Happy Spring, folks!

Usually this time of year comes with a lot of optimism, but this year we know that simply changing the clocks and having more light in the evening won’t ease all of our heaviness. The challenges we are facing – nationally, locally, and within our field – are real, and don’t have easy solutions. We are in solidarity with our colleagues and peers engaging in resistance and organizing at many levels.

In just over a week, we hope you will join us at the Spring Summit. While we won’t pretend that three days of fellowship, networking, and learning will solve all of our shared challenges, we do believe that it’s a first step. Why?

• Because authoritarian regimes rely on us being siloed, overwhelmed, and paralyzed, so investing in community, resource sharing, and learning are powerful antidotes.

• Because a shared vocabulary for describing our reality is essential for building collective strength, advocating for our needs, and building a world we want to live in.

• Because in order to imagine, design, and engineer the future we deserve, we need to intentionally interrupt what hasn’t been working so far. 

We’ve been thinking a lot about these themes because they are the bedrock of our upcoming report on the field, Health and Wealth, Empowering NYC Theatremakers through Data. We will be sharing more about what we’ve learned, including some key takeaways from the data set at the Spring Summit’s kick-off on Wednesday, April 2. But here’s a teaser:

This report is about us, grounded in data gathered in Fall 2024 about the years 2019, 2022 and 2023. We intentionally reflect a “pre-COVID” year and the two complete fiscal years during “the recovery.”

This report is for us, giving context and shared vocabulary to the conversations that take place in Board Meetings and behind tech tables, between worried colleagues and curious funders. We each approach this dialogue from different perspectives, but a shared understanding is essential for how we move forward.

This report implicates us. All of us: theatremakers, funders, service providers, A.R.T./New York. What we’re doing won’t take us where we’re going, so let’s start doing something different.

If this resonates with you, we hope you will join us!

There are incredible sessions Thursday and Friday (check out the full line up here!) that will give you practical tools, expand your metaphorical rolodex, and fill your tank for the journey ahead.

We are grateful to be with you in this season of reflection and transformation. See you soon! 

Talia + Risa