2019/20 SEASON ANNUAL REPORT 1 STAY PRESENT STAY 2019—20 SEASON IN REVIEW LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT UMS’s 2019/20 season was truly unlike any other in our 141-year history. With the arrival in mid-March of a novel coronavirus that quickly became a global pandemic, we found ourselves, like so many other organizations, needing to pivot suddenly to new ways of delivering on our mission of Connecting Audiences and Artists in Uncommon and Engaging Experiences. Notwithstanding the abrupt ending, the first six months of our season were filled with many exciting events and activities, which we’re excited to share with you here in this annual report. While the immediate future is still uncertain, UMS is financially secure thanks to the incredible support of the community over the years. Our lean structure allows us to be more nimble than many other larger arts organizations; we are also fortunate to have an amazingly creative team of people and enjoy deep, long-lasting relationships with artists around the world. As we work together to navigate all the changes in the coming months, I want to assure you that we will continue to always commit to our “north star” — to being an ever present and positive force in bringing our community together. Thank you for all that you have done to keep us strong. Sincerely, Matthew VanBesien President, UMS 2 3 STAY PRESENT STAY 2019—20 SEASON IN REVIEW OUR VALUES Inclusiveness and Accessibility Leadership and Stewardship To inspire We seek the broadest possible participation in We expect to achieve sustained excellence in all accomplishing our mission involving artists, audiences, aspects of our organization. We anticipate being a and ourselves, celebrating different cultures, model for peers to emulate, and in turn, we seek to perspectives, and experiences. learn and incorporate the best practices of each of individuals them. We value those who contribute their time and resources and will manage UMS to provide a healthy Respect and Transparency and robust organization for all who follow. We treat every individual with courtesy and genuine concern; we celebrate contributions from different and enrich cultures and seek mutual understanding; we are Commitment to Being an straightforward, open, and honest in all of our professional and personal interactions with others. Anti-Racist Organization We are committed not just to “not being racist,” but communities to being actively Anti-Racist. We recognize our privilege Innovation and Tradition as a respected arts presenter with a broad platform and We value the importance of nurturing, investing in, and will use our resources to champion the power of art to presenting new artistic work and ideas, understanding tell important stories about the breadth of the human by connecting that not all attempts will be successful; at the same time, experience, providing further opportunities for public we will celebrate and present the cultural and artistic discourse around socially engaged artistic work. We will legacy of the best traditional works of art. deepen our diversity, equity, and inclusion work internally and externally, moving beyond representation into meaningful action and advocacy. audiences Participation and Collaboration We seek the active involvement of those who share our love of the arts, and we strive to establish partnerships with artists, individuals, groups, and organizations that and artists in will help us foster our mission, as well as share our resources to support community needs and interests. uncommon and engaging experiences. OUR MISSION 4 5 STAY PRESENT STAY 2019—20 SEASON IN REVIEW 141ST SEASON ECONOMIC IMPACT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT UNIVERSITY & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS 62 1,719 272 16,366 public performances hotel room nights booked education and education and for touring personnel community engagement community events engagement 6 $8.8M attendance 69 16 School Day classes incorporated UMS faculty received UMS Performances generated for our local events into their curriculum course development grants community as a result of UMS programming 7 K-12 PROGRAMS HD broadcasts of theater and dance 79 63 DIGITAL activities participating 21 131 schools, including artist visits with students total University Programs 58,011 32 underserved offered for students and public performance schools faculty attendance 6% growth in Facebook followers 6 25 School Day ticket and Performances transportation 62 1,089 grants awarded STUDENT ATTENDANCE total Community Programs downloads for new offered No Safety Net podcast series 21.3% 65% from of audience were Washtenaw County students 17% from Wayne County 17% from REVENUE SOURCES $360,487 other counties amount students saved on student tickets $2,449,250 ticket sales 67% COVID-19 IMPACT average student ticket $201,820 discount