Shaker Resident Honored For Leadership of PlayhouseSquare

A Shaker Heights resident has received the 2013 Homer C. Wadsworth Award from the Cleveland Foundation for his work in turning PlayhouseSquare into a nationally recognized theater district.

Art J. Falco, the president and CEO of PlayHouseSquare, received the award last week during the Cleveland Foundation's annual meeting. The award is given out each year to a local leader who has "emonstrated creativity, innovation, ingenuity, risk-taking, and good humor in a civic, volunteer, nonprofit, or public sector role."

"Art’s talents have helped put Cleveland and PlayhouseSquare center stage nationally," said Ronald B. Richard, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. "The innovative partnerships Art envisioned and led are considered national models, showcasing the power of collaboration for local arts organizations."

Falco has been a creative force in Cleveland for more than two decades, leading the expansion of PlayhouseSquare from five performance spaces to 10 stages, making it the nation’s largest performing arts center outside New York City.

Falco joined PlayhouseSquare as finance director in 1985 and took over leadership in 1991. During his tenure, Falco has shepherded artistic collaborations with WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream (Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare), Great Lakes Theater (Hanna Theatre renovation), and Cleveland Play House and Cleveland State University (Allen Theatre project).

Falco is an official Tony Award voter and member of the Broadway League. 

He lives in Shaker Heights with his wife.