August 14, 2024 • 20 mins
"Westmoreland Cultural Trust is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to stimulate cultural and economic development in the Westmoreland County region. We promote the performing arts; we preserve and enhance our region's assets for the benefit of the community." https://www.thepalacetheatre.org/westmoreland-cultural-trust/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
And welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to Benjamin Luzac.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you so much for having me. Johnny. It's a
pleasure to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
So tell us everything we need to know about the
Westmoreland Cultural Trust.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, the west morning Cultural Trust is the largest arts
and cultural nonprofit in Westmoreland County. We serve over one
hundred thousand people annually, and our mission is to stimulate
economic and cultural development within Westmoreland County and the surrounding region.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
All right, so what are the venues that we know
that you are kind of in control of.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, everyone knows our flagship probably, which is the Palace Theater.
It was built in nineteen twenty six, and we probably
have one hundred and twenty different acts that come through annually.
But also we own and manage three other buildings, the
Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, the Union Trust Building, and
the Stark James Building, all in Greensburg, PA.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Now, you're fairly new to this position, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I am. Yeah, I start in May.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
All right, So tell us about what brought you to
the Westmoreland Cultural Trust.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Then, well, you know, I'm originally from this area. I
grew up in penn Township. I'm a graduate of pen
Trafford High School. But I've been gone for the past
twenty years. Both I've got my undergrad and master's degree
at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, and then I went
on to work for major nonprofit organizations throughout the country,
including the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Performing Arts Broadway, Dallas,
(01:29):
Oslo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, Florida, and most recently Des
Moines Performing Arts in Des Moines, Iowa. So it's a
pleasure to be back in western Pennsylvania. You know, I
grew up on these stages. In the early two thousands,
I performed in brigadoone at the Palace Theater, and in
two thousand and four, I performed in a Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Greensburg
Garden and Civic Center. And I feel like everything in
(01:52):
my career has been leading me to, you know, come
back and serve the community that I grew up in
a CEO and leadership position.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You've been on stage, but you're also in the boardroom,
so to speak. Yes, how do you combine that? Is
that kind of an intentional goal?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, it's a funny story. You know. Whenever I graduated,
I have my BFA musical theater, I moved to New
York City and a couple months and I was like, Hell,
I can't do this for a living. I can't do
these auditions, these cattle call auditions and survival jobs. So
I went back to school and you know, for arts management.
And so I really do think and I've sort of
spent time in development or fundraising for the past twelve years,
(02:31):
and I think they're very similar in nature because there's
effective communication, it's telling a story, it's you know, getting
people to get behind a mission of an organization, and
it's active listening. You know, you have to listen to
your donors, your funders on what they want for the organization,
and then it's your job, you know, to come up
(02:53):
with the solution for their problem.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But the fact that you've been on stage, you know
what it takes to present a quality product.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, you have to be in the moment and you
have to really commit to what you're doing, and yeah,
everything comes with training, and you know, I do think
that being an actor and a performer has really, you know,
furthered my personal mission, you know, communicating with donors and funders.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
As soon as we started the podcast, I said, are
you a singer? Because you have an amazing voice? You
do you sing?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I do? Yeah. I actually before I went to school
for musical theater, I was going for I was thinking
about going for opera performance. I had two teachers growing
up who one was a protege of Rennetta Tabaldi and
another one was a protege of William Worfelt, the original
Joe in Showboat. So I do have a bass baritone
(03:46):
opera voice. Now the only people that hear that are
my husband and my dogs.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Oh okay, well, and we hear it now. And I
picked it up on. I picked up on it right away.
It was amazing. So what was the vision that you
presented that got you the position of CEO.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I think it was just a forward thinking mindset. You know,
for the past twenty five years, the cultural Trust, the
West Wollne Cultural Trust was headed by, you know, people
who did not have an arts and a cultural background.
They had more of a business background. And I think
whenever I was, you know, applying for this position, I
(04:22):
started my initial conversations. The board was really looking for
someone with an arts management background that understood the facilities,
the differred maintenance on the Palace Theater, the security that
we need for the Palace Theater, the fact that we're
a thirty year old, thirty two year old organization and
we don't have a permanent endowment for the organization too.
(04:43):
That's something that I want to create, And I just
think that they were looking for someone who understood the
art instead of just understanding the business aspect.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So we know about the Palace Theater, so tell us
about the other entities that are that fall under the
umbrella of the trust.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah. Yeah, So the Palace Theater is obviously our flagship.
