Field Letter Archives
The monthly Field Letter has been replaced by Teresa Eyring's weekly updates on the TCG Circle. The monthly Field Letter was written by TCG's executive director and gave a personal and direct summary of current ideas, trends and resources shaping the field. Field Letters are archived from January 2006-October 2010.
January 2010 Field Letter
Lighting designer and TCG board member Dawn Chiang inaugurates a new decade of Field Letters this month. She discusses what it means to be a lighting designer today: keeping up with rapidly changing technologies, the dynamics of freelancing and how serving on the TCG board has informed her work.
February 2010 Field Letter
For the February Field Letter, Teresa asked Angel Ysaguirre, TCG board member and director of global community investing at the Boeing Company to write about why theatre remains relevant and important in today’s world. Angel offers a thoughtful and heartfelt answer which draws on both personal and professional experiences. He begins, “My response typically includes three reasons: the arts comprise a natural breeding ground for innovation; the arts provide a civic service; and the beauty from art serves as a respite from an increasingly overcrowded life.”
March 2010 Field Letter
In March’s Field Letter Teresa focuses on what’s been taking place on the national arts scene at the government level. She review the NEA’s latest initiative, Art Works, as well as President Obama’s recent budget proposal and its implications for the arts and arts education. She concludes by offering “notes for your to do list”, including reading a recent report released by the Cincinnati Fine Arts Fund that pinpoints certain ineffective words and concepts that are often used to promote the arts , as well as a review of NPAC’s latest developments.
April 2010 Field Letter
This month, TCG board member Olga Sanchez reflects on the teleconference series she recently moderated for artistic directors at TCG member theatres. She discusses the oft-overlooked issue that successful artistic directors must be proficient in so much more than just art and directing. She writes, "Artistic directors are administrators, managers, fundraisers, grant writers and public relations officers."
May 2010 Field Letter
In this month's Field Letter, Mark Cuddy, TCG board member and artistic director of Geva Theatre Center, describes his experience as part of the TCG delegation at Arts Advocacy Day. Mark's own representative, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, co-chairs the congressional arts committee and happens to be a personal fan of Geva. Mark writes, "As Congressional Arts Caucus Co-Chair, Louise has been a tireless supporter of national arts policy, but I've known her for 15 years as a warm and irreverent champion of her district's artists." You'll want to read on to find out about her choice of apparel in celebration of the day.
June 2010 Field Letter
In this month's Field Letter, Teresa is back with a report on her activities of the last several months. She's been busy traveling to theatre events around the continent and charing the National Performing Arts Convention. She writes, "I . . . don’t know of another performing arts discipline that has created such a robust not-for-profit sector, distinct from its commercial counterpart, but that has found a way to be mutually reinforcing. Can you imagine a Broadway for orchestras?"
July 2010 Field Letter
In this month’s Field Letter, executive director Teresa Eyring reflects upon the enormous success that was the 2010 TCG National Conference in Chicago. She recounts a number of her favorite moments and lesson, and writes of the importance of such events: “Our Conference saw record numbers of attendees during a period that has been rocked by an unsteady economy, and at a time, when the internet and social networking make it possible for theatre practitioners to find information and communicate with each other without ever leaving home. People want to be at the party.”
August 2010 Field Letter
In the August Field Letter Teresa reviews some of the most interesting and important findings from the recently published Theatre Facts 2009. She writes: "2009 was the first full year in which TCG theatres absorbed the impacts of the recession. The Profiled Theatres section of the report includes a budget group breakdown of the data from 180 theatres that participated in 2009 and tells an important story about what happened that year, but it is also fascinating to look back through the data supplied by our Trend Theatres—the 112 theatres that have participated in each of the past five years—to see where the shifts are occurring
September 2010 Field Letter
In the September Field Letter Teresa looks forward to the many exciting events that TCG is planning for the fall, including the 2010 TCG Fall Forum on Governance, Free Night of Theater, Field Conversations and our 50th anniversary celebration.
October 2010 Field Letter
In the October Field Letter Teresa highlights several global awareness theatre activities that took place in the past few months as well as reminding readers of TCG's partnership with the National Performing Arts Convention and the Performing Arts Alliance. She reports on the FCC White Space ruling and TCG's continued involvement with the Free Night of Theater.