Episode 167: #StandForTheArts
Iimani David said “art is what separates us from the animals.” With arts and culture being such a big part of our lives from the economy, to mental health, to community, why aren’t more of our tax dollars used to support them? To explain how the government funds the arts and what COVID recovery looks like for that sector, L. Joy brings Taneshia Nash Laird, Liz Janneman and Rachel S. Moore, to the front of the class to give us the lesson we need to #GetCivicallyEngaged, #StandForTheArts, and be an #ArtsHero.
Our Guests:
Taneshia Nash Laird is a social change agent and community developer who centers cultural equity in her work. She is the President and CEO of Newark Symphony Hall, a historic performing arts center located within the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Newark, NJ. Since her appointment in November 2018, she has expanded programming to respond to community needs and announced plans to restore the 1925 opened concert hall in a $40 million renovation. She will do so not only with philanthropy, but also by leveraging the property’s status on the National Register of Historic Places for federal historic tax credits and location in a Designated Qualified Opportunity Zone and NJ Urban Enterprise Zone for additional investment.
Taneshia previously served as Executive Director of the Arts Council of Princeton, notably as the first person of color in that role. Taneshia has also served as Director of Economic Development & Acting Director of Housing Production for the City of Trenton (NJ), Regional Director of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and was the Executive Director of the Trenton Downtown Association, where she initiated Destination Trenton, an award-winning arts and tourism program in NJ's capital city. Taneshia is an adjunct professor in Drexel University’s Entertainment & Arts Management Bachelor of Science degree program.
As an entrepreneur, Taneshia is the founder of Legacy Business Advisors, a consultancy serving social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and government agencies. She previously co-founded Legendary Eats in the Staples Center in Los Angeles with NBA legend James Worthy. With her late husband Roland, Taneshia also co-founded MIST Harlem, a popular entertainment center in New York City. Together Taneshia and Roland also co-authored the critically acclaimed book Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans.
A passionate advocate for increasing economic opportunity and access to arts and heritage, Taneshia was a special government employee in the Obama Administration as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. She was previously appointed by NJ Governor Jon Corzine to the governing body of the NJ Urban Enterprise Zone Authority. Her nonprofit board service has included the Preservation NJ, the Advocates for NJ History, and Artpride NJ where she co-chaired the equity, diversity and inclusion committee. In the summer of 2019 Taneshia was elected to a three-year term as president of the board of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, the community arts organization founded in 1995 by siblings Danny, Russell, and Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons.
Liz Janneman is the Executive Vice President of Network Strategy at Ovation TV. As EVP of Network Strategy, Liz serves as Ovation TV’s guiding strategic force, focused on business strategies that deliver incremental viewership, ad sales revenue and overall brand momentum. Janneman also oversees the network’s Stand For The Arts initiative, which raises awareness, protects access, and encourages action on behalf of the arts and culture.
Liz is a dynamic, goal-oriented sales executive, with over 20 years of experience leading sales initiatives across a diverse group of world-class media companies including Current TV, CNN, Turner, AOL/Time Warner, The Weather Channel, and currently Ovation TV, where she more than doubled the annual revenue growth. She skillfully builds relationships with clients and executives across the media industry through careful analysis of their business and the marketplace coupled with development of tactical sales strategies and custom solutions.
Liz has a proven track record as a motivational and inspiring manager, leading sales teams across the U.S. to exponential revenue growth through effective management and decisive leadership. During her tenure at AOL/Time Warner, she led a staff of over 150 people to successfully bring in over $1B, more than doubling annual revenue. After only one year of leadership at the Weather Channel, Myers Emotional Connections Research showed in their 23rd annual Survey of Advertising Executives that she had elevated the Weather Channel Ad Sales Team to a second position (among 66 Cable Networks) from outside the top ten.
Additionally, Liz’s deep understanding of the industry has left her with a sharp eye for talent and after recruiting, training, and leading Current TV’s sales team, they were recognized with the “Jack Myers Ad Sales Award” for an “Outstanding, Emerging Network Sales Organization.”