About eighty thousand people come through that annually. But the
Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, they have a small auditorium,
they have a flower garden, butterfly garden, there multiple breakout spaces.
We house multiple nonprofits in that as well, and last
year we over thirty thousand people came through that venue
(05:21):
as well. So it's a beautiful space located about a
mile and a half from downtown Greensburg. And then we
also own two other historic buildings on the same block
as the Palace Theater. One is the Union Trust Building
and we have tenants like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Somerset
Trust is going to open their flagship brands on the
main floor of that later this summer. And then we
also have the Stark James Building, which is another historic building.
(05:44):
It houses the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, the Pittsburgh
Foundation's entity. There we have Lawyers Abtract in that building.
There's going to be a distillery that's opening. So out
of our four venues, we actually have thirty two tenants,
both private and commercial tenants, nonprofit tenants in our buildings.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
So I've lived in Westmorelon County. It's and it's a
brute beautiful area and that whole area has changed dramatically
over the last twenty thirty years. So what would you like?
Who do you serve? Let's let's let's start there.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, it's interesting because you know, we are known as
the West Mornon Cultural Trust and everyone who serves on
our board is from Westmoreland County. But we have actually
we were my marketing director Daniel and I were really
looking at the statistics of the people that we serve.
In twenty twenty two, actually sixty one percent of the
patrons of the Palace Theater came from outside Westmoreland County,
(06:38):
and that's something that a lot of people don't know.
So we really are a regional entity. We are not competing,
you know, with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and they're much
larger than us, but I think that we serve a
different audience than they do. So we serve the people
of Westboleon County and also western Pennsylvania. And my goal
as the CEO is to have people think of the
(06:59):
Palace Theater, the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center like a
target or a panera where they visit frequently. And my
goal is to break down those barriers that people, you know,
initially feel whenever they want to go to the night
at the theater. They think it's so hoity toity sometimes,
and I wanted to be like, you know, I want
them to feel welcome, not just invited, but welcome to
(07:21):
attend all of our performances in all of our venues.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
All right, So what is Westmorelands County's reaction to the
Westmoreland Cultural Trust. I mean, I've bet a lot of
people don't know that your nonprofit organization. So can you
can you dig a little deeper into that?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah, we are a nonprofit. We are the
large arts and cultural nonprofit in Westmoean County. Are budget's
about eight million dollars annually. And you know, one of
the things that I want to do, and this will
come up in our strategic planning that we're going to
do in the fall, is I want to create a
new arm of our administration, education and engagement where we
can really go out to the community and you know,
(07:59):
do free parks and performances, both in New Kensington to
Manescent to you know, Franklin Regional to Ligonier because you know,
we're not just the Greensburg Cultural Trust where the Westmoreland
Cultural Trust and I think that we really need to
get out in the community more so, I'm really looking
forward to an education and engagement arm.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
So is that outreach that that is something new? And
why hasn't that been done before?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, I don't know why it hasn't been done before.
We have done different outreach efforts. We have Arts in
the Alley which is an artist a free gallery if
you will, in the alley between the Palace Theater and
the Union Trust Building. We have wings over Westmoreland County,
which is an arts initiative where we have different wings
in different parks. But I just don't know if it
(08:45):
was a priority of previous administrations. But I mean, moving forward,
we want to be a collaborator. We want to work
with different nonprofits and we want to be there to
support them, you know, being the largest nonprofit in the county.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
All right, So when you started just a couple of
months ago, what was your priority and what is going
to be your priority in the next year or so,
two years, five years, ten years. What kind of plans
do you have?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, so that's a great question. So we are engaging
in strategic planning this fall and hopefully to have a
three year strategic plan from two thousand and five to
twenty twenty five to two thousand and twenty seven. And
one of the key focuses that is going to be
the Education Engagement arm but also the Palace Theater turns
one hundred years old in twenty twenty six, and I
(09:27):
envision a year long celebration. Not only is it one
hundred year anniversary of the Palace Theater, but it's also
the two hundred and fifty at the anniversary of our country.
