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- In This City, The Pay-What-You-Choose Model Is Starting To Spread. How’s It Working Out So Far?
The parameters are different for each company — Opera Philadelphia, an early adopter, sets an $11 minimum — but a number of different troupes and presenters in Philly have been trying the scheme. Here are some of the lessons, expected and unexpected, that they’ve learned so far. – Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
- Microseries Are Now A $150 Billion Industry (And That’s Not Including China, Their Biggest Market)
“The vertical video economy has increased 41% compared to last year,” according to their first-ever State of Microdrama report. “The male audience for (the) microseries platform MyDrama increased by 2,800% in the past seven quarters, jumping from 1.1% of monthly active users to 30.3% users.” – TheWrap (MSN)
- One Year After Losing All Federal Funding, South Dakota Public Broadcasting Bounces Back
“Just like that, six decades of bipartisan support and funding were gone” when the Republican-led Congress and the Trump administration withdrew previously-approved grants and ended future federal support. “The state network laid off a bunch of journalists. It canceled some shows. And then … some surprising things started to unfold.” – NPR
- National Choreographers Initiative Makes Its Last Dance
Ultimately dating back to 1991 and in its current form — four choreographers working with 16 professional dancers, creating pieces for three weeks and then performing for an audience which gives direct feedback, taking place each July at UCal-Irvine — since 2004. This year’s final edition features work by four alumni. – Pointe Magazine
- Proposed Massachusetts Law Would Help Keep Arts Spaces From Being Evicted Or Priced Out
“Artist studios, rehearsal spaces and performance venues frequently contend with rent hikes and evictions as developers gobble up property across the state. … The Creative Space Act would allow municipalities to establish a trust fund to acquire cultural spaces threatened by displacement.” – WBUR (Boston)
- Alan Turing Wrote A Short Story — And It’s About Cruising For Sex
The unfinished six-page story, titled “Pryce’s Buoy,” was known about by Turing experts but never before studied. Says scholar Sarah Dillon, “He’s been seen as socially unaware, entirely concerned with logic and numbers, and pretty isolated. His short story reveals a different man: playful, cheeky, literary, and someone who really liked sex.” – The Guardian
- Bill McGlaughlin, Longtime Classical Radio Host, Has Died At 82
His long career included stints as a trombonist (Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony) and conductor (Kansas City Symphony, among others), but he was best-known to public radio listeners as the host of St. Paul Sunday (1980-2007) and Exploring Music (2003 until earlier this year). – WWFM
- Who’s Stealing our Words?
Good Morning,
Researchers who spent years eavesdropping on thousands of people found we’re speaking about 338 fewer words a day, every year — roughly a Sense and Sensibility-worth of talk gone annually, steepest among the under-25s (The New Yorker). Put that next to a Mississippi teacher’s smart, capable students who simply won’t read (Wired) and Meta’s new app that generates children’s bedtime stories (TechCrunch), and the pattern isn’t declining ability. We’re automating away the moments where language happens.
Chicago reported that cultural events pumped $395 million into the Loop last quarter, up 20 percent (Chicago Sun-Times). But the Art Institute laid off its entire custodial staff to outsource the work (Chicago Sun-Times).
The Glasgow School of Art has concluded that rebuilding Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s fire-gutted masterpiece building would cost $355 million it doesn’t have (The New York Times). That probably won’t happen.
The Louvre, at least, has reopened the gallery where thieves took the crown jewels last fall. It’s empty — but the room is interesting (AFP (MSN)).
All of our stories below.
- A View From Second-Class On The Titanic In A Rare Surviving Letter From A Passenger
Henry Hodges, a musical instrument salesman, sent the letter from Queenstown (now Cobh), in Cork Harbour in Ireland, the ship’s final stop before crossing the Atlantic on its first and last voyage in 1912. The document provides a little-seen look at accommodations and activities for second-class travelers. – Smithsonian Magazine
- How Hierarchy Hides in How We Think
The question is not whether the technological revolution already underway will abolish hierarchy. It will not. The question is different: what will the new currency of rank be, and will it better recognise ability, responsibility, and work, or give old advantages a new language? – 3 Quarks Daily
- The Film Indian Censors Have Been Blocking For Three Years
Satluj, director Honey Trehan’s feature about an activist whom police tortured to death after exposed atrocities committed during a 1990s crackdown on violent Sikh separatists in Punjab, was withheld by India’s national censorship board since 2022. When Trehan released it online last week, it was taken down on government orders. – The Guardian
- Why Philanthropists Give?
