La Jolla Playhouse has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to facilitate this search. A full position description and details on how to apply may be found here: https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/cfo-la-jolla-playhouse
Organizational Profile
La Jolla Playhouse is internationally-renowned for creating some of the most exciting and adventurous work in American theatre. Founded in 1947, the Playhouse is now a not-for-profit, professional theatre in residence on the University of California, San Diego campus. Its mission is to advance theatre as an art form and as a vital social, moral and political platform by providing unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow.
The Playhouse’s brilliant and innovative productions of classics, immersive projects, new plays and musicals have merited over 300 major honors and 42 Tony Awards, including the 1993 Tony Award for America’s Outstanding Regional Theatre. These include The Outsiders, Come From Away, The Who’s Tommy, Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Memphis and international sensation Jersey Boys. More information is available at La Jolla Playhouse’s website at https://lajollaplayhouse.org/.
- Joe Biden Signs On With CAA Talent Agency
While a CAA client from 2017 to 2020, President Biden published his #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, “Promise Me, Dad,” launched the 42-date “American Promise” tour, which sold more than 85,000 tickets nationwide, and headlined numerous speaking engagements. – Variety
- The Grammys Used The LA Fires As Prop Rather Than Honoring The Victims
The Grammys’ handling of the city’s ongoing trauma felt more performative than profound: The fires became a prop and backdrop to the night’s honors, losing the human depth and unimaginable scale of the tragedy in the process. – Los Angeles Times
- A Dance Tour, A Topic Trump Doesn’t Like, And Suddenly The Funding…
If climate change is an integral part of your work, how do you write a proposal to an administration that is actively not wanting to draw attention to that science? I think we’re going to find that some of us are maybe more cautious about how we communicate. – Dance Magazine
- Trump’s New FCC Chief To Investigate NPR, PBS Underwriting
“In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.” – Washington Post
- US Copyright Says Its 1965 Law Anticipated (And Settled) AI Issues
The Copyright Office insisted that the AI copyright debate was settled in 1965 after commercial computer technology started advancing quickly and “difficult questions of authorship” were first raised. That was the first time officials had to ponder how much involvement human creators had in works created using computers. – Ars Technica
- As Emilia Perez’s Oscar Campaign Implodes, The Nominees Could Be So Much Better
“Outside of Dune: Part Two‘s occasional experimentation, there’s not much you could point to as groundbreaking. There is Nickel Boys and The Brutalist: your-mileage-may-vary sociopolitical commentaries that, at best, blow the socks off half as many audience members as they put to sleep.” – CBC
- How Portland’s Capella Romana Survived This Administration’s First Attempt To Shut Down The Arts
As Capella Romana was planning concerts in Portland and Seattle, their NEA grant funding was suddenly frozen. Donations have poured in, but the concert, “by bringing together Black and European musical and culture traditions, … may very well raise a warning flag in the new administration.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
- The Loss Of Music In The Los Angeles Fires
A truly sickening number of studios, equipment, instruments, and reliquaries of precious artifacts, mementos, and material memories from so many lifetimes in music are now nothing but ash. – Symphony
- Study: Teens Are Increasingly Being Misled By Online Misinformation
About 35% reported being deceived by fake content online. However, a larger 41% reported they had encountered content that was real yet misleading and 22% said they had shared information that turned out to be fake. – CNN