So we really plan on working with the City of
Greensburg and other entities on year long celebration. So in
September of twenty twenty six, there's probably going to be
week long festivals. We want to present things that were
(09:48):
initially presented whenever the Palace opened one hundred years ago,
like animal acts, magician ask or lesque acts, vaudeville acts. Obviously,
we're probably going to do a huge gala, but I
a so I think this is going to be a
great fundraising opportunity for us. There's so much deferred maintenance
on one hundred year old building and we want to
get it up to stuff by the anniversary. And I
(10:10):
envisioned the creation of a permanent endowment for the West
morn and Cultural Trust, just to secure the future and
plan for our future.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Okay, that sounds like a lofty goal. How do you
start that? You know, conversations and relationship building. I have
been out meeting practically with every CEO and every foundation
since I've started, and we have quite the story to tell.
And I think there's some rebuilding of relationships that need
to happen. But you know what, it's all good. What
(10:39):
do you mean relationships that need to be mended or
you know, changed or what has happened at how would
you like to change it?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I just think, you know, the west More and Cultural Trust,
you know, came from a business mindset background, and I
don't think sometimes relationships were stewarded properly between funding organizations.
So my goal is just to get in front of them,
these funders, these foundations, and build a relationship and tell
them my vision because I think a lot of people
(11:07):
can get behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
What are some misconceptions that people have over the Trust
or the Palace Theater because they assume that you're bringing
in all these amazing acts year week after week, month
after month, year after year. But that's that's not really
what you have your hand in.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah. So a lot of the shows that we do,
they're called promoter shows where they actually rent the theater
from us and they get to keep the majority of
the proceeds from the box office sales and we get
sort of a split, but not not a lot. You know.
It's funny. Some I'll pray get in trouble for saying
this even though on the CEO, But you know it.
You know, if we have a show and we sell
(11:46):
one hundred and twenty thousand dollars worth of tickets, we
only keep probably eight percent of that. A lot of
it goes back to the promoters, the stage hands, the artist.
So it's you know, it's it's like a money making organization.
And I think that's one of the misconceptions that you
mentioned earlier. People think we're for profit just because we
(12:07):
have these amazing acts that go through and it's not true.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So as so, what's your role, what's your role and
how do you want to change that role?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, my role is I think my main role is
to be the storyteller of the organization throughout the community
and the region. You know, I do have eight direct
reports from fundraising to marketing, to operations to finance. But
also it's to be a good have good relations with
(12:38):
the board of directors because those are really the visionaries
of the organization. There is the ones who they are
the ones who you know, really think about the strategic
planning of the organization where they wanted to go, and
I'm just the executor of that. You know, I am
the storyteller and I serve at the leisure of the board,
and I'm really lucky over the past couple of months
to have built really wonderful relationships, especially with my executive committee.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, you talk about your board and different relationships, So
tell us about your team.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Oh, my team is wonderful. I inherited a lovely team.
We have one individual who's been with the organization for
twenty six years in different capacities, and then a lot
of the team is new. Our director of marketing, our
director of development have been there for less than a year.
You know, the pandemic hit arts and culture organizations really hard.
(13:26):
A lot of people left arts and culture because they
didn't they didn't think, you know, that there was a
life beyond that. You know everyone everyone was listening to
YouTube and watching Netflix and is there life beyond that?
And I think that the pandemic taught us one thing.
It is that there is nothing like the communal experience
of live performance. So we're glad to have a rather
(13:51):
new team, a very ambitious team, a team that is
willing to change and make this organization that it's the
best that it could be about. Benjamin, Well, what do
you want to know?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I you know, I grew up, like I said, in Penttrafford,
graduated from there, and you know, got my undergrad and
master's degree from Shenandoah University. Undergrads and musical theater performance,
and master's degree is in arts management. What do I
do with my husband? I met Nomaha ten years ago.
We've been married for four years. We have three for babies,
(14:25):
two docsons and a husky. They are the loves of
my life.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Hiski, boy, you are a brave ray. That's a brave
couple right there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, it's It's an eleven year old husky named Noah,
and then our two docsons, once four years old, named Gustavo,
and the two year old is named Winston.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
So do you still see yourself as a performer.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
In the shower? Maybe singing to my dogs? I know no.
Whenever I was in fundraising, I used to tell all
my donors, you know, this is why I'm so passionate,
you know about performing arts, because I've lived it. And
I used to tell everyone, you know what, I'm gonna
win my Tony Award and retire. I'm just going to
move to New York at sixty five and sixty eight
seven and perform and win my Tony.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, the reason why I'm asking that is it goes
back to my previous question is that once somebody understands
what it takes to present a quality product on stage,
I think it's important that you know that, you learn
that lesson and you keep that like it's the product.