For some, this elevated focus on philanthropy is not so much a voluntary strategic choice, but rather a response to their existing funders encouraging them to diversify their revenue streams and achieve what they see as a more sustainable future for the sector as a whole. – ArtsHub
- Is It A Reading Crisis Or A Comprehension Crisis?
Plenty of her students are smart and capable, but she’s never encountered a group less interested in reading. And neither she nor anyone else seems to have any idea how to fix it. – Wired
- Jeff Koons Wins Case Accusing Him Of Copyright Infringement
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling in favor of pop artist Jeff Koons in a copyright dispute with a sculptor who had accused Koons of using his sculpture without permission in a 1989 series of artworks. – Reuters
- Big, Shiny Concert Hall In Georgia’s Capital To Be Demolished After 14 Years Of Sitting Unfinished And Unused
Rike Concert Hall in Tbilisi, designed by Rome-based practice Studio Fuksas, was built, and nearly completed, between 2010 and 2012 at a cost of €40 million. Work stopped with a change in the national government; the project was abandoned in 2017, and the property was sold to a developer in 2022 for €10 million. – Dezeen
- Why Are Classical Musicians So Afraid To Take Time Off?
Different careers, different instruments and different stages of life, yet the same quiet anxiety. Perhaps the question is not whether musicians need recovery. Perhaps the real question is why so many of us are afraid of it. – The Strad
- It Might Cost Too Much To Rebuild Mackintosh’s Glasgow School Of Art
Rebuilding the school in line with Mackintosh’s designs would cost 265 million pounds, about $355 million, the school said in a news release. That is “an amount that is not affordable and which would compromise the financial sustainability of the organization,” it said. – The New York Times
- An AI That Will Write Your Bedtime Stories?
A Meta spokesperson described StoryKit as a creative storytelling app used to craft personalized, imaginative storybooks for children and noted that it uses AI safety filters with no social features and is only available to users over the age of 18. – TechCrunch
- Arts And Culture Events In Downtown Chicago Contributed $395 Million To City’s Economy In Last Three Months
The figure is a 20% increase over the second quarter last year. There were slightly under 1.5 million visitors in that period, and foot traffic in the Loop on weekdays is still below pre-pandemic levels. – Chicago Sun-Times
- A Coachella For Broadway Theatre?
For decades, theater fans have flocked to Broadway hoping to catch their favorite performers onstage. But what if, instead of seeing one show, they could spend an entire weekend surrounded by stage stars — watching concerts under the stars, singing show tunes around a campfire, dancing at a Broadway rave? – People
- How Congressional Republicans Attacked American History At The Smithsonian This Week
Whether “love” is really the metric by which one should assess a historian’s credibility seemed outside the scope of the discussion. Nuance was treated like a threat. – The Atlantic
- Scientists Discover We’re Speaking Fewer Words Every Year. What’s That About?
Each year the number of words spoken daily seemed to decline by about three hundred and thirty-eight. That translates into around a hundred and twenty thousand words a year—about the length of “Sense and Sensibility.” And Mehl noticed that the decline was even steeper for people under twenty-five. – The New Yorker
- Brazil Gets A New Professional Orchestra
“São Paulo’s Teatro B32 has announced the creation of the ECO Orchestra, a new professional ensemble that will present its inaugural season between September 2026 and June 2027. American conductor Ira Levin has been appointed Artistic Director.” – Moto Perpetuo
- Dance Is A Subjective Art Form. So How Do Judging And Scoring In Dance Competitions Work?
