Artistic Director
Position Profile

About the Opportunity

Cornerstone Theater Company (CTC), noted as “possibly the closest entity to a National Theater that the United States may ever have” by Theater Journal, seeks its next Artistic Director, who will be only the third artist to hold this position since the company’s founding in 1986. This innovative company holds a unique place in the American theater landscape, creating work that couples artistic excellence with deep community impact by partnering with a diversity of collaborators to elevate their voices and stories via original, inclusive performance. Cornerstone is an ensemble-based company operating with a consensus model of decision-making, and in its 36 year history has forged a responsive operational and creative model that has enabled the company to generate work across the country, from its home base in Los Angeles to the homelands of Indigenous communities in the Northern Plains to Queens, New York, and work internationally as well.

The next Artistic Director at Cornerstone Theater will join the company at a time when the theater world as a whole is facing significant challenges, not the least of which is major shifts in philanthropy in the arts. CTC had launched a change in its structural funding strategy just prior to the pandemic, seeing the philanthropic landscape beginning its change. CTC is uniquely positioned to adapt to these changes through its long history of community partnerships and civically engaged theater making. As the co-leader of a theater founded on practices rooted in the values of equity and inclusion, the next AD at Cornerstone will need to bring to the job an artistic practice and philosophy steeped in a commitment to authentic community connection, to invest in Cornerstone’s role as a model for the field and to build even more awareness of its expertise as a resource. The ideal candidate will be eager to engage with Cornerstone’s practice, created through years of exploration and creation. Because that practice includes a capacity for change and evolution, they should also bring a spirit of curiosity to their leadership and their art to be equipped to explore how the next era of Cornerstone evolves in response to these times.

About Cornerstone Theater Company

Cornerstone Theater Company acknowledges our presence primarily on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Gabrieliño/Tongva peoples, the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands). We pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.

Mission
Cornerstone Theater Company collaborates with communities. Our work reflects complexity, disrupts assumptions, welcomes difference, and amplifies joy. We aim to advance a more compassionate, equitable, and just world.

Vision
By combining the artistry of people with many levels of theatrical experience, we act upon the conviction that artistic expression is civic engagement and that access to a creative forum is essential to the wellness and health of every individual and community.

Cornerstone is a non-profit leader in community engaged theater. The plays are staged in traditional and non-traditional performance spaces, but always in a location significant and accessible to the collaborating communities: factories, schools, community centers, service organizations, or adjacent to sacred land. Cornerstone strives to include people, in the audience and in the plays, who have never been on stage or may have never seen theater; the plays celebrate many voices.

Cornerstone’s history directly shapes who it is and how it works in the community today. Founded in 1986 as a traveling ensemble working nationwide, primarily in rural communities, the company performed in different towns and states with each production. Since 1992, Cornerstone has been based in Los Angeles, focusing largely on urban collaborations. However, it still continues to travel to many different regions throughout the state of California and beyond. A philosophy of radical audience renewal, adding new communities on every production while maintaining relationships with previous collaborators, is central to CTC’s organizational strategy. The company cooperates artistically in a diverse range of underserved areas, from rural California communities like Lost Hills and Holtville, to urban neighborhoods like Pacoima, the Los Angeles Arts District, Watts and East Salinas.

In almost four decades of existence, Cornerstone has commissioned more than 100 playwrights, produced over 150 new and adapted works, trained thousands of students in the company’s unique methodology, and worked with tens of thousands of community members across the country, many accessing theater for the first time.

Cornerstone’s ensemble of theater artists includes writers, directors, performers, designers and administrators with a commitment to sharing the twin and indivisible goals of excellence and inclusion. The ensemble are the authors and stewards of the methodology for making artistically thrilling work in collaboration with community, building on 36 years of development and investigation. The practice of consensus decision-making through conversation is a guiding principle of Cornerstone Theater Company.

Cornerstone accomplishes its mission and acts on its vision primarily through these programs:

• Community Collaborations are the core of the work as a theater company. Using an engagement methodology honed over thirty years, members of the collaborating community share their stories, their civic concerns and voice their opinions on various issues affecting their communities. Professional playwrights then create a play informed and inspired by these narratives. The final product of this 12- to 18-month process is a professional production with community members — as actors, stagehands, front of house, and in other capacities — which reflects the histories and perspectives of the larger community. Audiences and playmaking participants work alongside professional theater artists, and see themselves, their stories, and their aspirations represented on stage.
• Cornerstone’s Institute offers multidisciplinary professional training in community engaged theater using the company’s unique collaborative methodology through two programs: Intensives and the month-long Summer Residency. The Summer Residency returns to Cornerstone’s original process of living in and with the collaborating community. Participants receive training and experience on a Cornerstone production from story circles and auditions, through rehearsal process and performance. The 2-Day Intensive (2DI) provides working professionals, non-profit organizations, schools, and corporations with a condensed overview of company practices.

Additional projects vary in scope but are generally variations of the above and, like the core productions and Institute projects, are initiated either by the vision of the ensemble or by outside commissioning organizations.

Company Structure
Cornerstone Theater Company has a three-body structure. The Board of Directors provides support and oversees the finances and governance of the organization. The Ensemble guides the artistic inquiry through a consensus-based process. The Staff runs the day-to-day management and administration of the company. The three bodies are not siloed, with some overlap between the three groups.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access
Cornerstone Theater Company enacts the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and access in every aspect of its administrative and artistic practices.

