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- LACMA Spent $724 Million On Its New Building. Here’s How That Money Got Spent.
For 25 years, people have been arguing about whether that this project was a good idea or a terrible one. Here’s a look at each side, at why the building has cost so much, and why director Michael Govan considers the whole thing so important. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Disney Is Preparing To Lay Off 1,000 Staffers: Report
The Walt Disney Co. “is expected to lay off as many as 1,000 employees through role eliminations in the coming months, Variety has learned. Many of the cuts are expected to come from the media giant’s marketing department.” – Variety
- Trump Administration Abandons Appeal, Gives Up Attempt To Dismantle Institute Of Museum And Library Services
“A federal court granted the administration’s request to withdraw its appeal of a federal judge’s earlier ruling that struck down Trump’s attempt last year to dismantle the agency” by executive order. However, the fiscal 2027 budget which White House is submitting to Congress includes no funding for IMLS. – Publishers Weekly
- Good Morning
LACMA has bet everything on reinvention. The $724-million David Geffen Galleries open this week, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has essentially demolished and rebuilt itself — trading a fragmented campus for a single hovering megastructure (Los Angeles Times). Across the Atlantic, London’s National Gallery has tapped Kengo Kuma to design a $464-million wing that will push the collection into 20th- and 21st-century art — territory the Tate has long considered its own (The Guardian).
Not every institution is building. Salzburg’s festival board, having fired its artistic director two weeks ago, has already installed an interim replacement (Moto Perpetuo). Meanwhile, Spain’s culture minister is refusing to let Picasso’s Guernica travel to the Basque region for the 90th anniversary of the bombing it depicts — a fight less about conservation than about which city gets to claim the painting’s meaning (The Guardian). And the market for reported nonfiction books is contracting, squeezing the kind of deep journalism that doesn’t come with a celebrity name attached (The New Republic).
All of our stories below.
- Celebrating the Heroes behind the Jazz
As jazz — the music, business and culture of it — depends on an intricate and widespread network of activists, altruists and advocates to thrive, and celebrating local doers at least used to be a way to focus attention on the out-of-the-spotlight work necessary to make anything worthwhile happen, the
- The Artist Behind The Banana On The Wall And The Golden Toilet Is Now Hearing Confessions
Maurizio Cattelan has set up a hotline where folks from anywhere can “confess their sins.” Those the artist/father-confessor considers most in need of repentance will be invited to confess to him in real time during an April 23 live-stream. “In a world of sin, absolution has never been so close,” he says. – Euronews
- In The Bay Area, Earlier Curtain Times Are Catching On
From ACT in San Francisco to Berkeley Rep to Stanford Live, producers and presenters are moving starting times from 8:00 to 7:30, 7:00 or even 6:30. So far, there have been lots of favorable comments and very few complaints. – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Spain’s Culture Minister Refuses Transfer Of Guernica For Basque Loan
The Basque government is already familiar with the Reina Sofía’s condition report—which deems the painting too fragile to travel—and that it is instead requesting a feasibility report from independent technicians on how a transfer to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao could be carried out safely. – ARTnews
- HarperCollins’ Canadian Side-Hustle. Be Wary.
