National Endowment for the Arts
Rocco Landesman, a Broadway producer, born in 1947 in St Louis, MO., has been nominated as the next Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. His hit shows have included “The Producers”, “Angels in America” & “Big River”.
The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency established by congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established. It is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.
The previous chairman was Dana Gioia who officially stepped down on Inauguration Day and so the deputy chair, Patrice Walker Powell has been currently serving as interim chair.
President Obama allocated $145million for this year’s budget to the NEA, but a decision was made that it would be allocated only to organizations which had previously received grants from the NEA in previous years, (which actually doesn’t necessarily fulfill its mission of supporting new arts as well as established arts).
Rocco Landesman’s father and uncle owned the Crystal Palace Cabaret in St Louis, according to Broadway World, which gave him his first exposure to musical and theatre stars. He went on to study and teach at the Yale School of Drama, but he ran a small hedge fund before he found his place in the theatre when he joined Dodger Theatricals. In 1987 he became president of Jujamcyn Theaters which currently owns five Broadway venues (the St. James, the Eugene O’Neill, the Al Hirschfeld, the Walter Kerr and the August Wilson) and is the third-biggest Broadway theater owner behind the Shubert and Nederlander organizations.
Although there are already rumblings about his experience being mainly in the commercial arena, however Landesman has written and spoken frequently on the subject of the problematic relationship between the commercial and not-for-profit sectors of the American theater. He has also sat on several boards of philanthropic organizations.
The New York Times article by Robin Pogrebin, suggests that Landesman is “expected to lobby hard for more arts money. But he is not famous for his skills as an administrator or diplomat. Rather, he is known for his energy, intellect and irreverent — and occasionally sharp-elbowed — candor.”
His other interests are according to Wikipedia, baseball, horse racing and country music. He has owned 3 minor baseball teams and several race horses.
I haven’t yet found any specific links showing any particular connections to or interest in the visual arts that Landesman may have. The night is young……