“Because every competition’s scoring rubric is slightly different, dancers may not always understand why they received a certain score or ranking. … What do competitors and coaches need to know about the competitive-dance world’s many judging systems, and how can they glean useful information from the often-mysterious numerical scores?” – Dance Magazine
- Lefty Firebrand And Former Congresswoman Katie Porter Is Leaving Politics To Be A Book Influencer
After very disappointing finishes in California’s Democratic primary races for Senate in 2024 and governor in 2025, Porter says “I am closing the door on being a candidate.” She will turn one of her social media accounts into a book-oriented channel called Katie Porter Turns the Page. – The Sacramento Bee
- Art Institute Of Chicago Lays Off Its Entire Custodial Staff, Will Outsource
“The cultural institution announced it will no longer employ 23 custodial workers on June 29. … The employees’ last day is Aug. 14, but a museum spokesperson said they will have the opportunity to re-apply for their positions with the new company, GDI Integrated Facility Services, based in Canada.” – Chicago Sun-Times
- Louvre Reopens Gallery Where Crown Jewels Were Stolen — But It’s Empty
The Apollo Gallery had been closed to the public ever since last October’s broad-daylight theft of the French crown jewels on display there. Now it’s open again, with nothing on display. Fortunately, the room itself is pretty spectacular. – AFP (MSN)
- European Union Okays Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger — With Conditions
“The European Commission … said that even with a Paramount-Warner combo, enough competitors would exist across markets like film production and streaming in its 27-nation bloc. Still, when it comes to distributing movies to theaters, the Commission warned of high concentration,” leading to worse terms for cinema operators. – AP
- Federal Terrorism Trial Of Salman Rushdie’s Attacker Begins
“Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed Salman Rushdie in the eye on stage in 2022, is standing trial for a second time – this time facing (federal) terrorism charges after being found guilty (in New York state court) of attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison last year.” – The Guardian
- Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts seeks Director of Production and Presentation
Organization
The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) is located on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Built in 2024, this ultra-modern, 49,900-square-foot facility includes six venues, three of which are dedicated performing arts spaces: the Concert Hall, the largest venue with a capacity of 490 and acoustically engineered as a premier listening environment by Jaffe Holden; the Edward J. Ray Theater, a flexible black box space used for theater, immersive art installations, jazz, cabaret, comedy, experimental music, and electroacoustic multichannel programming; and the Thomas W. Toomey lobby, a public, non-ticketed gathering space with a stage that hosts pre-concert programs, special events, rentals, receptions, and celebrations. In addition, PRAx includes an outdoor concert space, a 3,000-square-foot art gallery, and a demonstration garden and gathering space featuring plants from six discrete ecosystems in the state. The mission of PRAx is to activate the power of the arts across disciplines, and the “x” in the name stands for a vision of an arts space where arts, humanities, science, and technology meet.
Roughly 30% of the content in PRAx reflects transdisciplinary goals, and the organization runs an extensive array of residency and fellowship programs that match artists and writers with scientists and researchers; in 2025-26, PRAx made 93 awards across more than 20 such programs. PRAx is home to the Center for the Humanities, the Spring Creek Project for Nature and the Written Word, and an integrative, discipline-crossing program called PRAx CoLabs.
Despite the specialization of that slice of the programming, which can involve complex or experimental technical setups, most content in the performing arts (70% of the total) will look familiar at a production level. PRAx presents live music in all genres, talks and readings, some theatre, rental and University events, discussions, and workshops. The “PRAx Presents” series of approximately 45 events annually features exceptional professional artists from around the world. PRAx also serves as the home venue for the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts at OSU, presenting three shorter “seasons-within-a-season” wherein University ensembles and University Theatre perform their term-end concerts. In total, including PRAx Presents, Student Arts Season concerts and rehearsals, guest presenters, and a robust lineup of workshops and classes that are part of the PRAx Experiences program, PRAx staffs more than 180 events per year. The vast majority of work at PRAx is presented, not produced, by them, and staff move readily from one type of event to another on a near-daily basis. Artists-in-residence at PRAx or allied programs have included esperanza spalding, Andy Akiho, Thomas Lauderdale, and many others.
PRAx recognizes that new work is one of the engines of the arts sector. The organization is committed to using its platforms to lower the barriers to creativity, access, and affordability. As a university-based arts center, PRAx serves the tripartite mission of research, teaching, and outreach. PRAx is partnered with the Associated Students of Oregon State University to keep student tickets to any concert at $5. PRAx is supported by a stable mixture of funds, including direct University support, significant endowments, longer-term grants, and ticket revenue.
PRAx operates with 23 professional staff and around 40 student staff. Due to the unique nature of PRAx’s transdisciplinary mission and the emphasis on residencies and fellowships, some of the professional staff work in units more allied to the research side of the University than the presenting side, making PRAx an especially lively and creatively engaging place to work. PRAx has a 10-member board of advisors led by board chair Patricia Valian Reser. The Director of Production and Presentation has 24 direct reports, including one professional faculty member, three classified employees, and 20 student workers, and reports to the Managing Director.
Position Summary
The Director of Production and Presentation (DPP) serves as the artistic and operational authority responsible for the comprehensive execution, strategic alignment, and day-to-day success of PRAx. This role operates at the intersection of artistic vision and technical excellence, providing oversight of all production and rental operations while ensuring that each presentation achieves the highest standards of aesthetic integrity, operational efficiency, and audience impact.
Charged with stewarding a robust portfolio of more than 180 annual events, the DPP leads a highly complex production ecosystem requiring advanced project management, cross-functional integration, and sophisticated logistical coordination. The position orchestrates the seamless alignment of multiple operational domains, including but not limited to lighting, audio engineering, stage operations, technical direction, artist hospitality, event services, and ensemble management. This coordination encompasses the full lifecycle of production—intake and interpretation of technical riders, strategic resource allocation, staffing design, and real-time execution—across a dynamic and frequently overlapping event calendar.