There is every reason to be wary when a foreign-owned corporation stakes a claim to defending Canada’s cultural sovereignty, but the case of HarperCollins calls for particular skepticism. – The Walrus
- LACMA Reinvented: Inside LA’s New Museum
No L.A. institution has taken as risky a leap in this century as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. With the opening of the $724-million David Geffen Galleries, LACMA has effectively erased and reinvented itself, trading a fragmented campus core for a sinuous, hovering concrete megastructure. – Los Angeles Times
- Nathan Lane On Being Half-Outed By Oprah On Live TV
“In those days, you might as well say: ‘And by the way, I love cock,’” he said about his 1996 interview to promote The Birdcage. “But I wasn’t ready; I wasn’t brave enough. I was a character actor. I wasn’t thinking I was going to become a leading man.” – The Guardian
- Eco-Dystopian Novels From Africa And Asia Push The Form
Speculative and futuristic visions of environmental calamity are being imagined globally through environmental fiction. Eco-dystopian novels can help people process their fears or mourn the loss of a more stable climate. – The Conversation
- As Canadian Universities Scale Back Music Programs, The Impacts Are Felt In Cities
Research on cultural ecosystems suggests that institutional collaboration is crucial to sustain vibrant arts production. This is especially the case as music and the arts face increasing pressure from shifting funding models and post-pandemic austerity. – The Conversation
- Wrestling For The Soul Of The Machine
This is a war over whether technology will merely optimise calculations or eliminate a quintessentially human element such calculations can’t capture. But beneath these debates, the question still lurks: what makes us so special? And can it be computed? – Aeon
- The Market For Non-Fiction Reporting In Books Is Contracting
These developments suggest a rough future for a certain kind of writing: nonfiction that’s based on reportage more than on personal experience or celebrity—a.k.a. long fact, literary nonfiction, or narrative nonfiction. – The New Republic
- Dance Theater Of Harlem Revives Its “Firebird” For The First Time In Over 20 Years
The company hadn’t produced its beloved staging of the Stravinsky ballet, with sets and costumes by Geoffrey Holder, since it went on hiatus in 2004 due to financial problems. DTH was resurrected in 2013, but until now it didn’t have enough dancers available to perform the piece. – The New York Times
- The Scholar Who Traced The Roots Of American Music Back To Africa
A chance encounter fifty years ago “helped fuel a lifelong quest: mapping a musical route that mirrored the trans-Atlantic slave trade and birthed nearly all of the popular music that we now take for granted, including rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop.” – The New York Times
- Inside The World Of Family Vlogs
The most successful and lucrative family vlogs are indiscreet almost by definition—and yet the wrong kind of indiscretion can derail the whole gravy train. – The New Yorker
- When LiveNation Came To Irvine California
For a jury that has spent weeks listening to experts debate market definitions, vertical integration and other fine points of antitrust law, the testimony about Irvine’s failed amphitheater, and other disputes, has provided a perspective on how all the abstractions play out in real life for taxpayers, industry insiders and concertgoers. – The New York Times
- The Redemption Of Speedy Gonzales
By the end of the 1990s, the “fastest mouse in all Mexico” had been pulled from US television amid concerns about stereotyping and racist caricature. Yet the cartoon character remained popular in Latin America, and numerous Hispanics in the States complained about his banishment. And now there’s a Speedy feature film coming. – The Conversation
- Does There Even Need To Be A Separate New York Times Magazine Anymore?
In ink-on-dead-trees print, sure. But a large majority of the newspaper’s readers consume the Times online or on an app, where the difference between the magazine’s articles and those of the regular newspaper is barely visible. – New York Magazine (MSN)
- Regional Governments In Madrid And Basque Country Are Fighting Over Picasso’s “Guernica”
The town whose bombing the painting depicts is in the Basque region, and politicians there want to borrow Picasso’s canvas and display it in the Guggenheim Bilbao to commemorate the atrocity’s 90th anniversary. Meanwhile, Madrid’s president insists that Guernica remain where it is now, the Reina Sofía Museum. – The Guardian
- Dean Of Juilliard’s Drama Division Will Move To Lead Yale School Of Drama
“Evan Yionoulis, who has been dean and director of The Juilliard School’s drama division since 2018, will take over the post at Yale starting July 1. She succeeds James Bundy, who has been in the role for close to 25 years and announced his retirement last year.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- L.A. Phil Creates New Position, Conductor-In-Residence, For Anna Handler