• Cornerstone promotes diversity by retaining a core ensemble of artists from many backgrounds and engaging lead artists who reflect a multitude of cultures and perspectives. The composition of its staff and board reflect that commitment as well.
• Cornerstone promotes equity in many ways, most notably in our work of creating plays in, with, and about communities. Cornerstone’s artistic process puts community participants and audiences at the core of the work, considering equity throughout. The ensemble artists talk and listen extensively with members of the community during the creation process, offering multiple opportunities for feedback on the play as it develops. The final presentation considers and reflects the voices and values of the community with whom Cornerstone is collaborating.
• Cornerstone promotes inclusion in the company through its consensus-based decision-making process where every voice is valued and heard, ensuring that major company decisions are made with the input of every member. The company’s artistic practice is premised on inclusion, conducting story circles and facilitating conversations that bring together people of many backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, affording each individual respect while acknowledging difference.
• Cornerstone promotes access in many ways, notably through its Pay What You Can ticketing policy meant to prioritize community members and remove the possible barrier of ticket cost. The goal is to make it so everyone who wants to see a performance can. Identifying and removing barriers is an ingrained practice in all aspects of community engagement. Barriers may be related to age, ability, geography or they may be economic, cultural or just based on prior lack of inclusion. Cornerstone prioritizes venues that allow as many community members as possible to participate onstage or in the audience.

More about Cornerstone Theater

How an ‘Urban Rez’ Grew Into a ‘Native Nation’ 

A ‘Cardinal’ Grows in Queens: Cornerstone’s Teachable Moments 

Jordan Downs housing project’s little-told history is embraced as immersive theater

Reclaiming Spaces: How ‘Urban Rez’ Created a Play Within a Cultural Fair 

More information about Cornerstone Theater can be found here. 

Job Description

The Artistic Director serves as the co-executive leader of Cornerstone Theater, in partnership with the Managing Director, both reporting to the Board of Directors. Among the responsibilities of the Artistic Director:

• Provides artistic leadership of the company, both in terms of day-to-day and long-term considerations. The AD forms the vision for the company’s artistic development and provides leadership in the ensemble’s collaborative process to determine Cornerstone’s artistic direction.
• Serves as the artistic voice of the company, including being a primary spokesperson for the company to the greater community of audiences, arts affiliates, funding agencies, the press, and both current and potential community partners.
• Develops artistic programming and projects, working with the ensemble and the consensus process to drive the creative cycles of the company.
• Drives the production process of the theater, tracking projects and deadlines while cultivating the artistic standards set by the company.
• Carries responsibility, with the Managing Director, for the company’s current and long-term financial stability.
• Engages in the implementation of the company’s strategic plan and is responsible for implementation of items individually assigned to the Artistic Director in the strategic plan, as well as updating the strategic plan as needed.
• With the Managing Director, shares responsibility for development of the company’s board of directors, and for providing regular updates to the board on activities and concerns of the company.
• Maintains a focus on ensemble development, including the planning of the Ensemble agenda and maintaining a stable and productive ensemble spirit.
• Shares responsibility for developing and maintaining productive relationships with both institutional and individual funders, and for participating in the grant-writing process.
• Centers the company’s relationships with individual community collaborators and organizations, during productions and afterward.

Qualifications

Desired skills and experience:
• As a respected artist in the professional theater, is known for artistic rigor, excellence and transformation in bringing a powerful vision to the stage, inspiring collaborators to achieve their best work
• An expansive commitment to community participation and inclusion in creating theater
• A history of working with people from diverse backgrounds and identities, with experience building a culture of belonging and a committed practice of deepening their cultural literacy
• Experience supporting/fostering the development of new plays
• Theatrical producing knowledge and project management, with a track record of successfully working within time and budget parameters
• Experience working in collaborative environments, including with multiple creative partners in the generative process of creating new work
• Experience with and understanding of the financial tools necessary to manage a complex organization
• Relevant experience to bring to the partnership with the MD on the business of the theater, including fundraising, marketing, board engagement, and fiscal oversight
• Ability to manage setting priorities for themselves and to help set realistic expectations for the organization
• An effective storyteller and ambassador, able to engage a wide variety of readers and listeners in the mission and vision of Cornerstone
• A strong communicator committed to clarity and timeliness, to ensure that company members, collaborators, and other stakeholders receive key information as needed

Qualities and Characteristics:
• Has a compelling vision for the role of the theater in civic life
• Communicates with directness, and is able to navigate with grace in the discomfort of difficult conversations when they arise
• Is an active listener
• Leads from a position of kindness, generosity and curiosity
• Excited to partner with a managing leader in running the company
• Models a balance between confidence and humility; conveys confidence in one’s ideas, and is humble enough to adapt or change when compelled by others’ responses
• Exhibits openness to a culture where both emotional and intellectual discourse are welcomed
• As a leader, holds themselves and others equally accountable for their commitments
• Brings appreciation of and patience for consensus decision processes that can require extra time and exploration
• Embraces difference with joy and welcomes the complexities and rewards of working in a non-homogenous environment

Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they fulfill an average of 60% of the criteria. Yet, women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend only to apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.

We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. So, whether you’re returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar.

Compensation

Annual salary of $90,000 – $104,000.

Benefits package: including comprehensive health inclusive of medical, dental, and vision; retirement package; generous time off policy including vacation, personal time and sick leave.

Application Instructions

The search for the Artistic Director is being conducted on behalf of the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Theater by the Tom O’Connor Consulting Group. Cynthia Fuhrman, Vice President/Executive Search, is leading the search process, reporting to a board appointed search committee.

Please use your cover letter to tell us about what you hope to bring to this role, and how your background and experience responds to the desired skills and qualities.

The priority application deadline for this search is March 6, 2023. Applications received by this date will be given priority consideration. While we will still accept and consider applications received after this date, we encourage you to apply as early as possible for the best chance at being considered for the position. Please note that meeting the priority deadline does not guarantee an interview.

To apply, visit the online application and submit your materials. Your cover letter should include relevant experience, including any direct experience you’ve had with similar roles and institutions. No phone calls, please.