New Utah Center for Arts Administration Opens for BusinessLate this spring the new Utah Center for Arts Administration (UCAA) website went live at http://suu.edu/ucaa. The Utah Center for Arts Administration, created in January 2009, provides services and training for arts organizations and their managers in Utah and the Southwest. The Center offers affordable consulting services such as marketing plans, audience surveys and development audits at reduced prices for arts organizations. Additionally, UCAA offers seminars and workshops to help further the development of arts managers in Utah and the surrounding areas. Future plans are expected to include online courses and a certificate program for working arts administrators who are unable to attend a university full-time. The UCAA gives SUU Arts Administration students an opportunity to use the skills and training which they are developing during their studies. Matt Neves is the director of UCAA and the MFA Arts Administration Program. To contact Matt about UCAA call 435-586-7873 or e-mail him at neves@suu.edu.
Dean Bill Byrnes hosted a book signing for his 4th edition of Management and the Arts at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology’s (USITT) conference in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 19, 2009. In late June 2009 Dean Byrnes will be lecturing for a week at the Institut für Sprachen und Wirtschaft (ISW), a culture management school in Freiburg, Germany. He will be teaching classes covering arts marketing, fundraising, organizational management and leadership. Moreover, he will be serving on the Executive Director Search Committee for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) summer 2009.
Professor Matt Neves was invited to direct a new short play, Rummage by Steven Salzman, for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in February 2009 at California State University, Fullerton. In addition, he acted as the Regional Board's Workshop Coordinator, managing this year's 69 workshops presented by theatre professionals from across the country. He will direct Biloxi Blues for the Neil Simon Festival summer 2009, the second in the Simon autobiographical trilogy. Matt directed the first play in the saga, Brighton Beach Memoirs, summer 2008.
The summer of 2009 marks the last stop towards graduation for SUU’s Arts Administration students pursuing their MFA degrees. This year’s five graduates have spread out all over the country to complete their final Capstone Internships, serving a wide variety of national and regional professional arts organizations. Upon completion, they will return to defend their degrees and to present their findings and experiences to the campus community on August 20, 2009.
Hilary Dalton Zander (’09 MFA) - National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.. Hilary will be assisting NEA specialists and panel experts in the Artist Communities /Music/ Opera/ Presenting Division. She will attend review panel discussions and observe the development and implementation of The Arts and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that is part of the President’s stimulus package. (http://www.nea.gov)
Amanda Endsley (’09 MFA)– Childsplay, (Theatre) Tempe, Arizona. Amanda will be working as an assistant in company management with responsibilities for travel arrangements for the fall national tour of Peter and the Wolf. Her responsibilities will all include the creation of templates for a quarterly communication for donor stewardship and the restructuring of the backstage pass programs. (http://childsplayaz.org)
Rachel Mann (’09 MFA)– Mountainfilm, Telluride, Colorado. Rachel will be assisting the Festival Director with shipping and receiving films, film trafficking and other duties. After the festival, she will be involved in “post-Festival” work on budgets, financial statements, multimedia efforts and archival projects. (http://www.mountainfilm.org)
Liz Van Vleck (’09 MFA)– Jacob’s Pillow, (Dance) Beckett, Massachusetts. As a Development and Individual Support/Ticket Services Intern, Liz will act as a liaison between the Development Office, Box Office and Marketing Departments. She will assist with development activities and will work to clean out duplicate entries in the computer files. (http://www.jacobspillow.org/festival)
Tyler Wanshura (’09 MFA)– Minnesota Opera, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tyler will be working in the marketing office, assisting with targeted mailings, ticketing, and patron database software. He will be responsible for running reports to narrow the focus of targeted emails and mailings. Futhermore, he will work on developing and executing publicity and marketing on Facebook, MySpace, and other sites that are audience specific. (http://www.mnopera.org)
Arts Administration Alumni
Steve Lisciani (‘08-MFA) was promoted to Director of Foundation and Corporate Support in late May for the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. (http://www.berkshiretheatre.org)
Sara Staheli (‘08-MFA, ‘09-MBA) is the Associate VP of Development & Foundation Relations for Hale Center Theatre in Orem, Utah. (http://www.haletheater.org)
Photo: Amanda Endsley (MFA '10) by Anne Marie Keefe