It's the performance that is going to draw people to
(15:27):
the theaters and the different events. So that's part of.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Your ethos absolutely, you know. One of my goals also,
you know, being a relatively new CEO is to diversify
our programming. We have a lot of nostalgic bands, We
have a lot of musicians that come through. I'm really
looking forward to Jay Leno. I grew up watching Jay
Leno with my dad. He's coming in November. But I
also want to start like a family series or a
(15:53):
jazz series to really connect with other populations that we serve.
You know, that's something that I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, yeah, let's talk about some of the things that
are happening over the next year or so that you
think are notable and which is something that's worth mentioning.
Are there certain performances shows that you would like to highlight.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, we have Josh Turner coming up in I believe
September or October. And then we also have Matt Frasier.
He's a psychic, he can read minds. Obviously, I'm excited
for Jay Leno. We have an Abba cover band coming,
you know, a Queen cover band coming. So we're really
looking forward to all of that. But I really really
(16:34):
want to, you know, diversify that programming more. We just
had Danny Go, which is a children's performer, and it
sold out two performances in the middle of the day.
I think we had a noon show and a five show.
Sold up performances. I think we did fifty thousand dollars
in merchandise alone. And you know, just to see kids
(16:57):
in the audience, you know, reacting, I'm getting chills a
little bit because I knew I wouldn't be performing arts
or a life in the theater if I wasn't exposed
to that at a young age. I remember going to
the Benendem Center and seeing the Phantom of the Opera
at nine years old with my grandma, and that was
life changing for me. So to see children in the
audiences and the reactions to these shows. That's sort of
(17:18):
why I want to create a family series.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You know, one thing I'm very proud of of the
Greater Pittsburgh area is that we have a rich history
in the arts that people don't know that. We have
an appreciation of arts that rival cities like New York
and Chicago, and I think we're better than LA And
so when you talk about a centennial celebration, that's a
(17:41):
lot of history to celebrate and to that it's going
to be on display. So what are some of your
plans for the centennial.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Well, like I said, a week long celebration would be optimal.
We want to honestly create a coffee table book of
the history of the Palace Theater. People don't know know
that Gloria Stefan, Chubby Checker, Nick Jonas have graced the
stage of our theater, and just to be able to
encapsulate that into a coffee table book I think would
be really really great. Obviously, some sort of gala and celebration,
(18:15):
I'd love to, you know, take some of the performances
on tour throughout the county. And I'm just going back
to Western Pennsylvanian arts and culture. I totally agree with you.
Having lived in Dallas and Omaha, in Sarasota, Florida, there
is nothing like the arts and cultural scene in Pittsburgh
and the surrounding regions. One of my mentors I was
(18:36):
her grad assistant fifteen years ago, is Kendra Whitlock Ingram,
and she's president now president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
And so it's so fun because you know, we're both
CEOs in the same you know, market, but we're not
in competition, you know where where we have a unique
friendship and I love to run things past her and
(18:57):
she loves to run things past me as well.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Okay, and you were taking this position, did she give
you any advice?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
She did? You know? I was considering before I moved here,
taking another development gig, and I was talking to her
about a year ago, a little less than a year ago,
and she said, Ben, now is your time. She's like,
you need a be e CEO. And you know you've
been in arts management for you know, fifteen years now,
(19:25):
She's like, do it. And a couple weeks later, I
saw the advertisement for this position and it was sort
of kismet. You know, I grew up on these stages
like I said, at the Palace and the Garden Center,
and it's a great organization, it's great mentorship, and I
believe everything does happen for a reason. I believe I'm
meant to be where I am right now. Do you
(19:46):
enjoy what you do? Absolutely? You know. I was thinking
about not leaving Performing Arts, but I was so I
don't want to say bored, but it was monotonous just
doing fundraising all the time. Because I've been there, I've
done that, and now I'm really getting to shine with
all the other things that I've learned, from marketing to programming,
(20:07):
to patron services, to fundraising to business and I get
to do that every day. I'm constantly challenged. There's something
new coming my way every five minutes, and I'm there
to problem solve and I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Benjamin Luzac, CEO of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust and the
CEO You Should Know, Benjamin, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Thank you so much, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
This has been the CEOs You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Artwell, thank
you so much for listening,
And welcome in. This is the CEOs You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heartwell, let's say hello to Benjamin Luzac.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you so much for having me. Johnny. It's a
pleasure to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
So tell us everything we need to know about the
Westmoreland Cultural Trust.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, the west morning Cultural Trust is the largest arts
and cultural nonprofit in Westmoreland County. We serve over one
hundred thousand people annually, and our mission is to stimulate
economic and cultural development within Westmoreland County and the surrounding region.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
All right, so what are the venues that we know
that you are kind of in control of.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, everyone knows our flagship probably, which is the Palace Theater.
