On Monday, April 1, Advocacy Committee Chairman Erik Curren (American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA) joined hundreds of delegates from all 50 states for the Congressional Arts Advocacy Day sponsored by Americans for the Arts held in Washington, DC. Arts advocates met with Senators and Congressional Representatives to lobby for key issues important to the arts, including:

* Increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts

* Expedite U.S. visas for international artists

* Enforce teaching of arts as required by No Child Left Behind

The in-person meetings in Washington helped to show legislators that the arts community is ready to show how what we do is crucial to America’s civic life and that funding the arts is more crucial in today’s economy than ever before. For example, every dollar spent by the NEA generates nine dollars in economic activity. That’s the kind of return on investment that shows the arts mean business.

As Congress debates the President’s budget now, it is crucial that your legislators in Washington hear from you. Even if you can’t meet with them in person, an email or a phone call from a constituent can help sway a lawmaker to vote for the arts, instead of voting to cut federal spending on the back of arts funding.

We encourage you to visit Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy center at http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/home/ where you can send a message directly to your Representative and Senators telling them why the arts are important to you and your community. Using the E-Advocacy Center, you can create and send your letter to Congress in less than two minutes. We urge you to send your message to Congress today while House and Senate committees are still debating the federal budget and deciding at what level to fund programs like the NEA that are so important to non-profit theatre companies around America.

The 2009 conference will be hosted by Shakespeare & Company, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Artistic Director Tina Packer and STAA President Philip Sneed, in consultation with the Executive Committee and informed by members’ suggestions, are already planning the program. While it’s too early to announce details, it’s safe to say that we will be calling on the resources available at Tina’s remarkable institution – including an optional two-day training session (the conference itself will be held from the evening of January 28th through the 31st, with the training scheduled for the 27th and 28th). I hope that everyone will seriously consider arriving early to take full advantage of this opportunity – those who have participated in the training Tina’s company offers can attest to its value.

The 21st annual Arts Advocacy Day is the only national event that brings together a broad cross section of America’s cultural and civic organizations, along with hundreds of grassroots advocates from across the country, to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts.

For more information visit:
http://www.artsusa.org/events/2008/aad/default.asp

The STAA 2008 Conference was hosted by Utah Shakespearean Festival.
STAA members were greeted with warmth by the whole community – including the downtown merchants who gracefully kept their Christmas lights up for the conference. This year’s theme was “The Artist in Shakespeare.” The perfect tone was set by keynote speaker, Antoni Cimolino (General Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival) and a true sense of passion and purpose permeated the rest of the week. As a group, attendees focused some attention on The Merchant of Venice, diversity and the “one-headed vs. two-headed” leadership models. Breakout sessions included: the art of season planning, training teaching artists, clues in the text to staging Shakespeare, Shakespeare in small centres, Shakespeare’s lesser-known works, working with loved ones and changing personal art. Attendees also had an opportunity to tour the Utah Shakespearean Festival theatres and facilities as well as attend a performance of their production of “ART”.

The full conference report is now available in the members section.

The STAA 2007 conference was hosted by Nashville Shakespeare Festival; the focus, building community, was beautifully demonstrated by the opening reception. The Music City showed members of STAA some kick-ass hospitality with an introduction to the work of Nashville Shakespeare Festival and musical entertainment from the Festival’s friends in the music industry. Attendees had opportunities throughout the weekend to see theatre and attend the Grand Ole Opry in its original home at the Ryman Auditorium. For STAA members the theme provided an opportunity to consider our place in our own communities, our position in the national community and our role as a membership community. The sessions in the 2007 conference provided opportunities to strengthen alliances, create new partnerships and work together as advocates for our field.

Please log on to view the full conference notes.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has named Bill Rauch as the new artistic director. He will succeed artistic director Libby Appel, who will be retiring at the end of the 2007 season. Rauch will work part-time beginning in November of this year to plan the 2008 playbill, select design teams and cast actors for the 11 productions. He begins full-time in June 2007.

Philip Charles Sneed has been appointed producing artistic director for Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He will succeed 17-year veteran PAD, Richard M. Devin, who plans to remain based in Boulder, but travel widely as a lighting designer and arts advocate.

STAA extends congratulations to all 36 recipients! Out of of the 36 companies selected 19 are STAA members. Those companies include: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Atlanta Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Utah Shakespearean Festival.

A few photos from the 2004 STAA conference are currently in the photo gallery. Photos from the 2005 conference will be added soon. If you have some photos from the conference which you would like to share, please let us know.