Feasibility Studies

Feasibility Studies help communities and/or organizations determine the need for and the type, size and utilization of proposed performance spaces and are conducted through a comprehensive engagement process.

Needs Assessments

Needs Assessments determine the community’s performance space needs based on current available performance space, needs that are currently not being met by the inventory of spaces, and the types and genres of performances that inform the type of space needed.

EXECUTIVE SEARCH

Filling important positions in performing arts organizations requires a thoughtful and collaborative process lead by an experienced arts professional. Executive search services are available for all positions within your organization.

Facilities Business Plan Development

Facilities Business Plan Development occurs once the type and programming of new (and existing) performance spaces have been determined. Business planning includes the development of operating estimates, earned revenue projections, staff structure, programming and contributed income projections.

Artistic Program Development

As part of Facilities Business Plan Development, Artistic Program Development identifies how new buildings will be used artistically. Programming includes identifying resident organizations, potential renters, and primary users of the spaces.

Competitive Analysis & Facilities Inventory

An important component of the Feasibility Study process, Competitive Analysis & Facilities Inventory maps the cultural landscape into which new facilities enter. Market conditions inform feasibility, as well as identify possible programming niches.

Benchmarking

To help clients with important building and operational decisions, Benchmarking identifies comparable-sized buildings and operations that have successfully created viable programs. Best practices can provide a useful guide in the building development process.

Market Demand Studies

A key component of Feasibility Studies, Market Demand Studies provide a snapshot of the market area into which a new facility enters. Demographics and an analysis of likely participation are outputs of Market Demand Studies.

Operating Estimates & Forecasting

Business plan development includes Operating Estimates & Forecasting, predicting how the business will function. Operating estimates include all costs associated with building operations, programming, marketing, and production, as well as all sources of earned revenue and a determination of contributed income requirements.

Business Planning

The business planning process includes the development of Organizational Planning, Governance & Structure or how the facility will be owned, governed, staffed. This process includes the creation of Staffing & Operating Models.

Program Assessment 

Program Assessment analyzes the alignment of programming with mission, market, facilities, human resources, financial resources and artistic vision. The Assessment process is often linked to facility development projects and can be a stand-alone analysis as a key element of overall planning.

“Victor is a consummate professional... I can testify to his high level of quality and delivery, critical thinking, organization, problem-solving, work ethic, and a genuine care and concern for the client.”

Michael Blachly, Director, 

Opening Nights at Florida State University

VICTOR’S LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Projects

After decades of experience leading performing arts organizations, as well as consulting on dozens of facilities projects throughout the United States, Victor opened his Performing Arts Facilities Planning practice in January 2018.

Victor Gotesman provides consulting services for the development and operation of performing arts spaces, including feasibility and business planning studies, market demand analysis, facility operations, operating estimates, programming, staffing, and governance. Prior to starting his own practice, Victor was a Vice President at Arts Consulting Group (ACG), leading the firm’s Facilities and Program Planning area. While at ACG, he oversaw major planning studies at the Lake on Wilshire Cultural Center in Los Angeles and at Artpark in upstate New York. 

A career arts administrator with more than 40 years of experience working in the performing arts, Victor has held leadership positions at an array of nonprofit cultural organizations and government agencies, as well as executive roles with theater consulting and planning firms, overseeing some of America’s most important cultural facilities projects.

From 2011 to 2016 Victor was the Executive Director of ODC in San Francisco, where he was responsible for all aspects of the dance organization’s $5.7 million budget. Prior to joining ODC, he co-founded The Center for Creative Resources, which provided consulting services in arts management, marketing, and fundraising to artists and arts organizations in the New York metropolitan area. Serving as CCR’s President, he was contracted by The New York Times to develop and implement an operating business plan for the Times Center, a 378-seat venue within its Times Square headquarters. The three-year contract included implementation of the business plan and full management of the Times Center during its first year of operation.

Victor was the President and Principal-in-Charge of feasibility studies and planning projects at Theater Projects Consultants (TPC) beginning in 1996. While at TPC, he managed the firm’s business development and acted as lead consultant on numerous projects, including facility redevelopment master plans, cultural facility studies and program plans, and new performing arts center market feasibility studies. His clients included the City of Dallas, Kodak (Dolby) Theater in Los Angeles, and New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. For two years, Victor served as Managing Director of Jaffe Holden Acoustics, overseeing the firm’s operation and business development.

Prior to becoming a consultant, Victor was hired as the first Executive Director of the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, where he opened and led the organization for its first five years of operation.  He developed dynamic programming in the competitive Southern California market and created the infrastructure, policies, and organizational design. The Cerritos Center was recognized nationally by Performance Magazine as the top venue under 3,000-seats for its overall earned revenue in 1995. He previously held executive positions at performing arts centers throughout the United States, including Director of Programming for the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Program Manager/Consultant at the University of Montana, and Director of Marketing at Kimball Recital Hall at the University of Nebraska.

Victor holds a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music.