An Artistic Take on Business

As part of the inaugural Art + Business Lab, Silva learned how business frameworks could serve smaller creative institutions. “Arts organizations often see business and the arts as diametrically opposed, and I wanted to debunk this notion,” he says. “We can talk about what it means to bring stories to the stage for our communities while also talking about the political economies we must engage to remain sustainable.”

Silva quickly put what he was learning into practice: He applied advanced accounting strategies to the Neo-Futurists’ finances, created a regression model to demonstrate that no-shows correlated with precipitation, and introduced incentives for actors to show up on time for auditions. “The crux of what I tried to get across is that we need to use evidence-based management,” he says.

In August 2022, Silva started a new position as managing director for the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University, where he also teaches in a graduate program for leaders of creative enterprises. In this role, he helped launch programming for a theater the university opened in downtown Chicago, including a series of performances that introduced students to notable artists.

“This role isn’t just an opportunity to work in an environment with a bigger staff, larger budgets, and more complex projects,” he says. “It’s also a way to share lessons with students on how theaters can be adaptive, so they can apply that in their own practices.”

Silva says he hopes to continue helping Chicago’s arts organizations become more resilient without sacrificing accessibility, particularly at a time when many are facing funding cuts. Thanks to his MBA, he feels well equipped for the challenge.

“I have never felt more confident about my skill set than I do now,” he says. “I’m so much more prepared for what comes next.”

Meanwhile, Atekwana’s MBA opened a new door into theater. A friend suggested that she look into becoming a producer, noting that her background in both performing arts and business made her a natural fit for the role, which includes raising funds for productions. She started by making her own investment in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, an off-Broadway show that turned a profit—an outcome that fewer than one in five Broadway productions and even fewer off-Broadway shows achieve.

Atekwana went on to build a network of investors from scratch and raise funds for An Enemy of the People. The production starred Jeremy Strong, who won a Tony for his performance. The next show she coproduced, Romeo and Juliet, drew the youngest audience in Broadway history and earned a Tony nomination. Both shows, importantly, turned a profit.

“My time at Booth fundamentally shaped how I approach theatrical producing,” Atekwana explains, likening the steps she takes in deciding to produce a show with the same due diligence an investor follows when assessing a startup. “I have an investment thesis focused specifically on celebrity-driven limited runs, because star power drives up both average ticket prices and capacity—the two key levers in any Broadway financial model. I treat audience development as a product-market-fit problem, and I apply the investor-validation and pitch-refinement techniques I learned in courses like the New Venture Challenge.”

She continues, “This analytical framework has transformed not only how I evaluate creative projects but how I make data-driven decisions in a traditionally intuition-based industry—ultimately that’s what delivers artistic excellence and financial returns.”

Central to Atekwana’s mission is expanding opportunities for people of color in an industry where 93 percent of producers are White. This includes deliberately building diverse investor networks, she says. “I want to create opportunities to engage in these asset classes that can produce really huge returns.”

Atekwana plans to continue coproducing Broadway shows and is also serving as executive producer on a movie for the Nigerian film industry. “People have passions for a reason,” she says. “And I’ve come full circle. My success is proof that a business education can be a force for positive social change in creative industries.”

Through Booth’s Arts Leadership class, Dwyer got to know classmates who shared his creative interests. “I was surprised by how many people in business school are passionately and deeply involved in the arts,” he says. And in the inaugural Art + Business Lab, he found real-life case studies inspiring. “There’s always an assumption that the arts need to learn from the business world,” he says. “But there was a sense that, actually, the creative side that comes from the arts is crucial in running a successful business.”

Dwyer returned to his previous role at Lyric while completing his second year of business school. But soon after arriving at Booth, he realized that he was interested in building a career in a brand-new field. “I wanted to think outside the box and see how things are run in other parts of the world,” he says.

After graduating in 2023, Dwyer joined Roland Berger as a senior consultant focused on the energy transition, a passion of his since he was growing up. “One of the great things about this job is that you’re constantly learning,” he says.