value of donated tickets due to COVID-19 cancellations 23 40 1 2 performances and education events canceled School Day Performance and HD broadcasts DASHBOARD $14.96 due to COVID-19, including average price paid for $4,804,791 student tickets cash and in-kind gifts 620 $11,500 estimated hours and spent transforming ticket 1,795 office and UMS staff to individuals, corporations, and remote work environment foundations supporting UMS 6 7 2019—20 PROGRAMMING ARTISTIC EXCEPTIONAL SEASON IN REVIEW “No Safety Net has THEMES EXPLORED DURING THIS SECOND FESTIVAL NO SAFETY2.0 NET been probably the single most impactful event on campus for Masculinity and internet me in my time as an radicalization From January 17 - February 9, UMS hosted No Safety (The Believers Are But Brothers) Net 2.0, its second festival of provocative theater undergraduate so far.” productions that foster timely conversations around topical social themes. - UMS AUDIENCE SURVEY The refugee crisis, PROVOCATIVE realized through THEATER. a one-on-one experience between an audience COURAGEOUS member and an artist CONVERSATIONS. (As Far As My Fingertips Take Me) SAFE SPACES. Patriotism, interrogation, and whistleblowing (Is This a Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription) Race, feminism, and privilege (White Feminist) 8 9 2019—20 SEASON IN REVIEW EXCEPTIONAL ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING ARTISTIC EXCEPTIONAL NO SAFETY NET 2.0 EDUCATIONAL CONNECTIONS PODCAST PERFORMANCES 19 Nearly 4 1,089 performances of three 60 community lectures and downloads for UMS’s first productions, including workshops, including a Penny podcast series, featuring opportunities for audiences one university student Stamps lecture by Public interviews with the and U-M and area high school matinee and two School Theater artistic director Oskar participating artists students to engage with Day Performances, in Eustis and events related to the content related to the both Ann Arbor and election meddling, feminist performances Dearborn comedy, and internet trolling 150 NO SAFETY NET 2.0 WAS MADE 244 635 POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM students participated individual slots for people attended post- in seven different class Fingertips performance Q&As and sessions on creating Community Dialogues devised theater work, as part of an extended K-12 residency related to The Believers Are But Brothers at the Early College Alliance 8+ ATTENDANCE program at EMU and the curricular connections Arts Academy at Plymouth- highlighted in an article in Canton Educational Park American Theatre magazine, William Davidson Foundation (P-CEP). The two-month- including the following 3,720 courses: Perspectives long residency included a The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation people attended, culminating performance of on Health Care, Theatre including 373 high school the students’ work shortly and Incarceration, Goods students at School Day before the pandemic closed and Goodness, Engaging Performances schools for the year. Performance, Central European Origins of Political Culture, Provocations and Other Acts, History of the 1,993 329 Present, 21st Century Dramaturgies, and more! participated in at students participated in 12 least one education/ classroom visits by No Safety community engagement Net artists event 38.5% of those attending were students 40% HIGHLIGHTS of audiences attended “As a great liberal arts college, LSA extends the boundaries of what is understood more than one about the human experience and the world around us. The bold artists of the production No Safety Net series do the same, challenging our notions of art and theater, and giving us powerful insights into our fellow humans and the world we all inhabit.” - ANNE CURZAN, DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE & THE ARTS 10 11 2018—19 SEASON IN REVIEW 2018—19 SEASON 2019—20 PROGRAMMING ARTISTIC EXCEPTIONAL SEASON IN REVIEW DONOR APPRECIATION Who Makes OTHER It Possible? This special concert was made EXCEPTIONAL possible with support from: ARTISTIC Max Wicha and Sheila Crowley PROGRAMMING Mr. and Mrs. Robert O. and Darragh H. Weisman “What an amazing thing it is to have easy access to a venue like Hill Auditorium along with the incredible arts programming that UMS arranges every year. My family and I have seen a number of fantastic events at Hill, though the Chick Corea Trilogy concert last Saturday evening was — for me — one of the best live music performances I’ve ever attended (and I’ve seen a few). My thanks to you and your colleagues at UMS Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, and Emanuel Ax for making it happen. That To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday, these three classical superstars came together for level of musicianship is a a sellout evening featuring three Beethoven Piano Trios. This also turned out