Lisa Steindler, Z Space Executive Artistic Director, Announces Plans To Depart In April 2021

Lisa Steindler, the Executive Artistic Director of Z Space, one of the nation's leading laboratories for the development of new work and the organization she has led since 2007, has announced that she will step down from her role in April 2021.

Upon Steindler's departure, Z Space Managing Director Shafer Mazow will assume the role of Executive Director, and Associate Artistic Director Rose Oser will assume the role of Producing Director. The organization will conduct a search for a Curatorial Director in the summer of 2021. This distributed leadership model, which has been in development for the past three years, is part of a broader organization-wide effort to increase equity and disassemble traditional theater hierarchy.

Steindler is making this transition at a deliberate moment in time, and she leaves Z Space in a strong place both administratively and financially. During the pandemic, Z Space has continued to serve its community and employ local artists. Its programming has included virtual Youth Arts education programs, Word for Word's podcasts and radio broadcasts of short stories; and developmental residencies for new works on the mainstage (these residencies are done under strict COVID-19 protocols). The organization has also been hard at work, administering artistic, technical, and implicit bias training for its staff and engaging with field-wide anti-racism accountability and action working groups.

"My decision to turn the future of Z Space over to a new generation of leaders has been a long time coming and has been very carefully considered and constructed," said Steindler. "While this is a disorienting moment for many arts organizations, it is also a moment that allows us to imagine a different way of doing things. This is what we do. It's in our DNA to be pioneers in our field and discover new ways of working within our business. I can think of no better organization than Z Space to carve a successful path to our future."

"We are deeply grateful for Lisa's unwavering leadership, integrity, and commitment to Z Space, our community, and the field of theater," said Z Space Board Chair Laura Bergman. "Lisa took the helm of a financially struggling company and turned it into the national model for independent nonprofit theater it is today. And although she will be greatly missed, I have no doubt that she has left us in capable hands with the next generation of leaders at Z Space. I look forward to this new era and to what we will accomplish together."

Z Space has come a long way since Steindler joined the organization as New Works Director in 2005 and assumed the role of Executive Artistic Director in 2007. During her tenure, she has grown the organization's annual operating budget from $600,000 to $2.4m. She has vastly expanded the organization's founding vision of supporting a diverse artistic community and a broader Bay Area arts ecosystem that encompasses a myriad of disciplines. In 2009, Steindler seized on an opportunity to preserve and re-ignite a critical cultural asset by engineering a long-term lease on The Warehouse space formerly known as Theatre Artaud. This became Z Space's first-ever home venue.

The move secured not just a home for Z Space but for countless artists and arts organizations across the Bay Area. Steindler aligned Z Space's mission with an innovative business model that blended the development, production, and presentation of original work with co-producing and co-presentation partnerships and a curated rental program. This established Z Space as a premier presenting home for new works. In 2013, responding to the threat of the Bay Area community losing yet another theater space, Steindler orchestrated an arrangement to take over the former space of the Traveling Jewish Theater, an 85-seat black box theater directly beneath Z Space, now known as Z Below. Z Space's two venues have become an essential resource for artists of all stripes to develop, rehearse, perform, and exhibit their artistry while engaging audiences with risky work and open community dialogue.

Under Steindler's leadership, Z Space has commissioned and developed notable new works, including Hundred Days (The Bengsons), Be Bop Baby (Margo Hall and Marcus Shelby), House Tour (Peter Nachtrieb), Hookman ( Lauren Yee), The Lucky Ones (The Bengsons) and Weightless (The Kilbanes). At Z Space, Lisa orchestrated and presented Bay Area premieres from internationally acclaimed performance ensembles, including The Wooster Group, Elevator Repair Service, Rude Mechs, Theatre Mitu, and Noche Flamenca. In 2019 Lisa received The O2 Sabbatical Award, which honors the commitment and accomplishments of exceptional nonprofit leaders.

"Lisa Steindler has been an incredible, fearless champion of new work in the Bay Area," said playwright Lauren Yee. "With each brave production, her tenure at Z Space has reminded us why we crave stories. Why communal experiences are central to our being. Why theater matters."

While at Z Space, Lisa developed signature programs including Z Space New Work, a development program that supports artists and ensembles from conception to realization of unique works; the late-stage Technical Development Residency Program, funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, that has provided 8-10 weeks per year of free space, resources, and artistic mentorship since 2010; and the Playwright in Residence program, also funded by the Mellon Foundation, that supported local playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb from 2013-2019. Most recently, in collaboration with the distributed leadership team, Steindler launched Subspace, a subsidy program that provides free or subsidized space and technical support to artists in need.

Her leadership has helped to advance the stature and reach of Word for Word, the resident performing company that transforms works of literature verbatim to the stage; and expand Youth Arts, Z Space's education and outreach to schools, promoting literacy and engaging students' creativity.

Steindler has served on numerous national panels and now serves on the Board of Directors of the Zellerbach Family Foundation. She is a graduate of A.C.T.'s MFA program, after which she joined the company and started ArtReach, an educational program for the San Francisco public schools that Lisa ran for 17 years. Prior to Z Space, Lisa served as the Artistic Director of Encore Theatre Company. Through her artistic direction with Z Space and Encore, Lisa has produced over 55 world premiere productions.

"As a leadership team, we feel inspired to build on Lisa's legacy," says Mazow. "Over the past two years, we have worked closely together to set a strategic vision for Z Space's future grounded in frameworks at the core of our mission. This is an organization that serves many voices and many visions; is invested in process over product; and embraces a responsibility to advance the position of artists, audiences, and the holistic value of a multitude of art forms. We're incredibly excited to continue Z Space's work."

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