The Colombian-German conductor, who turns 30 next week, is a former Dudamel Fellow at the Phil and currently assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony; she begins this fall as chief conductor of the Ulster Orchestra and artist-in-residence at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Salzburg Festival Appoints Interim Artistic Director
Less than two weeks after summarily firing director Markus Hinterhäuser, the festival’s board has named Karin Bergmann, most recently director of the Salzkammergut Festwochen Gmunden and previously chief of Vienna’s Burgtheater, to lead the festival for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. – Moto Perpetuo
- Britain’s National Gallery Selects Architect For New $464 Million Modern Art Wing
The annex, being built for Project Domani, the museum’s expansion of its collection into 20th- and 21st-century art (which has traditionally been left to the Tate Galleries), will be designed by Kengo Kuma, architect of the V&A Museum’s branch in Dundee and of Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium. – The Guardian
- From Messages to Conversations: AI Agents are Changing how we Find Culture
The first audience for your art is becoming a machine. The question isn’t just how to optimize for that machine, it’s what you give it to say, and whether what it says is worth a conversation. - Vice President of Marketing and Communications- Brooklyn Academy of Music via TOC Arts Partners
About the Opportunity
BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) stands at an important moment of transformation and rebirth. Like many cultural organizations rebounding from the pandemic, BAM has been developing new practices and regaining momentum with audiences. With sustained capacity to program a broad array of distinguished artists, a commitment to engaging the public in a variety of artistic formats including performing arts and film programming, and an ability to present captivating long-running theater productions like last year’s re-imagining of A Streetcar Named Desire, BAM continues to possess remarkable opportunities to bring audiences together for both extraordinary and everyday artistic experiences. As our world evolves, BAM remains one of the most unique and impactful performing arts centers not just in New York City, but across the country and globe.
To further enhance the standing of this legacy institution and embrace a new era of artist and audience connection, BAM seeks a forward-thinking, and tenacious Vice President of Marketing and Communications to join the senior leadership team and manage the talented department charged with marketing, creative services, ticket services, market research/audience data analysis, revenue forecasting, communications, and brand storytelling. This Vice President will work in close partnership with the Artistic Director, Producer and Chief Programming Operations Officer, and Vice President of Advancement to promote the ambitious and diverse programming for which BAM is known. Reporting to newly named President Tamara McCaw and serving as a key member of the senior leadership team, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications also interacts with an engaged Board, committed to strengthening the organization’s vitality and reach. The successful candidate must be an individual who has a passion for the performing arts and film, an admiration for BAM’s history and its place in the national and local cultural landscape, and an excitement for the challenges of growing and sustaining a vibrant and diverse audience base.
The Vice President of Marketing and Communications will be a strong manager and mentor, ready to bolster the morale and strengthen the collaborations of a marketing team that is clearly dedicated to the mission of the organization. They should be deeply knowledgeable in traditional marketing tools and strategies and yet, adaptive and eager to experiment with new channels and practices. As a leader and manager, they should be capable of moving from a strategic mindset to an operational approach to collaborate with colleagues and external partners. Finally, they should be eager to think holistically about revenue for the organization, maintaining a close partnership with their colleagues in Advancement and helping to lead BAM into its next chapter of vibrancy and impact.
About BAM
A world-class home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas, BAM is North America’s oldest multi-disciplinary arts center, showcasing the work of emerging artists and modern icons.
For more than 160 years, BAM has been a thriving, urban multi-arts complex renowned for presenting an unparalleled roster of visionary and cutting-edge dance, theater, music, opera, visual arts, literature, and film engagements. Attracting more than 750,000 people annually to its home in Brooklyn, BAM provides a welcoming cultural stage and meeting place for global and local communities of all backgrounds. BAM’s distinctive multi-theater campus is alive year-round with inspired new engagements and signature programs alike including the renowned Next Wave (one of the world’s most influential festivals of contemporary performing arts, founded in 1983), the iconic DanceAfrica, an acclaimed repertory film program, and literary, archival, educational and humanities programs. For more information visit BAM.org.
