Strategic guidance for arts and CULTURE organizations navigating change, leadership transition, and the gap between values and practice.
About This Work
My consulting practice grows directly from my work as an artist and cultural strategist. I focus on the systems and structures that determine who holds power, whose voices get centered, and how decisions get made. This isn't about imposing external solutions—it's about working collaboratively to identify pathways that honor both mission and community.
I bring a rare combination: decades of experience inside arts organizations at every level, deep roots in community organizing and justice work, and an artist's eye for what's possible when we're willing to reimagine how we work. Whether you're grappling with leadership transition, struggling to create a plan that accounts for constant change, or moving toward more equitable governance, I work with you to find approaches that fit your actual context.
Services For Arts & Culture Organizations
Strategic Planning & Adaptive Strategy
Traditional five-year plans often become obstacles in rapidly shifting landscapes. I specialize in strategic planning that builds organizational capacity for ongoing adaptation while maintaining clear direction. My approach draws on emergent strategy principles and centers community voice throughout the process.
Transitioning to Shared Leadership
Hierarchical structures often reproduce the inequities we're trying to address. I help organizations explore shared leadership models that distribute power more equitably while maintaining accountability and effectiveness. This work requires honest assessment of current power dynamics and careful attention to how change will impact everyone involved.
Interim Leadership & Organizational Transitions
During leadership transitions, organizations need steady hands who understand both the immediate operational needs and the longer-term cultural implications. I provide interim management that keeps things running while also creating space to examine what might need to shift.
Let's Talk
If your organization is ready to engage in strategic work that centers community, embraces shared leadership, or moves toward more equitable practice, I'd like to hear from you. Each engagement is tailored to the specific needs, culture, and goals of the organization, with particular attention to how changes will impact staff, board, artists, and community members.
If you’re interested in a team-based approach, I often bring in my colleagues from Creative Evolutions.
Reach out by email: rebeccanovick (at) gmail.com or book a zoom call below.
Support for Individual Artists & Cultural Workers
Not all consulting work happens at the organizational level. I also work with individual artists, emerging leaders, and cultural workers navigating career transitions, developing projects, or building sustainable practices.
“The flow of this course created a small community in which we as classmates all became each other’s biggest cheerleaders and taught each other so much, on top of the instruction provided by
Rebecca.”
Looking for Group Support?
This winter, I’m offering the Third Act Lab, an 8-week peer coaching cohort for people ready to kickstart a project, navigate a life change, or begin a new creative practice.
Why Work With Me
I've been on every side of the table: grantseeker and grantmaker, freelance artist and institutional leader, founder and interim staff. I've run a theater company, led an arts engagement department at a major regional theater, worked at a community foundation, and spent years as a service organization leader. I understand how arts organizations actually work—including the gap between stated values and daily practice.
This experience shapes my consulting approach:
I understand that artistic mission matters. Change processes that don't account for artistic vision and integrity won't stick. The work isn't about making organizations more "efficient" at the expense of their core purpose.
I know community engagement isn't a program. Real community partnership requires examining who's in the room, who makes decisions, how resources flow, and what structures need to change for genuine shared power.
I've done the organizing work. From co-founding Bay Area Artists for Racial Justice to catalyzing institutional change at Cal Shakes, I understand how movements for justice intersect with organizational transformation.
I think strategically about adaptation. Our constantly shifting landscape requires approaches that embrace uncertainty rather than trying to plan it away. I help organizations build the capacity to respond and adjust while staying grounded in purpose.
Past Clients Include:
Bindlestiff Studio, Broad Stage, Cutting Ball Theater, HERE Arts Center, Intersection for the Arts, Jewish Film Institute, Lookingglass Theater Company, Nashville Children’s Theater, Playwrights Foundation, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, Ragged Wing Ensemble, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Foundation, SF Jazz, Studio East Theater, Theatre Bay Area, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre Puget Sound, UCSD Theater and Dance Department, Yale Innovation Summit, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Work With Me
Reach out by email: rebeccanovick (at) gmail.com or book a zoom call below.
