Arts Council Names Hope Chávez As New Director

New Haven’s arts council has tapped an ex-Long Wharf Theatre artistic planning director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival associate producer, and co-president of the New Haven Pride Center’s board to be its next executive director.

In a Thursday morning email press release, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven announced the appointment of Hope Chávez as the new executive director of the regional arts nonprofit. 

She replaces Daniel Fitzmaurice, who left the arts council in March 2022 for an arts administrator job in Washington, D.C. Winter Marshall has served as interim director since Fitzmaurice’s departure.

See below for Thursday’s press release in full.

After an inclusive nationwide search led by ALJP Consulting and a dedicated group of board, staff, and community members, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven is excited to announce that Hope Chávez has been named as our new Executive Director starting September 5th. 

Hope Chávez (she/her/ella) is a creative producer, facilitator, and non-profit arts leader. Hope is guided by her calling to center joy and justice to shift systems of power to radically support the underserved culture makers in her community. Her appointment as the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven marks a homecoming for Hope as she returns from Ashland, Oregon where she spent the last sixteen months as an Associate Producer at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Prior to her appointment at OSF, Hope was the Director of Artistic Planning at Long Wharf Theatre. Hope is eager to return home where, during her last chapter in The Elm City, she was able to serve as a member of the New Haven Co-Creation team – who crafted the first cultural equity plan in Connecticut – and as a member of the New Haven Cultural Affairs Committee. She is the newly appointed Co-President of The New Haven Pride Center Board of Directors, alongside Co-President Nick Bussett (he/him), on which she has served since 2021. 

Throughout her career, Hope has maintained practices as a facilitator, public speaker, and consultant for arts organizations specializing in producing artistic and educational programs, operationalizing anti-oppression values, budgeting for sustainability, and leading organizational change management. Her leadership and facilitation practices draw from her trainings under such revolutionaries as adrienne maree brown (2019 Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute), Carmen Morgan (2019 artEquity Facilitator Training), Quita Sullivan (2018 Leadership Through Mentorship Program with WOCA), and many more.

Hope currently serves as an advisory council member on Accountability for Abundance (an initiative from Theatre Communications Group) and as a guest lecturer at institutions including the School of Drama at Yale and Juilliard Drama. 

The press release also quotes Babz Rawls-Ivy, chair of the Arts Council’s Board of Directors, as saying: ​“I am excited to welcome Hope to our team! Her extensive leadership and expertise within creative organizations in our community and beyond will help guide the Arts Council into this exciting new chapter for our organization and creative ecosystem. Many thanks to ALJP Consulting, the Search Committee, our staff and Board plus the numerous community members who helped the Arts Council with this process.”