PITTSBURGH: Shaunda Miles McDill has assumed the role of managing director at Pittsburgh Public Theater. McDill joined the theatre at the end of February, working alongside artistic director Marya Sea Kaminski.
“We conducted a comprehensive regional and national search, and Shaunda’s extensive experience in arts administration and the nonprofit sector, coupled with her innovative, strategic thinking, made her an outstanding candidate,” Angela Blanton, Pittsburgh Public’s board chair, said in a statement about McDill’s appointment. “She is committed to advancing the arts both locally and nationally, and we’re confident her exceptional leadership will guide the Public to a successful future.”
McDill has served as the program officer for arts and culture at the Heinz Endowments since 2017, where she worked to promote a suite of Pittsburgh-based artists and arts organizations. She also co-managed the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh initiative at the Pittsburgh Foundation in 2021. McDill helped found the social justice initiative JustArts at the Heinz Endowments, as well as the Arts|Equity|Reimagined fund to provide equitable and actionable responses to the needs of the local arts community at the onset of the pandemic. She has worked at a variety of theatre companies across the country, including the Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Pasadena Playhouse, among others, and was previously a resident artist at Quantum Theatre. In 2006, she founded Demaskus Theater Collective, which is currently in residence at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, where McDill previously served as vice president of programming and cultivation. McDill holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MFA in theatre management from the Yale School of Drama.
“What a privilege it is to return to regional theatre as part of the Public at this particular moment in time,” McDill said in a statement. “Pittsburgh Public Theater has been a touchstone for the arts in the region for nearly 50 years. I look forward to working to position it for another 50 years of artistic excellence.”
Pittsburgh Public Theater is dedicated to serving as a true public theatre in the Pittsburgh region, producing more than 120 performances each season and welcoming over 70,000 guests. The theatre is committed to education and engagement initiatives and community partnerships. As of 2021, the theatre’s budget was approximately $4.3 million.
