Solas Nua Names Andrew Dolan as its New Executive Director

The Board of Directors has appointed  Andrew Dolan as Executive Director of Solas Nua.

"Andrew is a talented and passionate artist with the tools to skillfully navigate the unique challenges and opportunities of producing contemporary multidisciplinary work," says Board Chair Dennis Houlihan. "He brings to us a breadth of community partnership experience and strategic planning, which will be invaluable as we approach our 20th year in 2025."

Dolan is an accomplished artist, producer, and leader with over fifteen years of experience in professional theatre across all aspects of the profession, including directing, design, fundraising, finance, and strategic planning. He recently served as a Co-Artistic Director of Red Eye Theater since 2019, where he co-curated the New Works 4 Weeks Festival-an annual four-week festival that commissions 11 artists each year to make new performance works-and co-led the capital campaign and development of a new 150-seat black box theater in Minneapolis. He also spent five years at The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts, working across marketing and development departments before becoming its Associate Director of Development.

"I am humbled and honored to join Solas Nua as Executive Director," said Dolan. "Solas Nua has truly built a home for contemporary Irish arts in our nation's capital. I have dedicated my career to supporting artists making new work-I am thrilled to come to D.C. to work with Solas Nua's board, staff, and supporters to grow our platform for Irish artists."

"I am thrilled to begin working with Andrew at Solas Nua. Upon our first meeting, I was deeply impressed with his vision for the company as well as how he values caretaking as a leadership model. Solas Nua's core value of Irish hospitality is clearly a significant aspect of Andrew's personality. I know artists and audiences will feel supported, empowered, and welcomed by our new Executive Director." said Artistic Director of Theatre Rex Daugherty.

Dolan will succeed Miranda Driscoll, who recently completed her Executive Director term in March 2023.

ABOUT Andrew Dolan

Andrew Dolan is a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work has premiered in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Austin, and Ireland. He has served guest artist residencies with Fairfield University and Century College, and has worked with Teatr Biuro Podrozy (Poland), Town Hall Theatre (Ireland), Rude Mechs, Red Eye Theater, Sandbox Theatre, Six Points Theater, The Playwrights' Center, and many others. His work has been commissioned by the Red Eye Theater in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. From 2014-2016, he was the Venue Manager for Bedlam Lowertown, where he co-produced/co-presented 150+ theater and dance productions, concerts, and other live events. For the last 10 years, he has been a company member of the award-winning Forklift Danceworks, where he served as Institutional Giving Manager. He was based at The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts from 2015-2020, working across marketing and development departments before becoming its Associate Director of Development. As an arts administrator and development professional for multiple organizations, he manages an annual combined portfolio of $1.5 million. He graduated with an M.A. in Theatre and Drama Studies from the University of Galway, and holds an M.F.A. in Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech; his work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

ABOUT SOLAS NUA

Solas Nua [solasnua.org] - 'new light' in Irish, is a leading multi-disciplinary arts organization that is dedicated exclusively to bringing contemporary Irish arts to Washington, D.C. Solas Nua acts as an ambassador and advocate for Irish arts in the U.S., promoting multi-disciplinary Irish arts and culture. Solas Nua presents, produces, and commissions thought-provoking and ground-breaking work across the arts, and is recognized for making a substantive, unique contribution to the artistic and cultural richness of the city of Washington, DC and beyond.

Despite the pandemic, Solas Nua has been growing and thriving the last few years, largely due to the innovation of our artists and the dedicated work of the staff and board. Solas Nua is one of the few internationally focused arts companies in D.C. and has a unique ability to connect audiences and artists from around the world. In a time when most arts companies have been cutting back and slimming down, Solas Nua's financial growth over the last few years has shown that there is an appetite for cutting-edge, contemporary work from Ireland.