Rachel S. Moore is president and CEO of The Music Center, Los Angeles’ premier performing arts center. In that capacity, she leads the $70 million company that manages The Music Center campus and operates and programs Grand Park on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. In total, Moore manages and operates more than $2 billion in county assets.
Moore also oversees The Music Center’s programming work created by its programming engine, TMC Arts. She serves as presenter and curator of an internationally acclaimed dance series, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, as well as several innovative programs, events and activities that are introducing new audiences to the performing arts. Additionally, she guides The Music Center’s multi-faceted K-12 arts education initiatives, which reach more than 150,000 students each year all over Southern California.
Moore joined The Music Center from American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the world’s great dance companies, where she served as CEO since 2011 and as its executive director since 2004. She is credited with transforming ABT’s brand, securing recognition for the company by the United States Congress as “America’s National Ballet Company” in 2005 and creating Project Plie, a national initiative to diversify America’s ballet companies. Moore comes from the performing arts, having danced with ABT from 1984-1988 as a member of its corps de ballet.
Prior to her appointment to lead ABT, Moore served as director of Boston Ballet’s Center for Dance Education (2001-2004). From 1998-2001, she served as executive director of Project STEP, a classical music school for students of color in Boston, and managing director of Ballet Theatre of Boston. She has also held senior positions with Americans for the Arts and the National Cultural Alliance, both in Washington, D.C.
Moore was named CEO of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2019 Women’s Council & Awards. She currently serves on the board of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, the board of the Central City Association of Los Angeles, the board of the US Presidential Scholar Foundation, as chair of the Performing Arts Center Consortium, as an officer and trustee of the Economic Club of New York, as a member of the Advisory Council for Ovation Television, as a member of the Los Angeles Coalition for Jobs & Economy, on the Board of Advisors of Project STEP, and on the Brown University Arts Advisory Council. Moore is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.
Moore served on the advisory committee for the Los Angeles County Equity and Inclusion Initiative, which developed recommendations to enhance the participation and leadership of individuals from underrepresented communities in the arts. She also served on the board of the LA 2028 Olympic Games Bid Committee. She served as a member of the Child Performer Advisory Board for the New York State Department of Labor, on the Board of Trustees for Dance/USA from 2007-2012 and the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda from 2007-2012, and as a member of the United States National Commission for UNESCO from 2005-2009. She has also served on numerous panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the author of a book, The Artist’s Compass: The Complete Guide to Building a Life and a Living in the Performing Arts, published by Simon & Schuster in May 2016.
Moore served as adjunct faculty in Columbia University’s Arts Administration program, specializing in non profit finance, from 2006-2010; in the dance department of Emerson College from 1998-2000; and as an instructor of non-profit finance in Boston University’s Graduate Program in the Arts in 2000. She was a US Presidential Scholar in the Arts (1982). She holds an AB in Ethics & Political Philosophy from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Honors (1992); and an MA in arts management from Columbia University (1994). She received an honorary doctorate in Musical Arts from the Colburn School (2019).
A native of Davis, California, Moore spent much of her early childhood abroad with her family, living in India and Saudi Arabia. As a teenager, she spent summers in New York City and trained on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School, before becoming a professional ballet dancer. Her father was an economist at the University of California at Davis, and her mother was an economist and actively involved in Davis public service. She lives in Los Feliz, CA with her husband Rob Ryan.
Homework:
Check out your municipality’s budget. Is there a line dedicated to your community’s arts venue? If not, reach out to your representatives and organize how Taneshia Nash Laird outlined in this episode.
Read OvationTV’s Open Letter to President Biden and Congress addressing the financial relief the arts sector needs due to COVID https://www.ovationtv.com/ovation-tvs-open-letter-to-congress/
Check out OvationTV’s Be An #ArtsHero grassroots campaign and tool kit https://beanartshero.com/
