Alliance for the Arts

Outgoing Executive Director Molly Rowan-Deckart thinks the Alliance for the Arts has a bright future that centers around the unrealized potential associated with its largely undeveloped 10-acre campus and ongoing role as arts advocate and catalyst for change.

The Alliance The Alliance for the Arts announced Monday that Molly Rowan-Deckart will step down from her role as Executive Director effective December 15, to assume the role of CEO of Marquee Arts in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In addition to shows that afford opportunities for actors of color and discourse on the Black experience in America, under Bill Taylor’s tutelage, Theatre Conspiracy has pioneered efforts to produce plays written by female playwrights and that provide strong female characters. Going forward, it will be embracing programming derived from fringe festivals.

Tampa-based blues, roots rock and sacred steel musician Damon Fowler performs Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Alliance for the Arts’ “Art Is Essential” bash. Ahead of the concert, we’ll talk with Fowler about his musical journey and hear songs from his latest album “Barnyard Smile.”

In 2019, Stephanie Davis directed the Evan Linder-Andrew Hobgood satire “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” for Theatre Conspiracy. She returns to the Alliance for the Arts to direct the show again this year because it’s such a good time for the audiences who see it.

To help the Alliance replace the funding lost when Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed all arts and cultural grants, local playwright and actor Frank Blocker is bringing his Fringe Fort Myers 2024 Best-in-Venue performance back to the Alliance for one night only benefit on August 30.

In an unexpected and unprecedented move, Governor Ron DeSantis, in June, vetoed $32 million dollars in state grants for more than 600 arts and culture organizations throughout Florida. We hear an encore of our conversation with Molly Rowan-Deckart from the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers, Elysia Dawn with United Arts Collier, and arts reporter Tom Hall about how local arts and culture organizations are coping with the lost funds and about the economic impact of the region’s arts and culture industry.

In an unexpected and unprecedented move, last month, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million dollars in state grants for more than 600 arts and culture organizations throughout Florida. We hear from Molly Rowan-Deckart with the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers, Elysia Dawn with United Arts Collier, and arts reporter Tom Hall about how local arts and culture organizations are coping with the lost funds and about the economic impact of the region’s arts and culture industry.

The Americans for the Arts’ AEP6 (Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6) finds that Lee County’s nonprofit arts and culture sector generated more than $135 million in economic activity in 2022 and supported more than 2,500 full time jobs. We explore results of the study, and the case they make for more public support for the arts, in a conversation with Alliance for the Arts Executive Director Molly Rowan-Deckart, Florida Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen, and local arts reporter and advocate Tom Hall.

Renowned for his visionary approach to artmaking, local artist David Hatchett possessed a keen ability to invent new methods of artistic expression. Notwithstanding his recent passing, Hatchett's legacy continues to grow. On June 7th, family, friends and ardent admirers will gather in the Foulds Theatre Gallery at the Alliance for the Arts for the first exhibition of David's work since his death in March.