In response to concerns voiced at a focus group funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, TCG has launched a series of retreats intended to develop ways to maintain energy, focus and a sense of challenge over the arc of a long-term career in the not-for-profit theatre. Thanks to generous support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, TCG organized a recent four-day renewal retreat at the Foundation’s White Oak Plantation (home of the White Oak Conservation Center and the White Oak Dance Project) in Yulee, Fla. This retreat focused on issues facing senior-level managers of TCG’s constituent member theatres. Ronnie Brooks, director of Minneapolis’s Institute for Renewing Community Leadership, facilitated the Feb. 1-4 retreat with assistance from Peter Culman, former managing director of Baltimore’s Center Stage.
The retreat began with an opening dinner in which Brooks laid the groundwork for the renewal process, a journey on which participants would embark over the following three days. The first day was spent dealing with questions such as: Why do you do this work? What do you love about the theatre? Why did you get involved in theatre in the first place? Brooks and Culman also discussed the concepts of purpose and core values; incorporating these principles into one’s life is a central theme in the renewal process. Through discussion and exercises, Brooks illustrated how stress, fatigue and disillusionment can occur if one’s core values and practicing values—how someone actually spends his or her time—are not aligned.
Throughout the retreat, between the large and small group discussions, there was time for one-on-one conversation and self-reflection. Brooks and Culman also led survival exercises designed to demonstrate the value of group decision-making while exploring its dynamics. Other activities included a wildlife tour of endangered species housed at the White Oak Conservation Center, and conversations about specific professional challenges between colleagues of the same and different disciplines. Participants left White Oak with ideas and strategies on how to lead more effectively, the knowledge that renewal is an active process requiring constant work, and the conviction that renewal is essential to leading a fulfilling personal and work life.