Job Description
The Vice President of Marketing leads a dedicated team (17+ staffers) to build a rigorous marketing plan and implement innovative tactics that amplify BAM’s position as one of this nation’s most celebrated and influential cultural institutions. This role works across the organization to develop innovative marketing and communications strategies, and then oversees comprehensive campaigns that strengthen the BAM brand; drive awareness of its programs; expand and diversify its audience; and achieve the organization’s revenue goals.
Key Opportunities and Result Areas
Strategic Leadership
- Build brand awareness and ensure consistency of BAM’s voice across all channels and touchpoints
- Deeply understand and appreciate the institution’s program strategy, working closely with the artistic team to advance BAM’s mission, celebrate artists, and engage audiences across a dynamic mix of performance and film programming
- Partner with the Advancement team to align marketing and fundraising strategies, ensuring that communications inspire philanthropic investment alongside ticket sales
- Partner with senior leadership on long-term audience growth and revenue strategies and institutional positioning
Team & Department Oversight
- Develop, manage, motivate, and retain a high-performing team, which includes marketing, creative services, ticket services, communications, social media, and marketing operations staff
- Foster a collaborative, creative, and data-informed culture
- Provide leadership and coordination of marketing function, optimizing operational aspects of marketing to ensure greatest workflow efficiencies
- Oversee the Division’s planning/budgeting process, ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources; develop revenue projections and re-forecasting for all ticketed programs
Brand Marketing & Management
- Articulate and implement the institution’s brand and brand storytelling strategies designed to
- secure BAM’s reputation as one of the nation’s most iconic cultural institutions
- Steward the BAM brand by ensuring the consistency of the visual and verbal identity across all consumer facing touch points; champion and activate BAM’s brand ethos across all marketing channels, initiatives, and programming
Campaign Development & Execution
- Oversee multi-channel marketing and communications campaigns for all programs and initiatives
- Collaborate with Advancement to design and execute integrated campaigns that support grass roots giving, promote membership, and elevate patron opportunities
- Integrate direct marketing, advertising, organic social, promotions, communications, and grassroots efforts to maximize reach and impact
Audience Insights & Analytics
- Use audience research and data analytics to inform strategy and optimize campaigns
- Monitor sales and engagement metrics, adjusting tactics in real time
Revenue & Growth
- Expand and diversify audiences in support of meeting the institution’s attendance and revenue goals
- Deepen engagement with existing audiences by encouraging repeat attendance and long-term loyalty
- Collaborate with Development to drive membership sales, and to support donor and sponsor engagement
- Work across institutionally to develop new revenue streams and expand existing revenue streams like venue rentals and merchandise
Duties and Responsibilities
Communication & Partnership
- Lead BAM’s marketing strategy, reporting directly to the President
- Collaborate with institutional leadership to develop strategic planning for audience development and revenue growth
- Collaborate closely with BAM’s Artistic Director, Producer, VP of Advancement and CFO to align marketing efforts with programming and fundraising goals; collaborate with other cross-functional teams to integrate marketing efforts with overall organizational goals
- Hire, manage, mentor, and guide a diverse team to achieve the institution’s goals; develop and mentor three direct reports; building their capacity for people-centered leadership while building a culture of collaboration, accountability, and high performance
- Measure and report on the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, providing insights to leadership and the Board of Trustees
- Cultivate and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including media partners and community organizations who can help us reach and engage target audiences
Oversight of Strategies, Tactics, & Goals
- Develop annual marketing plans and budgets in collaboration with department directors; track spending to ensure resources are used effectively and that the department achieves expense efficiencies
- Oversee audience segmentation and targeting strategy to ensure the institution is using its resources effectively to engage priority segments
- Grow ticket revenue and attendance by implementing effective pricing strategies including successful implementation of both dynamic pricing and strategic discounting
- With internal teams and external agency partners, develop and implement innovative campaigns (direct marketing, advertising, communications, promotions, etc.) to drive awareness as well as attendance and revenue for BAM’s diverse set of programs
- Conceive of, develop, and implement innovative marketing and communications campaigns to support all program verticals (Film, Theatre, Music, Dance, Opera, Literary, Community, and Education) and the institution’s signature Next Wave and DanceAfrica festivals
Maintaining Systems for a Strong Department
