Mark Shanda News

The Governor's School for the Arts (GSA), a program of Kentucky Performing Arts (KPA), will be hosted virtually this year to maximize the safety of students, staff and faculty amid the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

USITT's first-ever Giving Day, a contribution challenge event held on Saturday, October 26, was a tremendous success. The event, a part of the Institute's Setting the Next Stage fundraising campaign, raised more than $54,000.

This morning at the Annual Meeting of the USITT membership, a major fund-raising initiative was announced that will culminate with the Institute's 60th anniversary in 2020. The campaign, Setting the Next Stage, was announced by Immediate Past President Mark Shanda.

Officials with University of Kentucky and The Kentucky Center announced today at Holmes Hall that UK has been named the future home of The Kentucky Center Governor's School for the Arts (GSA), an annual three-week intensive summer arts residency program for Kentucky high school sophomores and juniors. Beginning in 2019, UK College of Fine Arts will host the program for four years.

USITT has announced the winners of the USITT Innovation Grants for 2017: Ian Garrett and Jonathan Allender-Zivic.

The American Society of Association Executives has announced that David Grindle, Executive Director of USITT, has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation. The CAE is the highest professional credential in the association industry.

The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Board of Directors has committed an unprecedented $500,000 to increase the impact of some of the organization's most important programs: Rigging Safety, Gateway Diversity, and Innovation Research Grants.

As previously reported, the theatre industry has launched a vocal opposition against anti-LGBT legislation in North Carolina and Mississippi. Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz has gone so far as to urge theatre writers and producers to boycott North Carolina by denying rights to produce their shows at theaters in the state.

Mark Shanda, professor of theatre design and technology and former Dean of Arts and Humanities at The Ohio State University, has begun a three-year term as president of USITT, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.

The first annual Central Ohio Theatre Conference is an event for theatre fanatics to learn, discuss, and celebrate theatre. Presented by the Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable, the conference featured a slew of educational breakout sessions designed for both performers and producers/directors, discussions and performances with Broadway super stars, and an expo where patrons can learn about theatre in their community.

The revision process took three years, involved multiple contributors, and produced a document that anyone can access for free here.

Ohio State will adopt an interim leadership structure to guide the marching band through the upcoming academic year.

An impressive group of performing arts experts start new roles in USITT leadership on July 1.

The Ohio State University Arts and Humanities and University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute has announced that it will present the prestigious 2011 Margo Jones Award to Lincoln Center Theater dramaturg Anne Cattaneo. The award, which will be presented to Ms. Cattaneo in a ceremony in the Vivian Beaumont Theater lobby on Monday, July 11 beginning at 5:30, is given annually to a 'citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a significant impact, understanding and affirmation of the craft of playwriting, with a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere.'