Transformational Success

By Staff Writer Atlanta Trend

• Dec 01, 2016

When Arturo Jacobus joined Atlanta Ballet as executive director in 2009, the nation’s oldest ballet company was at a turning point. Despite the Company’s growing artistic profile and the excitement of major milestones, such as the 80^th anniversary season, its future still hung in the balance as the Ballet was rebounding from a period financial uncertainty.

Six years later, the now 86-year-old Company is in the best shape of its life. Atlanta Ballet has since moved into a new home – a sprawling 54,000 sq. ft. facility in the burgeoning West Midtown district of the city; completed its most ambitious fundraising campaign in company history; and emerged as an artistic powerhouse, presenting works from some of the most in-demand choreographers of the day.

The success, however, was not by accident, but in large part the result of Jacobus’ leadership.

“It’s a personal dream come true,” said Atlanta Ballet artistic director John McFall of Jacobus in an interview shortly after the hire. “My long-range view was if I could entice him into being able to spend some time consulting with Atlanta Ballet, maybe one day, it would be a dream that he could be executive director.”

Together, McFall and Jacobus, now President and CEO, along with Atlanta Ballet Board Chair Allen W. Nelson (Executive Vice President of Crawford & Company), have created an Atlanta Ballet that is quite different from the one Jacobus inherited in 2009.

But those aware of Jacobus’ background may not be surprised by the recent achievements of Atlanta Ballet.

From Big Band to Ballet
Jacobus began his career in the arts as an artist. As a youngster growing up in Hoquiam, Washington – a little town on the west coast of the state known mostly for lumbering – he had dreams of becoming a lead trumpeter with the Stan Kenton band, one of the last major jazz bands to emerge from the Big Band era.

While his dream of joining Kenton never materialized, Jacobus would go on to serve for twenty years as a bandmaster for the United States Navy, even founding a 50-member NATO ensemble of service musicians from the Army, Navy, and Air Force of Italy, Greece, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S., which toured Europe performing concerts, variety shows, and military ceremonies.

Following his stint in the Navy, Jacobus would go on to sit at the helm of six major arts organizations throughout the country, becoming lauded in the performing arts community for his strong business acumen and visionary leadership.

By the time he joined Atlanta Ballet, Jacobus had amassed nearly 20 years of experience in the ballet field serving as president and executive director, respectively, of two internationally recognized ballet companies, Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

During his nearly decade long tenure at San Francisco Ballet, Jacobus led the creation of a strategic plan that helped put the company on the world stage and built a $35 million endowment. As president of Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet, he led the organization from its early developmental stages to a fully professional organization and successfully led a $13.5 million capital campaign to build a new ballet center at the Seattle Center.

Just before starting with Atlanta Ballet, the heralded arts leader served as CEO and Executive Director of world premier glass artist Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, Washington, the largest, most comprehensive educational center in the world for artists working in glass.

In the Q&A below Arturo shares insight on his love of ballet, what has surprised him most about the city of Atlanta over the past six years, and what the community can expect from Atlanta Ballet in the near future.  

1. You have spent a considerable share of your career with ballet companies. Why have you been so drawn to the art form?

My passion for dance and my complete respect for dance artists has evolved. I have been a musician all my life. Indeed, my first chief executive position upon retiring after twenty years as a US Navy Bandmaster, was as a music executive; I was president and general manager of the Oakland Symphony, in Oakland, California. From there, I was recruited to be president and CEO of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington, and later as executive director of San Francisco Ballet. Over that twenty-year period, I was able to see at close range the hard work, the discipline and the total dedication it takes to be a great dancer. I also saw the complexities of leading and supporting a ballet company, and the all-out effort of board, staff, artists and community that must come into play for a successful organization. Mostly, though, I have grown to love what goes on stage – the beauty, the athleticism, the super-human moves, the emotion, and the complexity. 

2. What role do you think Atlanta Ballet plays in the community?

All of our arts organizations play a vital role in the community. Whether an individual enjoys or attends the arts is a matter of preference and taste, but on so many levels the arts are critical to the economic development, educational advancement, social well-being, stature, desirability and over-all culture of our community. Atlanta Ballet, however, makes two additional major contributions. Our “Nutcracker” at the Fox Theater is a beloved Holiday tradition, performing to more than 50,000 people each December, and our Centre for Dance Education touches the lives of more than 30,000 young people every year through our education and community programs.

3. Over the last five years, Atlanta Ballet has experienced tremendous success, especially during a time when many other arts organizations have struggled and in some cases even closed its doors. Why do you think this has been the case?

There is no single reason. It gets back to fundamentals. We have focused sharply on what we put on stage and how we can distinguish ourselves from other arts organizations in the Southeast, and other dance companies in the United States. Our art is our brand. And we are dedicated to producing consistently compelling performances of extraordinary works. We want, at the same time, to inspire our audiences and to advance the art of dance. What supports that is a great school, excellent marketing and fundraising, a committed board, and fiscal discipline.

4. As the organization’s chief administrator, what challenges have you faced in the last six years?

Every day is a challenge. It’s what keeps me young. The complexities and uncertainties of my job are stimulating and gratifying. But when I sit in the theater and watch all of that beauty, artistry and skill, and realize I have played a role in making it possible, any particular challenges I might be facing at the time just melt away.

5. What can the community – especially the business community – do to better support the organization? And conversely, what should the arts community do to better engage the business sector?

The business community can first be aware that Atlanta has a vibrant, diverse and exceptionally high-level arts community and it is deserving of their support. Secondly, they must realize that, while the Woodruff Arts Center is a great organization and deserves all of the support they receive, they are not the only arts organization in town. In virtually every other major city, the symphony, opera, ballet, theater, art museum and often the performing arts center are more or less on equal footing in terms of budget size, philanthropic support and perceived value. In Atlanta, this is not the case. A healthy arts ecosystem relies on breadth, depth, and diversity.  

What the arts community can do to better engage the business sector is ensure representation on our boards, understand that the business sector needs to be able to justify their support for the arts to their shareholders or investors and that a relationship needs to be mutually beneficial.

6. What should we expect from Atlanta Ballet in the future? Where do you see Atlanta Ballet 5 years from now?

Most importantly, Atlanta Ballet will be selecting a new artistic director, to begin with the 2016-2017 season. We are searching for an individual who will build upon the legacy left by our artistic director of 21 years, John McFall, and will excite our community, thrill our audiences, inspire our dancers and lead our organization to a new level over the next decade and beyond. I see Atlanta Ballet as a major artistic force, both locally and nationally in five years and I see the organization as a financially stable and sustainable institution, as well.

7. What are some of the projects, productions, and/or initiatives you’re most proud of from the last six years?

Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo and Juliette. I first saw it performed by Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) a year or two before I arrived in Atlanta. And when the opportunity came along to acquire it for Atlanta Ballet, John McFall and I collaborated to make that possible. The artistic innovation fund we established in our last capital campaign, thanks to Chris Carlos, provided the financial resources to co-build and co-own the production with PNB. We now not only have an exquisite production of that timeless story in our repertoire, but we regularly receive rental income from other companies in the US who wish to perform it, as well.