Strategic management in the arts is not only about long-term plans or institutional goals. It is also about daily choices: how to stay rooted in mission, how to serve different audiences, and how to adapt when resources and circumstances change. In this interview, Ruth Waalkes reflects on how those questions shape the work of the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, with particular attention to programming, partnerships, community engagement, and the need for flexibility in a changing environment.

Ruth Waalkes is Associate Provost for the Arts at Virginia Tech and Executive Director of the Center for the Arts. Since joining Virginia Tech in 2009, she has played a central role in advancing campuswide arts integration and community-based arts initiatives across the region. 

You have led the Center for the Arts for many years and also serve as Associate Provost for the Arts. How do you describe your role today in shaping the Center’s strategic direction?

As executive director, one of my main responsibilities is to keep looking at the big picture and the direction we are going. I think we have a really wonderful vision, mission, and purpose, with good programs, people, and organizational structure in place, so I feel we are on very solid ground. 

Part of my role is making sure we do not overextend ourselves or our staff or commit to something that is not central to the work we are doing. In my associate provost role, I convene the Arts at Virginia Tech board, and we have been working for almost two years on a new arts strategic plan for the whole university. That role is more focused on collaborative opportunities across campus, visibility, fundraising, and broader initiatives like public art.

The Center’s mission speaks about transforming lives through exploration and engagement with the arts and creative process. What does that mission mean in practical terms when you make decisions about programs and priorities? 

It means always thinking about who we want to have here at the center and which communities we are serving. That includes students, the general community, and K-12 audiences. We keep asking what people value, what they are looking for, what we have the capacity to offer, and how we deliver it. That is where our programming comes from.

Since we opened, we have had a strong commitment to diverse programs: music, theatre, dance, visual arts. We are a multi-genre presenter, and I think there is real value in creating a rich tapestry of different kinds of arts so that different people can find something meaningful. 

The engagement side matters just as much. We put a high priority on working with artists who can bring something in addition to a performance or exhibition. Right now, for example, the Takács Quartet is here doing a masterclass with Virginia Tech students. We have had a dance company work with people living with Parkinson’s at a local senior center. We have had visual artists stay for a week and do hands-on work with students. That is how the mission becomes active rather than just aspirational.

How is strategic planning for a university-based arts center different from planning in an independent nonprofit arts organization? 

It is very different. One big difference is the economies of scale that come from being part of a larger institution. We have central resources available to us. In fundraising, for example, there is the central advancement office with a large database of alumni and donors, so we do not have to build and maintain everything on our own.

The constraints are there, but they are not onerous to me. We represent Virginia Tech, so there are branding guidelines and institutional processes, and some things can take longer because they move through multiple levels and offices. But honestly, I think it is much harder to do this work as a private nonprofit. There is a kind of safety net in being part of a larger institution. 

The Center presents itself as a place where campus and community meet. How do you think strategically about serving these different audiences at once?

We do not necessarily program for one target age group. There are occasional events that are clearly aimed at young people, but in general we hope the work we present can appeal across ages. When an opportunity comes up, I think about who in our community is going to be interested, who may not be, and how we would describe that event to people. 

Then I also look across the whole season. We present roughly two dozen events, and what matters is the overall breadth. We want a season that brings different worlds together rather than programming for only one kind of audience.

The Center’s website highlights partnerships with schools, local organizations, and community groups. How do you see community engagement: as part of the mission, a strategic tool for growth, or both? 

It is part of the mission, but it is also strategic because it helps strengthen the arts ecosystem in the region. One thing I am especially excited about is that organizations can rent our facilities, and with support from a private donor we are launching a Community Arts Impact Fund that includes a rent subsidy program for New River Valley arts nonprofits.

The idea is to make the facilities more accessible so local groups can bring their programs here, elevate what they are doing, gain greater visibility, and reach wider audiences. We also want to help market those events better. We are a state institution, so we have to be mindful of costs and procedures, but private support makes it possible to do some of this in a way that is really helpful. I see those organizations as partners. 

In strategic management, we often talk about aligning mission, environment, and resources. When you are evaluating a new initiative, what questions do you ask first?

I think it really is mission first. Why do we want to do this? What is the benefit? What impact might it have? Then, almost immediately, I am asking what resources we have to do it. That includes budget, but it also includes staff capacity. It is very easy to have new ideas, but you have to ask who is actually going to do the work and whether you are layering something onto a job that is already full. 

Right now you also have to be very aware of the broader environment in higher education. Budgets, enrollment, international students, and other larger pressures are all part of the context. Those things may be beyond our control, but they absolutely shape decisions.

How do financial and staffing realities shape strategic planning at the Center? 

They shape it a great deal. If we want to expand something, we need to think carefully about how it will be supported. For example, because we want to continue developing our K-12 programming, we have made a specific commitment to raise private funds for that work and to build an endowment rather than rely only on university resources.

In general, what kind of strategic flexibility do arts institutions need right now? 

Probably, especially for many nonprofits, the main issue is revenue and being creative about different ways to sustain the work. But it is not just about finding new audiences and saying, “Oh, we need more people to come in.” I think it goes back to collaborations and partnerships, and finding ways to work with others to do the kind of work you want to do, especially in an environment where there may be less funding or support. Partnerships can be really helpful, and that depends on the type of community. In a region like ours, where we have smaller organizations, that can matter a lot. Our rent subsidy project is one example. We cannot give money directly, but donors can help us build a fund that covers our costs while allowing us to offer services here to other organizations.

What is one strategic tension that arts leaders often underestimate?

I think one tension people often underestimate is the balance between innovation and stability. If programmers are not familiar enough with their own community, with who they want to engage and what people care about, it is easy to bring in work that feels exciting to you but falls flat with the people you are trying to serve.

That does not mean you should avoid risk. It means you need to know your community well and do your homework. Strategy is not just about bringing in what seems new. It is also about understanding whether it meets a real need and how it fits the people you are trying to reach. 

Looking to the next few years, what will be most important for the Center for the Arts to preserve, and what may need to evolve?

What we most need to preserve is our commitment to high-quality programming and meaningful engagement. I would not want us to become too niche, or simply a roadhouse that rents itself out. The quality of the artistic experience matters, and so does the experience artists have when they come here, because word spreads. 

What may need to evolve is our revenue picture. We have to keep looking for creative revenue streams and for real collaborations and partnerships, especially in a lower-funding environment. I also think one of our most distinctive strengths is the intersection of arts, science, and technology - especially through the Cube - and I would like that to keep growing.

If you were advising a student studying strategic management in the arts, what would you want them to understand about strategy that cannot be learned from a plan on paper alone? 

Strategy cannot be static. You cannot establish it once and assume it will hold forever. You need a sense of direction, but you also have to anticipate change, adjust, and reevaluate. In that sense, strategy is less a fixed paper plan than an ongoing way of paying attention and making decisions.

Across the interview, Waalkes presents strategy not as a fixed document but as an ongoing practice of judgment, adjustment, and care for the community. Her reflections suggest that strong arts leadership depends on holding together several demands at once: artistic quality, public value, financial sustainability, and openness to collaboration. In that sense, strategy becomes less about following a plan exactly and more about staying attentive to the mission while responding thoughtfully to change.

Written by Zahra Modarres, a graduate student in the MFA in Theatre - Arts Leadership program at Virginia Tech.