Skip to main content
Just over a year after artistic director Jeanette Harrison took the helm of Artists Repertory Theatre, the company has announced its decision to lay her off.
“We are grateful for Jeanette’s time at ART,” stated board chair Pancho Savery in a press release. “Jeanette’s vision helped us forge a path forward to return to the building.”
After ART temporarily suspended its 2023-24 season of plays due to its financial struggles, there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to donations that enabled the company to move closer to completing the current phase of its renovation.
Now, however, ART says it no longer has the capacity to retain Harrison and will be making “strategic adjustments in the leadership structure” as it moves forward with the renovation of its headquarters on Southwest Morrison Street. The company says that her departure was “amicable.”
“While my time here was short, I’m particularly proud of the strides we made with IDEA work and representation through the commissioning of Diana Burbano’s Sapience and the development of the script in workshop with PHAME, ensuring that complex characters who are disabled are played by actors with disabilities, in a fully inclusive rehearsal room,” Harrison said.
She added: “ART’s commitment to access is embodied in its Morrison Street building, which will have a fully accessible control room. I hope Portland will rally around the remaining staff as they focus their attention on finishing the building.”
A spokesperson for ART confirmed to WW that the company will not seek a new artistic director until the building is closer to completion. ART hopes to reopen in spring 2024.