It was built in nineteen twenty six, and we probably
have one hundred and twenty different acts that come through annually.
But also we own and manage three other buildings, the
Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, the Union Trust Building, and
the Stark James Building, all in Greensburg, PA.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Now, you're fairly new to this position, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I am. Yeah, I start in May.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
All right, So tell us about what brought you to
the Westmoreland Cultural Trust.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Then, well, you know, I'm originally from this area. I
grew up in penn Township. I'm a graduate of pen
Trafford High School. But I've been gone for the past
twenty years. Both I've got my undergrad and master's degree
at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, and then I went
on to work for major nonprofit organizations throughout the country,
including the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Performing Arts Broadway, Dallas,
(01:29):
Oslo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, Florida, and most recently Des
Moines Performing Arts in Des Moines, Iowa. So it's a
pleasure to be back in western Pennsylvania. You know, I
grew up on these stages. In the early two thousands,
I performed in brigadoone at the Palace Theater, and in
two thousand and four, I performed in a Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Greensburg
Garden and Civic Center. And I feel like everything in
(01:52):
my career has been leading me to, you know, come
back and serve the community that I grew up in
a CEO and leadership position.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You've been on stage, but you're also in the boardroom,
so to speak. Yes, how do you combine that? Is
that kind of an intentional goal?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, it's a funny story. You know. Whenever I graduated,
I have my BFA musical theater, I moved to New
York City and a couple months and I was like, Hell,
I can't do this for a living. I can't do
these auditions, these cattle call auditions and survival jobs. So
I went back to school and you know, for arts management.
And so I really do think and I've sort of
spent time in development or fundraising for the past twelve years,
(02:31):
and I think they're very similar in nature because there's
effective communication, it's telling a story, it's you know, getting
people to get behind a mission of an organization, and
it's active listening. You know, you have to listen to
your donors, your funders on what they want for the organization,
and then it's your job, you know, to come up
(02:53):
with the solution for their problem.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But the fact that you've been on stage, you know
what it takes to present a quality product.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, you have to be in the moment and you
have to really commit to what you're doing, and yeah,
everything comes with training, and you know, I do think
that being an actor and a performer has really, you know,
furthered my personal mission, you know, communicating with donors and funders.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
As soon as we started the podcast, I said, are
you a singer? Because you have an amazing voice? You
do you sing?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I do? Yeah. I actually before I went to school
for musical theater, I was going for I was thinking
about going for opera performance. I had two teachers growing
up who one was a protege of Rennetta Tabaldi and
another one was a protege of William Worfelt, the original
Joe in Showboat. So I do have a bass baritone
(03:46):
opera voice. Now the only people that hear that are
my husband and my dogs.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Oh okay, well, and we hear it now. And I
picked it up on. I picked up on it right away.
It was amazing. So what was the vision that you
presented that got you the position of CEO.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I think it was just a forward thinking mindset. You know,
for the past twenty five years, the cultural Trust, the
West Wollne Cultural Trust was headed by, you know, people
who did not have an arts and a cultural background.
They had more of a business background. And I think
whenever I was, you know, applying for this position, I
(04:22):
started my initial conversations. The board was really looking for
someone with an arts management background that understood the facilities,
the differred maintenance on the Palace Theater, the security that
we need for the Palace Theater, the fact that we're
a thirty year old, thirty two year old organization and
we don't have a permanent endowment for the organization too.
(04:43):
That's something that I want to create, And I just
think that they were looking for someone who understood the
art instead of just understanding the business aspect.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So we know about the Palace Theater, so tell us
about the other entities that are that fall under the
umbrella of the trust.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah. Yeah, So the Palace Theater is obviously our flagship.
