Risa Shoup has over a decade in senior leadership roles with NYC cultural and community development nonprofits.
The Executive Committee and Board of The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) has named Risa Shoup Interim Executive Director, effective immediately.
Risa Shoup has over a decade in senior leadership roles with NYC cultural and community development nonprofits. They have a strong track record of working with cross sector partners and funders to inform strategic policy for the equitable growth of accessible and inclusive cultural services in NYC, in support of the self-determination of NYC's cultural workers and to co-create subsidized workspace for workers in the creative and cultural sector. Most recently, Risa's practice as Senior Consultant at Karp Strategies was grounded in participatory planning, market-informed analysis, stakeholder engagement and furthering access to necessary resources for the development of more inclusive, accessible and equitable cities. Prior to Karp Strategies, Risa served as the Executive Director of Spaceworks, a nonprofit dedicated to developing subsidized workspace for artists and cultural workers across New York City's five boroughs, with previous tenures at Fourth Arts Block (where they consulted on CreateNYC, the City's first cultural plan together with Caron Atlas and Gonzalo Casals, as part of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts working with Hester Street), the Invisible Dog Art Center and chashama among others. Risa chairs the board of the Invisible Dog Art Center, is the Treasurer of the Board for Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York and is a Trustee and Co-Chair of the Planning Committee of the American LGBTQ+ Museum. They have had an active, independent development consultancy for many years working with various community development and cultural services organizations.
Last month, We Are A.R.T/New York (a group of current and former employees) approached the A.R.T./New York Executive Committee with a description of serious concerns and issues within the organization. The Executive Director of A.R.T./New York has been placed on administrative leave as the company retains outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation - with a goal of including BIPOC-identifying employment attorneys, investigators and/or involving a BIPOC advocate in the process.
The Executive Committee and Board of A.R.T./New York issued the following statement:
"We are grateful to We Are A.R.T/New York for sharing what they've witnessed, and we are in dialogue with the group as well as the entire staff. We fully support any and all efforts to make A.R.T./New York a better and more inclusive, equitable organization. A.R.T/New York is an evolving organization in an evolving world. We recognize the need to look at not only our current behavior but the organizational behavior that has brought us to this point. We are taking all necessary steps to bring that to fruition in an open, transparent and collaborative manner and we are ready to get to work."
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