The New Guard

None of the new wave of arts leaders got the job by being a slouch, of course. But how each institution will fare under new management is still an open question. There is plenty of reason for optimism. None are in crisis, all are financially healthy, and all have active, engaged boards. Nevertheless, there are significant challenges ahead. As our arts institutions grow, both individually and collectively, they need to generate more revenue to sustain themselves, and they need continued support from a donor community that has already dug rather deeply into its pockets to come up with the cash necessary for all of those impressive building projects. No one knows how stretched local philanthropists are, but the reality is that larger buildings require more money to run and larger audiences to fill them, and it’s not altogether clear that the philanthropic pie is getting any larger.

Another issue that could arise in the coming years is talent poaching. No one wants to go through another Griswold episode, but the caliber of talent our arts institutions have been able to attract is very high, and there is a danger of the Twin Cities becoming a steppingstone for coveted arts positions elsewhere, particularly in New York. But this is a risk that has arisen because our arts institutions are so strong, says Walker board member Mike Peel, a vice president of human resources at General Mills—and it is a risk gladly taken. “It varies by institution, but when you hire brilliantly talented people, you always run the risk that someone else will scoop them up,” says Peel. “But that’s a better risk than hiring someone who is less talented in the hope that they will stay longer.”

We have been lucky in many ways. The average tenure for an arts director in this country is five to seven years, which makes Kathy Halbreich’s sixteen-plus-year tenure at the Walker seem like an eon. Linda Myers spent thirteen years turning The Loft into a model organization for literature and literacy. Before Bill Griswold came to the MIA, Evan Maurer guided the museum for sixteen years.

These have been unusually long runs that produced several extraordinary achievements, not the least of which was raising the national and international stature of the Twin Cities as an “arts town.” In November, when asked what she was looking forward to most in her new position at the Walker, Olga Viso said, “I don’t know if Twin Citians realize this, but I have to go to New York to see the work they see at the Walker. I’m looking forward to not having to travel so far.”