About eighty thousand people come through that annually. But the
Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, they have a small auditorium,
they have a flower garden, butterfly garden, there multiple breakout spaces.
We house multiple nonprofits in that as well, and last
year we over thirty thousand people came through that venue
(05:21):
as well. So it's a beautiful space located about a
mile and a half from downtown Greensburg. And then we
also own two other historic buildings on the same block
as the Palace Theater. One is the Union Trust Building
and we have tenants like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Somerset
Trust is going to open their flagship brands on the
main floor of that later this summer. And then we
also have the Stark James Building, which is another historic building.
(05:44):
It houses the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, the Pittsburgh
Foundation's entity. There we have Lawyers Abtract in that building.
There's going to be a distillery that's opening. So out
of our four venues, we actually have thirty two tenants,
both private and commercial tenants, nonprofit tenants in our buildings.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
So I've lived in Westmorelon County. It's and it's a
brute beautiful area and that whole area has changed dramatically
over the last twenty thirty years. So what would you like?
Who do you serve? Let's let's let's start there.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, it's interesting because you know, we are known as
the West Mornon Cultural Trust and everyone who serves on
our board is from Westmoreland County. But we have actually
we were my marketing director Daniel and I were really
looking at the statistics of the people that we serve.
In twenty twenty two, actually sixty one percent of the
patrons of the Palace Theater came from outside Westmoreland County,
(06:38):
and that's something that a lot of people don't know.
So we really are a regional entity. We are not competing,
you know, with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and they're much
larger than us, but I think that we serve a
different audience than they do. So we serve the people
of Westboleon County and also western Pennsylvania. And my goal
as the CEO is to have people think of the
(06:59):
Palace Theater, the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center like a
target or a panera where they visit frequently. And my
goal is to break down those barriers that people, you know,
initially feel whenever they want to go to the night
at the theater. They think it's so hoity toity sometimes,
and I wanted to be like, you know, I want
them to feel welcome, not just invited, but welcome to
(07:21):
attend all of our performances in all of our venues.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
All right, So what is Westmorelands County's reaction to the
Westmoreland Cultural Trust. I mean, I've bet a lot of
people don't know that your nonprofit organization. So can you
can you dig a little deeper into that?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah, we are a nonprofit. We are the
large arts and cultural nonprofit in Westmoean County. Are budget's
about eight million dollars annually. And you know, one of
the things that I want to do, and this will
come up in our strategic planning that we're going to
do in the fall, is I want to create a
new arm of our administration, education and engagement where we
can really go out to the community and you know,
(07:59):
do free parks and performances, both in New Kensington to
Manescent to you know, Franklin Regional to Ligonier because you know,
we're not just the Greensburg Cultural Trust where the Westmoreland
Cultural Trust and I think that we really need to
get out in the community more so, I'm really looking
forward to an education and engagement arm.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
So is that outreach that that is something new? And
why hasn't that been done before?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, I don't know why it hasn't been done before.
We have done different outreach efforts. We have Arts in
the Alley which is an artist a free gallery if
you will, in the alley between the Palace Theater and
the Union Trust Building. We have wings over Westmoreland County,
which is an arts initiative where we have different wings
in different parks. But I just don't know if it
(08:45):
was a priority of previous administrations. But I mean, moving forward,
we want to be a collaborator. We want to work
with different nonprofits and we want to be there to
support them, you know, being the largest nonprofit in the county.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
All right, So when you started just a couple of
months ago, what was your priority and what is going
to be your priority in the next year or so,
two years, five years, ten years. What kind of plans
do you have?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, so that's a great question. So we are engaging
in strategic planning this fall and hopefully to have a
three year strategic plan from two thousand and five to
twenty twenty five to two thousand and twenty seven. And
one of the key focuses that is going to be
the Education Engagement arm but also the Palace Theater turns
one hundred years old in twenty twenty six, and I
(09:27):
envision a year long celebration. Not only is it one
hundred year anniversary of the Palace Theater, but it's also
the two hundred and fifty at the anniversary of our country.
