Capacity Building in the Arts,
A Panel Discussion
Capacity Building in the Arts, A Panel Discussion
Thursday, January 15, 2015, 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m
Roseville Library, 2180 Hamline Ave N., Roseville, MN 55113
Facilitated by Leah Cooper, Minnesota Theater Alliance
Building capacity doesn't necessarily mean getting bigger or hitting a certain budget size. But there are thresholds of size that make our work more sustainable. Do you need to get bigger or smaller? Do more or do better? We define capacity building as growing your organization's ability to do some or all of these things on an ongoing, sustainable basis:
- Increase the quality or quantity of programs enough to achieve your mission
- Compensate your people enough that they can do the work well and not get burned out
- Survive an unexpected financial or resource shortage
- Survive transition in leadership
- Stay resilient and responsive by being able to: experiment, evaluate, revise, and (occasionally) "fail"
DeAnna Cummings, is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Juxtaposition Arts, a cultural development center and teen staffed design firm founded in 1995 in North Minneapolis. DeAnna is a national speaker and 2007 Bush Leadership Fellow. Minnesota Public Radio named DeAnna a 2013 Arts Hero. The organization is known for a fierce connection to its community, a commitment to effectiveness in programming, and a willingness to take risks.
Julie Guidry is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Upstream Arts, an organization that enhances the lives of adults and youth with disabilities by fostering creative communication and social independence through the power of arts education. Julie has worked closely with disability service providers, community organizations, and Minneapolis Public Schools' Special Education Directors and Arts Departments to develop a model for integrating Upstream Arts' unique arts-based curriculum into social skills learning. Founded in 2006, Upstream Arts will work with 50+ partners to serve 5000+ people in the upcoming year.
Abdo Sayegh Rodriguez is the Managing Director of TU Dance. Originally from Venezuela, Abdo's early performing career included dancing with both of Venezuela's leading companies before coming to Minnesota and joining the Minnesota Dance Theatre. He holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration, teaches in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota, and is a recipient of a 2007 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers. TU Dance has grown tremendously since its founding in 2004, successfully opening a school in 2011 and participating in the most recent ArtsLab.
Randy Reyes is the Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts. Randy is an award winning multidisciplinary theater artist who trained as an actor at The Julliard School, The University of Utah, and with Anne Bogart's renowned SITI Company. He joined Mu as an actor, director, administrator, and member of their Core Artistic Group six years prior to succeeding the organization's founder as the Artistic Director in 2013. Mu Performing Arts grew from a small, "niche" company to one of the largest Asian-American arts groups in the country with a national reputation and consistent quality and attendance.
Peter Rothstein is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Theatre Latte Da. He has been named one of Minnesota's Artists of the Year by the Star Tribune, Theater Artist of the Year by Lavender, and the Best Director by City Pages. He has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the McKnight Foundation. He holds a B.A. in Music and Theater from St. John's University and a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Theatre Latte Da has had steady growth both artistically and administratively, with an even balance of earned and support revenue, including touring.
Facilitator, Leah Cooper has been passionately devoted to making theater for over 25 years. She is currently Executive Director of the Minnesota Theater Alliance, a nonprofit service organization serving over 400 theaters across the state. She is also Co-Artistic Director of Wonderlust Productions, a freelance stage director, an arts administration consultant, and a co-founder and partner at MinnesotaPlaylist.com, Minnesota's online trade journal for the performing arts. Leah is board chair for Live Action Set theater company and served four years on the Minneapolis Arts Commission. From 2001-2006, she was the Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival.
The workshops are free, but we ask that you register in advance. Please click on the linked workshop date to register. A complete list of upcoming MRAC training events and the handouts from past presentations are available at www.mrac.org/workshops/artsmanagementtraining. Please contact us if you need special accommodations to attend a workshop. This session is presented in partnership with the Minnesota Theater Alliance.