The DPP brings a deeply informed artistic perspective to all venue operations, ensuring that technical decisions in sound, lighting, staging, and spatial design are guided by—and elevate—the creative intent of each production. In doing so, the role safeguards PRAx’s commitment to both aesthetic distinction and flawless implementation, integrating artistic vision with precise technical delivery across diverse programming.
As a leader of people and systems, the DPP establishes the conditions for departmental success through the oversight of production staff and operational units. This includes responsibility for developing and managing production budgets, constructing detailed daily and long-range schedules, procuring and specifying backline and technical assets, and driving continuous innovation in presentation practices. The role requires not only operational rigor but also a forward-looking creative sensibility to ensure PRAx remains a vibrant and evolving destination for artists and audiences alike.
While PRAx primarily functions as a presenting venue for touring artists and university ensembles, the DPP navigates a nuanced balance of collaboration and autonomy. In instances where visiting artists do not provide dedicated designers or engineers, the DPP and their teams assume expanded creative authorship, shaping the visual and sonic identity of each performance and reinforcing the distinct signature aesthetic of PRAx.
Beyond hosted programming, the DPP also plays a critical leadership role in the conceptualization and execution of original, high-impact institutional events, including season launches, festivals, and donor engagement experiences. These initiatives demand a heightened level of creative direction, strategic planning, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with the DPP often originating core production concepts and guiding them through to realization.
As a member of PRAx’s senior leadership team, the Director of Production and Presentation contributes to organizational strategy, institutional visioning, and long-term planning, ensuring that production capabilities not only support but actively advance PRAx’s mission and artistic ambitions.
Decision Making/Guidelines
The Director of Production and Presentation exercises broad, complex decision-making authority spanning artistic interpretation, technical execution, financial stewardship, operational planning, and institutional risk management. This role establishes and continuously calibrates the frameworks through which artistic intent is translated into fully realized productions, overseeing critical determinations related to production design, budget allocation, schedule architecture, workforce deployment, venue systems utilization, and regulatory and safety compliance.
Functioning as the central integrator of PRAx’s production ecosystem, the DPP directly influences the success trajectory of every event presented within the organization’s portfolio. Outcomes—whether exemplary or deficient—are closely tied to the precision, foresight, and judgment exercised within this role. Decision-making failures carry material consequences across multiple dimensions, including financial performance, physical safety, operational continuity, and institutional reputation.
From a financial perspective, the DPP’s stewardship of production budgets and resource allocation directly impacts cost containment, revenue optimization, and the long-term sustainability of programming. From a safety standpoint, the role bears ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all production environments adhere to rigorous standards governing technical operations, crowd management, and workplace safety, mitigating risk to artists, staff, and audiences alike.
Most critically, the reputational and organizational implications of this role extend across a wide and complex network of stakeholders. The DPP serves as a primary nexus of communication and alignment among touring artists, artist management teams, internal production and administrative staff, university partners, and external collaborators. Effective execution requires not only technical fluency but also advanced relational leadership—balancing competing priorities, managing expectations, and ensuring clarity and cohesion across all parties involved. As a result, the external perception of PRAx is significantly mediated through the performance of this role.
The quality, consistency, and professionalism of interactions and outcomes shape enduring relationships with dozens of artists, agents, vendors, and institutional partners. In this way, the Director of Production and Presentation functions not only as an operational leader, but as a key steward of PRAx’s brand, credibility, and long-term institutional standing within the performing arts ecosystem.
Position Duties
25% Artistic Leadership
- Interpret and synthesize technical riders alongside supplementary materials (e.g., archival recordings, video documentation, and prior production notes) to develop a comprehensive understanding of artistic intent, translating these insights into actionable production strategies that support approximately 85% of PRAx’s presenting activity.
- Provide creative and operational leadership for institutionally produced events (approximately 15% of programming), shaping event vision, conceptual framework, and artistic execution from early ideation through realization.
- Partner with programmers across PRAx series (including PRAx Presents, Student Arts Season, Spring Creek Project, Center for the Humanities, Corvallis-PRAx Presenters, and others) to ensure that artistic ambition is balanced with production feasibility, technical capacity, and resource alignment.
- Lead all advance processes with visiting artists and their representatives—including managers, agents, ensemble leaders, and partner organizations—facilitating clear alignment on artistic, technical, and logistical expectations. Strategically engage departmental leadership in these conversations when complexity or specialization requires deeper coordination.