So we really plan on working with the City of
Greensburg and other entities on year long celebration. So in
September of twenty twenty six, there's probably going to be
week long festivals. We want to present things that were
(09:48):
initially presented whenever the Palace opened one hundred years ago,
like animal acts, magician ask or lesque acts, vaudeville acts. Obviously,
we're probably going to do a huge gala, but I
a so I think this is going to be a
great fundraising opportunity for us. There's so much deferred maintenance
on one hundred year old building and we want to
get it up to stuff by the anniversary. And I
(10:10):
envisioned the creation of a permanent endowment for the West
morn and Cultural Trust, just to secure the future and
plan for our future.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Okay, that sounds like a lofty goal. How do you
start that? You know, conversations and relationship building. I have
been out meeting practically with every CEO and every foundation
since I've started, and we have quite the story to tell.
And I think there's some rebuilding of relationships that need
to happen. But you know what, it's all good. What
(10:39):
do you mean relationships that need to be mended or
you know, changed or what has happened at how would
you like to change it?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I just think, you know, the west More and Cultural Trust,
you know, came from a business mindset background, and I
don't think sometimes relationships were stewarded properly between funding organizations.
So my goal is just to get in front of them,
these funders, these foundations, and build a relationship and tell
them my vision because I think a lot of people
(11:07):
can get behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
What are some misconceptions that people have over the Trust
or the Palace Theater because they assume that you're bringing
in all these amazing acts year week after week, month
after month, year after year. But that's that's not really
what you have your hand in.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah. So a lot of the shows that we do,
they're called promoter shows where they actually rent the theater
from us and they get to keep the majority of
the proceeds from the box office sales and we get
sort of a split, but not not a lot. You know.
It's funny. Some I'll pray get in trouble for saying
this even though on the CEO, But you know it.
You know, if we have a show and we sell
(11:46):
one hundred and twenty thousand dollars worth of tickets, we
only keep probably eight percent of that. A lot of
it goes back to the promoters, the stage hands, the artist.
So it's you know, it's it's like a money making organization.
And I think that's one of the misconceptions that you
mentioned earlier. People think we're for profit just because we
(12:07):
have these amazing acts that go through and it's not true.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So as so, what's your role, what's your role and
how do you want to change that role?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, my role is I think my main role is
to be the storyteller of the organization throughout the community
and the region. You know, I do have eight direct
reports from fundraising to marketing, to operations to finance. But
also it's to be a good have good relations with
(12:38):
the board of directors because those are really the visionaries
of the organization. There is the ones who they are
the ones who you know, really think about the strategic
planning of the organization where they wanted to go, and
I'm just the executor of that. You know, I am
the storyteller and I serve at the leisure of the board,
and I'm really lucky over the past couple of months
to have built really wonderful relationships, especially with my executive committee.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, you talk about your board and different relationships, So
tell us about your team.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Oh, my team is wonderful. I inherited a lovely team.
We have one individual who's been with the organization for
twenty six years in different capacities, and then a lot
of the team is new. Our director of marketing, our
director of development have been there for less than a year.
You know, the pandemic hit arts and culture organizations really hard.
(13:26):
A lot of people left arts and culture because they
didn't they didn't think, you know, that there was a
life beyond that. You know everyone everyone was listening to
YouTube and watching Netflix and is there life beyond that?
And I think that the pandemic taught us one thing.
It is that there is nothing like the communal experience
of live performance. So we're glad to have a rather
(13:51):
new team, a very ambitious team, a team that is
willing to change and make this organization that it's the
best that it could be about. Benjamin, Well, what do
you want to know?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I you know, I grew up, like I said, in Penttrafford,
graduated from there, and you know, got my undergrad and
master's degree from Shenandoah University. Undergrads and musical theater performance,
and master's degree is in arts management. What do I
do with my husband? I met Nomaha ten years ago.
We've been married for four years. We have three for babies,
(14:25):
two docsons and a husky. They are the loves of
my life.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Hiski, boy, you are a brave ray. That's a brave
couple right there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, it's It's an eleven year old husky named Noah,
and then our two docsons, once four years old, named Gustavo,
and the two year old is named Winston.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
So do you still see yourself as a performer.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
In the shower? Maybe singing to my dogs? I know no.
Whenever I was in fundraising, I used to tell all
my donors, you know, this is why I'm so passionate,
you know about performing arts, because I've lived it. And
I used to tell everyone, you know what, I'm gonna
win my Tony Award and retire. I'm just going to
move to New York at sixty five and sixty eight
seven and perform and win my Tony.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, the reason why I'm asking that is it goes
back to my previous question is that once somebody understands
what it takes to present a quality product on stage,
I think it's important that you know that, you learn
that lesson and you keep that like it's the product.
