Robert Wildman
Director, Arts Management ProgramAssociate Professor, Arts Management
A.B., Stanford UniversityM.F.A., Yale University (School of Drama)
robert.wildman@liu.edu
Description
Robert Wildman begins his second year as director of the BFA Arts Management program at LIU Post following eight years at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he was Founding Director of the MFA program in Performing Arts Management, in the School of Design and Production.
Robert joined UNCSA after spending the spring and summer of 2003 as Interim Manager of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where he led the center during a leadership transition, and managed the four annual summer conferences -- Puppetry, Playwrights, Music Theater and the Critics Institute.
Robert joined the O'Neill after serving for seven years (1995-2002) as Managing Director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre, the performance arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut. During his tenure, the theatre moved to a year-round Equity contract for its seven annual mainstage productions, saw impressive growth in both audiences and support, and created a Playwrights Lab to workshop and develop new plays. Upon Robert's departure, the theatre had just completed its sixth year presenting both its October-to-May mainstage series and annual summer series under the Equity U/RTA contract, employing professional artists alongside the faculty and most advanced graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Connecticut Department of Dramatic Arts.
Robert joined CRT after a nine-year career in arts marketing and development in New Haven, at Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of Drama (1986-92), during the tenure of Artistic Director/Dean Lloyd Richards, and Long Wharf Theatre (1992-95), under the artistic direction of Arvin Brown. Notable productions Robert worked on in New Haven included the world premieres of August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" and "Two Trains Running," Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass," and Lee Blessing's "A Walk in the Woods"; the American premiere of Giles Havergal's stage adaptation of Graham Greene's "Travels With My Aunt"; and major revivals of "Ivanov," directed by Oleg Yefremov of the Moscow Art Theatre, with William Hurt; and the Eugene O'Neill Centennial Celebration productions of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "Ah, Wilderness!" with Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst. Robert has also worked at the Mark Taper Forum and American Conservatory Theatre in his native California.
Robert has taught for Goucher College's limited residency distance-learning MAAA program since 1999 and also taught in the Theatre Administration program at the Yale School of Drama (1986-1992). He has served on the boards of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the North Carolina Theatre Conference, the Adam Foundation, and was recently elected to the board and treasurer of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE). He has served on grant-making panels for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Huntington Arts Council, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Adam Foundation and the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (thanks to MAAA faculty member Robert Bush).
Robert is a graduate of Stanford University (BA, 1979), and the Theatre Administration program at the Yale School of Drama (MFA, 1983)
Lectures and Presentations
North Carolina Theatre Conference Producing Theatre Gathering, Aug. 2012
"Future Leadership Forum: Management," What are the training options for our future managing directors, general managers, fundraisers and marketing professionals (to name just a few potential career paths)? Are BA programs teaching the skill sets required for entry-level theatre management jobs, or is graduate school required? Robert will lead a discussion connecting educators and current managers. How can we work together to prepare the next generation?
Professional Affiliations
Board member and treasurer, Association of Arts Administration Educators
Former board member, North Carolina Theatre Conference
Former board member and secretary, The Adam Foundation
Former board member, Arts Council of Greater New Haven
Grant panelist, Theatre Communications Group (four times)
Grant panelist, Connecticut Commission on the Arts (four times)
Grant panelist, The Adam Foundation (chair or co-chair of grant-making committee for four years)
Grant panelist, Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County