40% Administrative Leadership and Planning
- Design, publish, and actively manage an integrated master schedule for daily PRAx operations, ensuring that cross-departmental coordination is proactive, precise, and communicated well in advance (typically 30+ days prior to execution).
- Oversee the planning, sourcing, and allocation of backline and technical assets, ensuring availability aligns with artistic requirements and operational efficiency.
- Collaborate with executive leadership (Executive Director, Managing Director) and programming staff to develop and refine the annual production calendar, proactively identifying and resolving logistical constraints such as overlapping events, complex load-in/load-out sequences, and venue capacity limitations.
- Maintain full accountability for the production budget, including forecasting, resource allocation, and ongoing financial stewardship to support both fiscal discipline and artistic excellence.
- Contribute as an active member of the PRAx Senior Leadership Team, informing institutional strategy with production insight and operational perspective.
15% Training, Contracting, and Supervision
- Design, implement, and continuously refine comprehensive training programs for student staff, cultivating both technical proficiency and professional standards aligned with PRAx’s production values.
- Oversee contracted technical services related to audio, lighting, and equipment maintenance; strategically engage external specialists for event-specific needs based on artistic complexity, scheduling demands, and operational efficiency.
- Provide direct supervision and leadership to production department heads, maintaining a detailed working knowledge of timelines, workflows, and interdependencies across audio, lighting, and stage operations to ensure seamless execution.
15% Live Event Operations and Execution
- Maintain an active presence in live event operations, either through direct participation or supervisory oversight, across all phases including load-in, rehearsal, performance, and strike.
- Function as a senior operational resource during live events—serving in roles such as stage manager, production lead, or flexible “free safety”—to address emergent challenges, ensure safety and quality standards, and support successful execution during high-volume or high-complexity periods.
- Facilitate production logistics as needed, including transportation of equipment, personnel, and/or artists in University-owned vehicles.
5% Other Duties as Assigned
Minimum/Required Qualifications
- A Bachelor’s Degree
- 5 years’ experience in project management, logistics, production management, venue operations, or related areas
- 2 years’ experience in the performing arts
- Supervisory experience
- This position is designated as a critical or security-sensitive position; therefore, the incumbent must successfully complete a criminal history check and be determined to be position qualified as per University Standard: 05-010 et seq. Incumbents are required to self-report convictions and those in youth programs may have additional criminal history checks every 24 months.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in an arts field
- Master’s Degree
- Project Management Certification
- 5 years’ experience in a performing arts venue in a leadership role.
Working Conditions/Work Schedule
- This position has a flexible schedule that includes many evenings and weekends. A certain amount of the work (especially time-sensitive administrative and organizational duties) may be required to be performed outside the venue, but as the head of a department in a live performance venue, the incumbent is expected to be on-site and accessible the equivalent of a 40-hour work week for most weeks, with some weeks that may require more on-site presence and others less depending on the performance schedule.
- The position regularly works on catwalks, scissor lifts, and in and amongst rigging, as well as in environments that may be loud, dark, bright, or high-sensory environments.
Compensation and Benefits
PRAx offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package, including an annual salary range of $80,000 to $90,000. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; paid leave and holiday programs; and a 70% tuition reduction available system-wide across Oregon, rather than only at OSU. Employees may choose between participation in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), which combines a pension and investment account funded by the University, or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), a portable defined-contribution plan administered through TIAA.
Applications and Inquiries
To submit a cover letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please visit https://artsconsulting.com/opensearches/patricia-valian-reser-center-for-the-creative-arts-seeks-director-of-production-and-presentation/
OSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability, protected veteran, and other protected statuses.
PRAx is mindful that arts presenting may create barriers to access that are structural, canonical, or systemic, and has committed to using its artistic platforms to lower those barriers. Alongside all the staff of the PRAx, the Director of Production and Presentation will be responsible to that mission.
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- Reality Is Breaking Down
The rapidly degenerating digital culture is the third leg of the stool of the “reality distortion field” that has engulfed the U.S. – Artnet
- Vanderbilt University’s New San Francisco Campus Will Include An Arts College
“The Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design will be ‘a cornerstone’ of Vanderbilt’s planned campus on the … site it is purchasing from California College of the Arts.” Huang College, backed by $75 million from a co-founder of Nvidia, will emphasize how the arts intersect with engineering and technology. – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
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The freedom to read is a feel-good cause, and maybe an issue typically associated with concerned parents and school boards could use a little glamour. But Dua Lipa’s project highlights how the public discourse around bans has become detached from the ground reality of access to books. – The Atlantic
- Bayreuth Is A Religious Experience. It’s Also Really Uncomfortable
People have been complaining about and returning to this festival from the start. So why does it still have such a hold on us? – The New York Times