Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of the acclaimed artist Erika b Hess* as artistic director of Chautauqua Visual Arts (CVA). In this role, Hess will help shape the model for the next chapter of CVA’s School of Art and oversee this dynamic hub for learning and expression comprised of the Chautauqua School of Art residency program, Strohl and Fowler-Kellogg Art Centers, The Melvin Johnson Sculpture Garden, The Gallery Store, the CVA Lecture Series, and the growing education and community engagement programs. Hess, a celebrated painter, curator, writer, and host of the famous art podcast “I Like Your Work,” is...
“Chautauqua’s Bicentennial” Good evening. I confess to you that I will never fully have my composure for this address when I have to follow Joshua Stafford, the Massey Organ and Largo. Will you join me in thanking him and all these incredible musicians this evening. I also, in a very special way, want to lift up the nearly four decades that Keith Schmitt has managed the Chautauqua Amphitheater. This is Keith’s last night doing so and the last event that will be under his direction. I’d like to ask Keith to join me on stage so we can recognize him...
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. August 29, 2023 – Following a national search, Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of Jordan Steves as Emily and Richard Smucker Chair of Education. Steves has been serving as Interim Smucker Chair since March. Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer Deborah Sunya Moore said Steves’s legacy of service and leadership position Chautauqua to build on the strengths of these core education programs. “This position is about preserving the depth of history, exploring new potential of the Chautauqua Lecture Series and other education programs while also creating stability, fostering trust and working collaboratively with cherished and future partners...
Good news, then, from a theatrical landscape lately festooned with co-productions. Though this “tiny father” has ended its Barrington Stage run, it will get a chance to go deeper when it moves to Chautauqua Theater Company in Chautauqua, N.Y., next week. Butts in seats, please.
In Mike Lew’s new play, “tiny father,” which is inspired by Lew’s own experience and premieres this month at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, protagonist Daniel is caught by surprise when his baby daughter is born at 26 weeks.
National Grid EV Make-Ready program providing funding for 90% of project costs Chautauqua Institution, through National Grid’s EV Make-Ready Program, installed three Electric Vehicle charging stations in two parking lots, providing six new plugs for EV drivers who may need a charge. The north parking lot includes two stations with four plugs, including two with standard plugs and two with Tesla chargers. The south parking lot includes two ChargePoint plugs. The installation was completed in advance of the second annual Retool ’23 Conference. To be held on July 26 at the Institution, the conference focuses on emerging economic development opportunities...
Mike Lew, playwright, tiny fatherMoritz von Stuelpnagel, director, tiny father Both How do you each challenge each other and/or make each other better? Moritz: Because we know one another so well, there’s a shorthand in our conversations. We trust that there’s great faith between us, so we aren’t as sensitive about criticism. And because we’re so close, we know where the other person is coming from, where the ideas in the play are coming from, and we try to make them all the more personal. It’s an intimate partnership for which I’m very grateful. Mike: Moritz has an immense work...
Chautauqua Institution today announced $6 million in philanthropic commitments to bolster its Climate Change Initiative, including the naming of the Peter Nosler Director of Climate Change in honor of one of the patrons whose gifts made this possible. This recognition follows a $3 million challenge grant and a complementary gift made to the Institution’s Climate Change Initiative by the Batten family (Norfolk, Virginia) and the family of Peter Nosler (Carmel, California). These gifts provide key funding to ensure Chautauqua Institution’s work to advance climate solutions globally and at home in Chautauqua County, NY continues far into the future. “The Batten...
Chautauqua Institution and its opera company and conservatory, like performing arts organizations industry-wide, are navigating challenges and uncertainties as the field emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a period of deep reflection about the future of opera in America, including at Chautauqua which hosts North America’s oldest continuously operating summer opera company and 4th oldest opera company in the nation. The current model for opera at Chautauqua requires subsidy from Institution operations on an annual basis that has been controlled historically to the extent possible through repeated production modifications. As expenses continue to grow due to rising labor, housing,...
Theater, by its very nature, is a collaborative event. The playwright, director, actors, technical crew, and, of course, the audience all come together to create a moment in time. When two theatrical companies join forces to put together a project, it can be the best of many worlds and create a wonderful synergy. Such is the case with the co-world premiere of “Tiny Father,” which began its run at the Barrington Stage Company this week in collaboration with Chautauqua Theater Company.
