Collins Concludes a 4+ decade tenure as Executive Director/CEO at the end of 2024
Ann Arbor, MI, July 29, 2024 – Russell B. Collins, long-time Executive Director of the Michigan Theater Foundation (now known as Marquee Arts), will retire in December 2024. Since 1982, he has led the theater from its origins as a fledgling passion project of theater organ restoration volunteers and, in collaboration with the Board of Trustees, donors, volunteers, and dedicated staff, he transformed the Michigan Theater into an iconic and award-winning cultural institution. The organization’s Board of Trustee has begun a search to replace Collins. A new Executive Director/CEO will be hired by early autumn.
After over 40 years of work involvement with the Michigan Theater, Russ Collins commented, “My wife Deb Polich and I decided to retire, to spend more time with our eight grandchildren who all live in Washtenaw County, explore travel opportunities and adventures with family and friends, and to step aside so a new generation of arts leaders may imprint their vision on the organizations we have had the opportunity and pleasure to serve.” Deb Polich, President/CEO of Creative Washtenaw and Artrain announced her retirement earlier in July. Collins continued, “In early 2025 we will take time away from Ann Arbor, a city we love, and will return next spring. We expect to continue our community service as volunteers to area organizations.” After Collins returns to Ann Arbor in May 2025, Marquee Arts said a retirement celebration will take place and planning for that event is already underway.
Originally opened in 1928 as a Jazz Age Movie Palace, in 1979, the Michigan Theater was saved from becoming a “Food Court” by a cadre of passionate volunteers, the Mayor of Ann Arbor, and Margaret D. Towsley, a visionary philanthropist. “In its early days as a non-profit the theater struggled,” said Dr. Henry Aldridge, the leader of the volunteers and the key advocate who engaged the community to save the Michigan. Dr. Aldridge continued, “Russ set the Michigan on a path of operational, restoration, and artistic success. For decades, with creativity and professional enthusiasm, he built the organization into a respected and beautiful community asset.”
“Russ Collins’ contributions to restoring and operating the Michigan and State theaters to enhance the arts and the greater Ann Arbor area community are immeasurable,” said Kathy White, Board Chair of Marquee Arts (formerly Michigan Theater Foundation). “Since taking the helm in 1982, Collins has grown the organization into an internationally recognized, community-based, mission-driven arts organization widely acclaimed as an outstanding independent cinema exhibitor and performing arts venue.”
“Way back in the 1980s the volunteer Board of the Michigan Theater, an organization in chaos, decided to take a chance on a young, recent University of Michigan graduate,” said previous Board Chair Jamie Buhr. “That appointment began a career that can only be described as a ‘whirlwind’ of accomplishments. With charm, strategic vision, talented staff/team members, a ‘parade’ of community leaders as Board members, Russ and his executive team have compiled an outstanding list of achievements, culminating in the preservation and prosperity of the iconic State and Michigan Theaters.”
Russ Collins is a native Ann Arborite and two-time University of Michigan graduate. He attended the Michigan and State theaters as a child with his family and as a college student. In 1981, just after graduating with a master’s degree in arts management, Collins presented two sold-out shows to the Michigan Theater’s stage. The acclaimed one-man show “Mark Twain Tonight” performed by Broadway and Hollywood star Hal Holbrook. In 1982, at the age of 26, he was hired as the Michigan Theater Foundation’s (now Marquee Arts) Executive Director. He will retire in December at age 68, after 44 years of working at or for the Michigan Theater.
With respect for a long-serving predecessor, Collins likes to point out that he is not the longest serving manager of the Michigan Theater. “The Michigan Theater’s first manager, Gerald Hoag, served the theater for 46 years, from 1928 to 1974. He did an amazing job, preserving the theater and its silent-era Barton organ. There are many wonderful stories about the stage and screen stars who came to the Michigan Theater over its first five decades, and about Jerry Hoag’s great work to manage and care for the theater.”
Collins, besides restoring and growing the operations at the Michigan and State Theaters, was, in 2008, the founder of the Art House Convergence – a groundbreaking professional society for independent cinema operators. In 2012, he started the Cinetopia Festival, the international film festival for the Ann Arbor metropolitan area. For over 10 years, Collins taught arts administration and film studies at Eastern Michigan University, has for over 30 years co-hosted “Cinema Chat” with Morning Edition host David Fair on NPR station WEMU. He has also been a regular keynote speaker at independent cinema conferences in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
Over his long career, Collins earned numerous honors and awards. Below are some notable ones:
- Professional Theatre Program Fellow of the University of Michigan.
- Arts Administration Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.
- Knighted by the Republic of Italy for the promotion of Italian film culture in the USA.
- Named IndieWire Influencer in recognition of leadership in independent film exhibition.
- League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) Outstanding Individual Contribution award.
Of this award, presented in 2019, Stephanie Silverman, LHAT’s Board Chair and Executive Director of the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville said, “Russ’s unparalleled commitment to protecting Ann Arbor’s historic theatres, building them into iconic cultural centers in the heart of one of America’s most vibrant college communities, and using those lessons learned to help strengthen a whole field of art houses makes him one of the best and most valuable theatre operators working today.”
- Founder’s Award of the Art House Convergence, given to him and named in his honor in 2017.
- Creative Washtenaw bestowed its Lifetime Achievement metal on Collins in 2023.
The Marquee Arts Board of Trustees has formed a search committee to conduct a national search for the organization’s next Executive Director. The search will be facilitated by The Andrews Group, with Karen Andrews serving as principal consultant. The search launched on July 5, 2024, and interested parties may learn more at karenandrewsgroup.com.