It's the performance that is going to draw people to
(15:27):
the theaters and the different events. So that's part of.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Your ethos absolutely, you know. One of my goals also,
you know, being a relatively new CEO is to diversify
our programming. We have a lot of nostalgic bands, We
have a lot of musicians that come through. I'm really
looking forward to Jay Leno. I grew up watching Jay
Leno with my dad. He's coming in November. But I
also want to start like a family series or a
(15:53):
jazz series to really connect with other populations that we serve.
You know, that's something that I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, yeah, let's talk about some of the things that
are happening over the next year or so that you
think are notable and which is something that's worth mentioning.
Are there certain performances shows that you would like to highlight.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, we have Josh Turner coming up in I believe
September or October. And then we also have Matt Frasier.
He's a psychic, he can read minds. Obviously, I'm excited
for Jay Leno. We have an Abba cover band coming,
you know, a Queen cover band coming. So we're really
looking forward to all of that. But I really really
(16:34):
want to, you know, diversify that programming more. We just
had Danny Go, which is a children's performer, and it
sold out two performances in the middle of the day.
I think we had a noon show and a five show.
Sold up performances. I think we did fifty thousand dollars
in merchandise alone. And you know, just to see kids
(16:57):
in the audience, you know, reacting, I'm getting chills a
little bit because I knew I wouldn't be performing arts
or a life in the theater if I wasn't exposed
to that at a young age. I remember going to
the Benendem Center and seeing the Phantom of the Opera
at nine years old with my grandma, and that was
life changing for me. So to see children in the
audiences and the reactions to these shows. That's sort of
(17:18):
why I want to create a family series.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You know, one thing I'm very proud of of the
Greater Pittsburgh area is that we have a rich history
in the arts that people don't know that. We have
an appreciation of arts that rival cities like New York
and Chicago, and I think we're better than LA And
so when you talk about a centennial celebration, that's a
(17:41):
lot of history to celebrate and to that it's going
to be on display. So what are some of your
plans for the centennial.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Well, like I said, a week long celebration would be optimal.
We want to honestly create a coffee table book of
the history of the Palace Theater. People don't know know
that Gloria Stefan, Chubby Checker, Nick Jonas have graced the
stage of our theater, and just to be able to
encapsulate that into a coffee table book I think would
be really really great. Obviously, some sort of gala and celebration,
(18:15):
I'd love to, you know, take some of the performances
on tour throughout the county. And I'm just going back
to Western Pennsylvanian arts and culture. I totally agree with you.
Having lived in Dallas and Omaha, in Sarasota, Florida, there
is nothing like the arts and cultural scene in Pittsburgh
and the surrounding regions. One of my mentors I was
(18:36):
her grad assistant fifteen years ago, is Kendra Whitlock Ingram,
and she's president now president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
And so it's so fun because you know, we're both
CEOs in the same you know, market, but we're not
in competition, you know where where we have a unique
friendship and I love to run things past her and
(18:57):
she loves to run things past me as well.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Okay, and you were taking this position, did she give
you any advice?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
She did? You know? I was considering before I moved here,
taking another development gig, and I was talking to her
about a year ago, a little less than a year ago,
and she said, Ben, now is your time. She's like,
you need a be e CEO. And you know you've
been in arts management for you know, fifteen years now,
(19:25):
She's like, do it. And a couple weeks later, I
saw the advertisement for this position and it was sort
of kismet. You know, I grew up on these stages
like I said, at the Palace and the Garden Center,
and it's a great organization, it's great mentorship, and I
believe everything does happen for a reason. I believe I'm
meant to be where I am right now. Do you
(19:46):
enjoy what you do? Absolutely? You know. I was thinking
about not leaving Performing Arts, but I was so I
don't want to say bored, but it was monotonous just
doing fundraising all the time. Because I've been there, I've
done that, and now I'm really getting to shine with
all the other things that I've learned, from marketing to programming,
(20:07):
to patron services, to fundraising to business and I get
to do that every day. I'm constantly challenged. There's something
new coming my way every five minutes, and I'm there
to problem solve and I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Benjamin Luzac, CEO of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust and the
CEO You Should Know, Benjamin, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Thank you so much, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
This has been the CEOs You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Artwell, thank
you so much for listening,
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