- Develop and implement systems and optimize existing processes in order to increase the
- team’s effectiveness and efficiency
- Leverage insights gained through ongoing work with artistic and production teams and with sales data from BAM’s programs each season to create revenue projections, monitor sales, and make revenue forecast adjustments as requested
- Develop and implement a framework for data-driven marketing strategies, leveraging analytics and market research to inform decision-making; optimize advertising media buy based on data analysis and audience insights
- Foster a culture of innovation and experimentation in marketing approaches, aligning with BAM’s mission vision and values
- Stay abreast of emerging marketing trends and technologies in the arts and cultural sector
- Manage conceptualization and review of promotional material and publications, including website, email, and digital or print materials, such as brochures or programs
- Oversee creative (external marketing assets) production for all BAM events and new programming schemes and series in production
- Ensure effective use of technology to meet BAM marketing goals
- Ensure marketing efforts support BAM’s commitment to inclusion and accessibility in the arts
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience as a marketing lead in an in-house brand or arts non-profit of similar scale to BAM
- Proven track record of developing and executing large-scale, multi-channel campaigns in the cultural sector
- Expertise in digital marketing, audience development, and brand strategy; ability to balance creative vision with data-driven decision making
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to manage, mentor, and inspire a diverse team of marketers with various levels of experience
- Ability to translate artistic and brand vision into compelling marketing campaigns
- Excellent collaborative skills, with experience working across departments and with external partners
- Proficiency in marketing technologies, CRM systems, and digital marketing platforms
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make data-informed decisions
- Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to adapt communication style depending on the interactions and audience
- Experience in budget management and resource allocation
- Knowledge of current trends in arts marketing and audience development
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts
- Flexible, open, and capable of thriving in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, and managing multiple projects simultaneously
- Passion for BAM’s mission and contemporary performing arts
- Familiarity with the New York arts and cultural landscape preferred
- Good sense of humor
- Ability to follow BAM’s hybrid work policy, which currently requires at least two days per week in the office, but is subject to change
Working Conditions
- Category 2- Administrative work with walking
Compensation
The salary for this position is $235,000-250,000. BAM provides a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, retirement plan opportunities including both 401(k) and pension plans, as well as BAM-related benefits including access to BAM’s fantastic programming.
The office location for this position is the Peter Jay Sharp Building, at 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, NY.
BAM respects diversity and accordingly is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, military/veteran status, age, marital/family status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, arrest record, caregiver status, sexual and other reproductive health choices, or any other protected personal characteristic under applicable federal, state, or local law. Our management team is dedicated to ensuring the fulfillment of this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment. Employees with questions or concerns about equal employment opportunities in the workplace are encouraged to bring these issues to the attention of the HR Department.
Application Instructions
The Vice President of Marketing and Communications search is being conducted on behalf of BAM by TOC Arts Partners, a national consultancy aligning strategies, structures, and leadership toward a thriving cultural sector. The search is being led by Search Consultant Brenna Thomas, in consultation with and support from the TOC Arts Partners search team.
To apply, visit the online application and submit your materials. Your cover letter should include any training or experience relevant to the job profile that you would like to highlight, why you consider yourself a good fit for this opportunity, and anything else you’d like us to know about your qualifications that may not be present in your resume.
For general questions or nominations of prospective candidates, please contact searchteam@tocartspartners.com. We kindly request no phone calls.
Specific questions about the position may be directed to:
Brenna Thomas
Search Consultant
brenna@tocartspartners.comApplications will be accepted until this role is filled. Interviews may begin at any time, and we encourage you to apply as early as possible for best consideration. All applicants will receive a response regarding the consideration and status of their candidacy. No phone calls, please.
Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that cis men apply for jobs when they fulfill an average of 60% of the criteria, while others tend only to apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.
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