ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES AT ON THE BOARDS.

SEATTLE--After months of controversy over a staff shake-up that roiled the Seattle arts community, the arts presenting organization On the Boards welcomes the new year with a restyled leadership team. Long-time artistic director Mark Murphy recently returned after an absence of several months. A new managing director, Dan Mayer, replaced Sara Pasti, who has been named director of curatorial affairs at the Henry Art Gallery.

On April 26, OTB's board of directors asked for both Murphy's and Pasti's resignation, and the following day announced its intent to combine the artistic and management functions of the two positions in a newly created position of executive director. "The decision to ask for [Murphy's] and [Pasti's] resignation was the result of a four- to six-month-long process--a very thorough, professional, and caring process involving outside professionals, [Murphy, Pasti], and staff" says Jerry Fulks, OTB's board president. "We started the process after it was brought to our attention that we had a difficult staffing situation."

At issue, according to Fulks, was the efficacy of the current administrative structure and a need for leadership by the staff. He acknowledged that some of the problems were due to the expansion of OTB's operations and the acquisition and renovation of a new dance facility, the Behnke Center for Contemporary Performance. [See Presstime News, December 1998.]

"We anticipated several years of transition in order to settle into the Behnke Center but did not expect the urgency of the very real issues brought to us by the executive staff last fall," says Fulks. "Despite a careful deliberation we knew any decision would be unpopular."

Three weeks of deliberation followed the April 26 decision, including an open forum for community input, advice from a committee of artists and community representatives, meetings with concerned performing artists, and discussion between Murphy and board members. According to an OTB press release, "[Murphy's] dismissal appeared abrupt and unwarranted to many artists, who flooded the board with letters, emails, faxes, and angry phone calls."

Following this deliberation, the board voted to bring Murphy back. After taking time off, he returned as artistic director in November. He and Mayer--who most recently served as president of Parkway III Consulting, with leading clients such as the National Performance Network (of which OTB was a founding member)--now have been hired on one-year contracts.

"We're on the right track," says Mayer. "Despite all the turmoil, everyone--the board, the artistic community, the staff, the artistic director--shares a vision. My goal is to contribute management and organizational skills to the organization. I enjoy the art, and support and understand it, and Mark has the ability to create it collaboratively with artists."

These are sentiments echoed by board president Fulks. "The board is enthusiastic about their combined leadership abilities. The mission of OTB hasn't changed a bit. We are committed to exposing Seattle to local and international performing art of the highest quality. We are helping artists to move into local prominence."

Murphy's comment on his departure and rehiring is that the situation was an "unfortunate drama played out very publicly, but I am confident that things are on track and very optimistic about the future of the organization." He acknowledges that the move to the larger facility carried many challenges and pressures. "Our first year in the Behnke Center was very successful," he says, "but clearly there were different opinions about how things should have been done. The important thing is that we move into the next century as boldly as possible.

"The aspects of the performing arts that we're highlighting this current season--the globalization (with special emphasis on Pacific Rim dance) of the art, the blurting of the boundaries between different art forms--theater, dance, music, and media, and artists working in new technologies--are of profound importance. It is a really strong season. We owe the public that. What the events from the past year have taught us is that we have a huge responsibility because of our success to do our job well. People depend on us to play a role in the evolution of the performing arts and to give artists and audiences opportunities to be creative and take risks--and to be assertive about it."