A Q & A with the Arts Management Leader
By Steve Sucato for Dance/USA
A guiding phrase in artist manager Pamela M. Green’s career has been, “Tell me what your dream is, and I will try and make it come true.” It is both a goal and a promise by her to do her very best for the artists she represents. It is something she has largely lived up to in a career that has spanned more than three decades. Mrs. Green, who officially retired her arts management company PMG Arts Management in July of 2020 , is still on the job because of several outstanding engagements postponed due to the pandemic. Her next career move she says, will be as interim managing director for Ronald K. Brown.
Mrs. Green earned a BA in Public Policy and a minor in Drama from Duke University and an MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University. She began her arts administration training at the Durham Arts Council and furthered it working for the American Dance Festival. From 1985-1989, she was company and managing director for The Chuck Davis African-American Dance Ensemble, and was the director of touring and presenting for the North Carolina Arts Council from 1989-1992.
In 1992 Mrs. Green founded PMG Arts Management to provide booking, consulting, management, producing, and touring services to established, mid-career, and emerging artists including Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, Philadanco!, The Chuck Davis African-American Dance Ensemble, The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Bebe Miller, Karole Armitage, Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, Helen Simoneau and many more. Mrs. Green has been instrumental in the career development of choreographers Ronald K. Brown and Camille A. Brown among others. Some career highlights include her production and tour arrangements for One Shot, RKB/Evidence’s commission to open Pittsburgh’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center that also toured nationally with a photo exhibit by Charles “Teenie” Harris. She has helped secure funding, creative development, and touring resources for many of the major works in the EVIDENCE repertory. She helped produce, tour, and provide creative development support for Camille A. Brown’s trilogy of works on African American identity.
Mrs. Green has served as a board member, consultant, panelist, and/or workshop leader for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), the North American Association of Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA), and the City of Durham North Carolina’s Cultural Advisory Board. She received the 2017 NAPAMA Liz Silverstein Award for Agent-Manager of the Year.
Mrs. Green will receive Dance/USA’s ‘Ernie’ Award at the Dance/USA 2022 Awards Ceremony, on March 10. The honor is given to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership, outstanding value in the field, and whose achievements have influenced and significantly advanced the work of artists and supported their creativity. Named for the late dancer, choreographer, director, AIDS activist and champion for the field, Ian ‘Ernie’ Horvath, the ‘Ernie’ recognizes Mrs. Green’s long history of service in arts management to the national dance community.
D/USA: What are your thoughts on receiving the ‘Ernie’ Award?
P.G.: It is a beautiful recognition. I think everybody who has survived COVID and is still viable in the dance field deserves an award. It’s very humbling to get an award when so many of us are struggling to survive in this environment. I am appreciative of the recognition of my body of work that I am very proud of.
Steve Sucato is a former dancer turned arts writer/critic. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Dance Critics Association and Associate Editor of ExploreDance.com.
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