A big transition is ahead at the Abrons Arts Center. After 10 years as artistic director, Jay Wegman is stepping down to become senior director of NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
Since his arrival in 2006, the center has developed a reputation on the Lower East Side and citywide for its cutting edge, boundary-busting and experimental productions. Abrons is part of the Henry Street Settlement. The center’s historic playhouse celebrated its 100th birthday last year. In a profile to mark that occasion, the New York Times wrote:
Mr. Wegman likes risk. And he likes surprise. He often brings in performance curators to program work he wouldn’t himself have chosen. He’s content to leave artists alone, though he’ll occasionally suggest a post-rehearsal margarita, and doesn’t worry about whether their shows will sell tickets. Abrons, he said, is “a place for people to succeed or fail or land somewhere in between.”
The New York Times reported that Wegman’s successor will be chosen in the fall.
