Dear WAMily,
Today I share publicly that 2023 will be my last year as WAM’s Producing Artistic Director.
Please know that, in typical Kristen style, I would have preferred to meet individually with each and every one of you prior to this announcement to share this news personally. I hope to have the chance to see many of you in person before my tenure ends, so I can thank you personally for the nourishment and joy you have brought to my life during my time at WAM.
My succession is something we have been talking about since WAM’s 10th anniversary season in 2019, working together to figure out the right time for me to step aside. Then, during a medical leave I took in 2022 to help care for my 89-year-old mom (whom I am happy to share is in remission from cancer), I was able to find some clarity around what’s best for WAM’s next chapter and what I’m craving for my own next chapter.
I am someone who has had quite a few working adventures in my life and, ultimately, when I weighed out all the different aspects of this decision, I realized that, after spending the last 14 years building WAM, I want at least one more big adventure in my professional life. I am ready for the next leap in my career.
Co-founding WAM Theatre and contributing to its growth has been the most meaningful experience of my professional life thus far. From our humble beginnings in 2010 to nurturing WAM to a place where I know I can step aside and it is 100% ready to fly into the next phase of impact without me is such an accomplishment—for us all!
The WAM foundation is solid. WAM has spent the last few years preparing for this next chapter, bringing on Molly Merrihew as our incredible Managing Director, supported by a strong leadership team with Talya Kingston, Associate Artistic Director, and Dori Parkman, Director of Finance; cultivating an extraordinary board led by Toni Buckley and Erica Barreto; securing new financial resources during the pandemic; partnering with local and national theatre colleagues; deepening our anti-racism and accountability work; settling into a bright new central office in Lenox and hitting a new budget level that unlocks more opportunities for growth.
After I shared my decision with the Board and Team in mid-2022, they considered the value and impact of WAM in our community and decided that WAM’s mission remains critical and WAM was in a strong position to forge ahead. Since then, they have created a thoughtful plan to bring on new Artistic Leadership in January 2024.
A founder transition is a vital time for an organization. We are going into this with eyes wide open. We are known for being flexible. We started in a recession, we have weathered (so far!) a pandemic, we have overcome many other transitions, expected and unexpected. We are known for thriving during change, and we will also thrive now.
We also need to be realistic about the fact that this will be a lot of work for the WAM Team and Board. We are focused on how to set up our next artistic leadership for success.
Towards that end, today we share with you the WAM Theatre NEXT ACT FUND. WAM’s NEXT ACT FUND is a special $100,000 fund that will safeguard, sustain, amplify, and uplift WAM’s next chapter.
This fund will help WAM remain strong during a pivotal time of transition, honor my leadership and your faith in WAM’s mission and wider team and board, and finally, set WAM’s new artistic leadership up for success.
Showing EARLY support for new leaders is the single most important way to guarantee their success and the ongoing success of the organization.
Some of WAM’s key stakeholders have stepped up to seed the launch of WAM’s NEXT ACT FUND and thanks to them, we launch this $100,000 fund today with nearly half already raised!
We hope some of you will step up today and make an additional gift to WAM this year through the NEXT ACT FUND.
Additionally, many of our key stakeholders have also taken the generous step of committing to their annual donation for the next three years, so our new artistic leadership can focus on authentic relationship building upon starting. Wow!
Will you please join our NEXT ACT FUND donors in both making a three-year commitment with your annual fund and making a special one-time gift to our NEXT ACT FUND to show our team and new leadership your commitment to WAM’s mission?
You can do so by clicking the button below.
As for what I’m going to do next, that remains an open question. I am exploring many opportunities and am hopeful that some will also come my way. I am trusting the community I have built, the person that I am, and the expertise I have gained at WAM will lead to opportunities that provide me purpose, impact and financial freedom. If you know of an opportunity in the theatre, arts, advocacy, gender equity, social justice, and/or philanthropy worlds where my leadership, artistic, and activist skills would be of service, please connect me!
I love the Berkshires and would be delighted to stay here if the right opportunity came along. I also am open to new adventures in other places, including my home country of Canada. As long as there are nice places to hike, nature to keep me grounded, and enough liberals to keep me sane, I’m open. Stay tuned…more to come on that front as things unfold.
Finally, another way that you can help is to send testimonials about ways that WAM Theatre has been an asset in your life and the life of your community. We’d love to share these testimonials with the public as we announce this transition. We’d also love to share them with our new artistic leadership when they begin in January 2024. Please take a few minutes and thoughtfully answer this brief questionnaire.
Thank you for the honor of a lifetime. There are so many people to thank and so many memories to celebrate. There will be a variety of opportunities over the course of this year for us to gather. More on that in the coming months.
With deep appreciation,
Kristen
PS. WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME will be the last play I direct for WAM as our Producing Artistic Director. It runs until June 3. I’d love for you to join us.