Work Here

August 13, 2026

For immediate release

Contact: Board President Miller Susen, [email protected]

A Joyful Homecoming

The Live Arts Board is thrilled to announce the appointment of Adrienne Jacobson Oliver as its inaugural Executive Artistic Director, effective September 1, 2026. The appointment marks a joyful homecoming for Oliver, an accomplished multi-hyphenate artist and longtime community leader who grew up onstage and in the wings of Live Arts. 

Ably chaired by Board Vice President Ckalib Nelson, the Live Arts Board’s Executive Search Committee conducted a four-month search for a Producing Artistic Director, engaging staff, volunteers, donors, artists, and community members throughout the process. Board listening sessions, finalist community conversations, and multiple opportunities for stakeholder feedback helped inform the Board’s decision and affirmed the community investment essential to Live Arts’ future. The Board ultimately determined that the title Executive Artistic Director better reflects the breadth of the position and its leadership across Live Arts’ artistic and organizational vision and strategy, operations, fundraising, marketing, financial stewardship, and community engagement. 

“I have had the pleasure of working with Adrienne in multiple capacities over the years, and I’m honored that she is bringing her creativity, care, work ethic, communication skills, and inimitable perspective to this new leadership role,” says Miller Susen, Board President and outgoing Interim Producing Artistic Director. “Her appointment comes at a critical time for the organization, as it rallies to meet the challenging post-pandemic demands of creating theater with diminishing resources and a need to rebuild audiences. The Board has total faith that Adrienne is the leader to meet this moment.”

Live Arts was a launchpad for Adrienne, whose relationship with the organization spans more than two decades as an artist, director, producer, volunteer, and advocate for the vital role of theater as a civic engine. “I was raised and have raised my own child within this organization; our next era must deepen Live Arts’ singularity, not abandon it,” Oliver says. “Live Arts has been my longest leadership laboratory, and I’m rooted in a simple principle: art drives strategy, visibility drives trust, and relationships drive revenue.” 

Formatively trained in performance at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she pursued film and media studies at the University of Virginia and holds an MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a 2024-25 Helena Rubinstein Critical Studies Fellow in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. While maintaining a longstanding practice as an educator and arts leader in Charlottesville–most recently serving for eight years as an instructional specialist with Albemarle County Public Schools–her interdisciplinary work has received national support and has been widely exhibited, performed, and published. Her local residencies and fellowships include work with New City Arts, McGuffey Art Center, and the Unsettling Grounds Project. 

With Live Arts, Adrienne’s most recent leadership role was as Director of New Works, where she conceptualized and led WATERWORKS, a festival of new plays by local and emerging writers. Over three seasons, she coordinated with and engaged Live Arts’ extensive volunteer community and dozens of talented playwrights to develop and mount an exciting series of bold new works for Charlottesville audiences.

Adrienne will lead Live Arts into its 2026-27 season, which begins September 3 with THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE, followed by the beloved hit musical COME FROM AWAY, and the return of seasonal favorite A CHRISTMAS CAROL. In addition to these previously announced titles, Adrienne will work closely with the theater’s volunteer programming committee, staff, and artists to begin shaping the organization’s artistic future and round out the season, targeting productions that will tap into the abundant local talent pool and engage audiences of all ages. Additional programming will be announced soon.

As Live Arts looks ahead to this next chapter, the Board extends its gratitude to interim leader Miller Susen for her stewardship. The Board also thanks the members of the Executive Search Committee, the wonderful Live Arts staff and volunteers, and the many community members whose participation and feedback helped shape the search, and whose continued dedication makes the organization possible. 

The Board is delighted to welcome Adrienne home and looks forward to forging theater and community with her in this pivotal new role.