Welcome to the O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University!

Since its opening in 1970, The O’Shaughnessy has been a pillar in the community for artistic offerings that highlight women’s voices and center themes of social justice. Coretta Scott King, Dr. Susan Love, Jeham Sadat, Secretary Albright, and Dr. Maya Angelou have all shared stories from its stage. As the new Executive Director, it’s my honor to pick up the baton and move the O’Shaughnessy into a future impacted but no longer defined by the pandemic.

I don’t think it’s possible to fully understand O’Shaughnessy’s 50-year history in my comparatively brief time with the organization, but I can share two early observations.

The first: the strength of the O’Shaughnessy can be found in several places, including within our production team, led by Kevin Jones. The expertise and institutional knowledge (many of our team members have been with  O’Shaughnessy for more than 20 years) is immense and deep. The O’Shaughnessy now sits within the Institutional Advancement arm of St. Kate’s, and this, too, is a strength. The O’Shaughnessy’s purpose is to enrich the public good by bringing our campus and local community together for meaningful experiences. The Institutional Advancement team’s strengths are building relationships, finding connections, and developing authentic engagement in all activities across the University. The President of St. Catherine University, Becky Roloff, is a veteran Board member for some of the largest and most vibrant arts organizations in the Twin Cities (Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre) and her advocacy and perspective on community building through the arts is an incredible strength. I add this moment – the Fall of 2022, to this list of strengths. We have the opportunity, now, to redefine ourselves and our venue in a world that isn’t the same as it was before COVID but is still undeniably hungry to be together – in person – to share in countless and wonderfully varied ways what it means to be human.

My second observation: we are rebuilding our administrative, sales, marketing, and audience services. I ask for your grace and understanding as we dust off and re-open the ticket office, update the website, re-build business relationships, hire and train our customer service representatives, and re-ignite community connections. This work matters. It takes time. And we are approaching our tasks every day with deep care, tenacity, and skill. All of our work is ultimately for the people sitting in the audience – so if you need something during this time of re-emergence, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at ijgreen248@stkate.edu or 651.690.6921.

In addition to observations, I have some questions:

How can the O’Shaughnessy embrace the mission, vision and values of St. Catherine University in ways that resonate with our community, define our role in the regional arts ecosystem, and lift up those around us?

How can we as a venue build on the O’Shaughnessy’s legacy as a home for local arts organizations in ways that continually move our relationships down the pipeline from transactional to mutually beneficial to transformative and mission-based?

How can we be of value to the students on St. Kate’s campus, not just for student-as-patron experiences, but student-as-creator, student-as-curator, student-as-visionary?

These are big questions. I am thrilled to have so many brilliant thought partners to wrestle with them, both on and off campus. I share these questions with all of you as an invitation to join me in conversation. Please reach out with your thoughts on any of the above. I’d love to know how you see O’Shaughnessy’s best and brightest future called into being. Please know I consider it my privilege to be a convener of the thoughts from the campus and the public to ensure we point our energy in response to and with the advice of everyone who has a passion for this place at this time.

Sincerely,

Irene Green

Executive Director

O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University