Marcus Performing Arts Center CEO Kendra Whitlock Ingram to leave in January
President and CEO Kendra Whitlock Ingram will leave the Marcus Performing Arts Center in January.
Ingram is heading east to become president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a nonprofit arts organization that programs and presents in multiple venues in the downtown arts district. Ingram has Pittsburgh roots — she earned her bachelor's degree in music education at Duquesne University and her parents live an hour away.
Ingram "achieved a lot in a short period of time," said MPAC board president Ray Wilson. Among other accomplishments, she helped elevate the profile of the Marcus around the country, he said, citing Ingram's national connections. Ingram is a member of the Broadway League board of governors and a Tony Awards voter.
Wilson also saluted Ingram's commitment to racial equity, diversity and inclusion. In 2021, she and MPAC launched a REDI plan, with numerical goals, designed to make the composition of Marcus staff, performers and volunteers more closely resemble its community. That plan includes a goal of a board of directors that is 50% Black, Indigenous and people of color by 2025.
Ingram is the first woman and person of color to lead the MPAC.
She also increased the Marcus' programming beyond its signature Broadway series, adding dance, jazz, National Geographic Live and student matinee series. Revenue from those programs is increasingly important to MPAC's future, Wilson said.
Dealing with COVID, and controversy over tree removal at Marcus Center
Ingram, who came to Milwaukee from the University of Denver's Newman Center for the Performing Arts, started working full time at the MPAC in March 2020, right when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live performances everywhere. She took advantage of the forced hiatus to accelerate the planned renovation of Uihlein Hall, which reopened in 2021 with new seats, center aisles, increased wheelchair accessibility and HVAC upgrades.
More controversially, the MPAC proceeded with a delayed plan to finish the replacement of its former sunken grove with an accessible, tree-lined lawn. The grove replacement, part of a redevelopment proposal announced in December 2018 before Ingram's arrival, roused opposition by preservationists who wanted to save horse chestnut trees that were part of Dan Kiley's landscape design for the site. The Common Council voted against a historic designation for the site; more than half of the horse chestnut trees were removed soon after.
Ingram and Wilson expect the outdoor renovations to be finished by Nov. 14, when a celebratory dedication event is planned.
Next up for the center, which opened in 1969, are technical and backstage upgrades, including sound, for Uihlein Hall, and renovation of the Todd Wehr Theater, Ingram said.
Ingram's priorities for her remaining weeks in Milwaukee include finishing up plans for the 2023-'24 season as well as completing a Marcus strategic plan, and assisting with the leadership transition.
After Ingram's departure, an interim team will lead the MPAC, consisting of Megan Huse, vice president of development; Katie Dillow, CFO and vice president of finance and administration; and Ken Harris, vice president of venue operations.
The MPAC board of directors, working with a recruitment firm, will conduct a national search for a new leader.
'This place really embraced me'
Ingram's favorite MPAC performances during her time here have included the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in April, and the opening night of "Hamilton" in October 2021, when MPAC reopened to public performances after some 19 dormant months —"people were crying, because they were so happy to be back," she said.
The pandemic was not the only cross Ingram had to bear during her Milwaukee tenure. After successful routine back surgery, she developed an infection that was compounded by antibiotic-related kidney failure. She spent two weeks in the hospital, followed by months of recovery which included using a cane for a time.
During her recovery, on her way to speak at an event, she had to ask a woman in the parking lot to help her buckle her shoes, because she wasn't able to bend over.
Ingram said she'll never forget how many people, including her local arts colleagues, sent flowers, delivered meals and checked up on her and her husband Ben. "This place really embraced me," she said.
"Milwaukee has been good to us."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marcus Performing Arts Center CEO Kendra Whitlock Ingram to depart