Still, Dwyer makes time to play professionally. Every summer, he takes a 10-week sabbatical to play concerts, make recordings, and serve as principal cellist at the four-week Carmel Bach Festival in California, where his wife is a violinist. Throughout the year, he occasionally takes a few days off for select concerts around the country and abroad.

Eventually, Dwyer hopes to combine his business and creative sides more directly, perhaps fulfilling his earlier aim of a leadership role at an arts organization. For now, he’s happy with the balance he’s struck between the two worlds.

Thanks to his experience as a musician, Dwyer is more comfortable presenting to clients than many of his colleagues are. “The Lyric Opera seats almost 4,000 people, and I’ve played solos there,” he says. “So it doesn’t seem like a huge deal to talk to a couple of people about something we know a lot about.”

Dwyer believes taking time away to perform also makes him more effective at his job. “It helps me be a better consultant when I’m back, because I get that perspective and refresh,” he says.At the same time, his consulting career has deepened his enjoyment of music. “Rather than focus on getting to some obscure sense of perfection on a technical level,” he says, “it’s more about appreciating being in the moment and communicating something beautiful to the audience.”

In 2013, Frank was back in the treasury department as senior vice president and treasurer, overseeing cash management, liquidity, credit rating, insurance, and other critical financial functions. The following year, she landed on Crain’s Chicago Business’s 40 Under 40 list in recognition of her leadership during major events that included shepherding the company through a rate hike and dividend cut and managing its largest bond issue. Frank “doesn’t lose her cool,” Exelon’s former CEO told the publication.

Though she enjoyed her time at Exelon, Frank’s tenure on the board of the Chicago Children’s Museum made her eager to take on an executive role in which she could make a bigger difference. “I wanted what I was doing on a day-to-day basis to matter for more than just the bottom line of a company,” she says. “I thought, ‘Now is the time to do something that gives me personal fulfillment in addition to career fulfillment.’”

Frank learned that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was looking for a CFO, and she jumped at the chance to join a valued organization in the world of classical music and in Chicago’s cultural landscape. From a career perspective, she was excited to tackle the complex financial issues that would entail: The organization holds more than $500 million in investable assets and has defined pension plans and collective-bargaining arrangements with various employee groups. “CSO is one of the best orchestras in the world,” Frank says. “I wanted to be at an organization where I felt challenged and where my skill set would align with the strategic goals.”

One of the board’s priorities was reducing the organization’s debt burden, which at the time was $145 million. Her experience as treasurer for a large, capital-intensive company like Exelon positioned her well to take on that challenge. But matters were complicated when, only a year after launching the debt-reduction plan, Frank found herself working with senior leaders to steer the CSO through COVID-19 shutdowns. She and her colleagues ensured that the organization reduced operating expenses while maintaining relationships with donors and finding innovative ways to share music with audiences during the pause in live concerts.

“Despite a global pandemic that shut down normal operations and all but eliminated our earned revenue, we were able to continue with our plans to pay down debt, thanks to strong investment management and sustained donor support,” she says.

Through the initiative, still ongoing, the orchestra has reduced its debt by 20 percent. Frank is currently working on a long-term strategic financial plan as the orchestra prepares to welcome a new music director in 2027.

In many ways, Frank’s current responsibilities aren’t so different from her work in the for-profit world. “My role is to be a steward of capital, whether that funding comes from investors or donors,” she says.

But her focus goes beyond short-term financial results. “Of course I have to manage the financials like any other CFO, but I have a bigger goal than what the monthly or quarterly earnings look like,” she says. “The CSO is a 134-year-old institution. I’m trying to set us up for continued financial sustainability for many decades into the future, and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”

In January, Frank returned to Booth as a guest speaker in the Arts Leadership course to share her experiences in arts administration. “When I was at Booth, I quite frankly never thought of the arts as a potential career path,” she says. “But there’s tremendous opportunity to explore interesting challenges, navigate financial complexity, and help an organization succeed in advancing their mission.” ­