Victory Gardens Searches for New Artistic Director

Victory Gardens Board Chair Board President Jeff Rappin announces that BHK Arts Consultants, Inc. will work with the Victory Gardens search committee to conduct a national search for the theater's new Artistic Director to replace Dennis Za?ek, who recently announced plans for his retirement.  Za?ek will continue his tenure through spring 2011.
 
Rappin says, "Victory Gardens has a tradition of excellence and a reputation for creating vibrant and vital new work and the search for the company's next artistic leader is key to the future of the organization.  The committee is looking forward to working with BHK Arts Consultants, who has demonstrated a deep understanding of the organization's needs and will be able to match that with the best candidates throughout the country."

BHK Arts Consultants, Inc. specializes in the arts, and fiscal responsibility has been their benchmark. President Benita Hofstetter Koman recently completed seventeen years of federal contracting with the National Endowment for the Arts as the on-site coordinator for the theatre, musical theatre and opera programs. She has a broad background in regional and off Broadway theatre, as well as extensive experience in casting and event management.
 
In the past season alone, Victory Gardens has celebrated major accomplishments and milestones.  Victory Gardens opened its season with the critically-acclaimed At Home At the Zoo, directed by Dennis Za?ek, and will soon begin rehearsals for the world premiere of The Boys Room by VG Playwright ensemble member Joel Drake Johnson.  The theater recently kicked off its second IGNITION Festival; the first IGNITION festival gave birth to two world premieres-The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz and Year Zero, by Michael Golamco.  Both productions  went on to  New York; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and garnered five 2010 Jeff Awards, including Best Production, Best New Work, Kristoffer Diaz, Best Director, Edward Torres, Best Actor-Principal, Desmin Borges, and Artistic Specialization-Fight Choreography, David Woolley. 
 
Interested candidates and recommenders of qualified individuals for this position are invited to contact Benita Hofstetter Koman, BHK Arts Consultants, Inc. at BHKArts@aol.com.
 
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Executive Director Jan Kallish, Victory
Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater. The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the U.S. and abroad. Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. The company's dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New
Plays.
 
In 2006, Victory Gardens completed an $11.8 million renovation of Chicago's famed Biograph Theater, one of the city's most celebrated historic landmarks. Renamed Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, this beautiful new space is home to two theaters, which expand the company's artistic flexibility and provide very different audience experiences. The Zacek McVay Theater is a state-of-the-art 299 seat space. The new Richard Christiansen Theater is an intimate 109 seat space, named in honor of the Chicago Tribune chief critic emeritus and longtime champion of Chicago's live theater scene. This theater was dedicated with a moving tribute in March 2010 which included the launch of Victory Gardens $1 Million Campaign for Growth. Visit www.victorygardens.org/campaignforgrowth for more information.
 
Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Alphawood Foundation, John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Boeing Company, Chicago Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Allstate Insurance Company, Motorola Foundation, REAM Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies.  Additional funding is provided by: National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council (IAC), a State Agency, CityArts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, and by 3Arts, Harry S. Black and Allon Fuller Fund, Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Elizabeth Cheney Foundation, John R. Halligan Fund, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), James S. Kemper Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation and Wrightwood Neighbors Association

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