Ruth Eliel, Chair of the Board of Directors at The Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary production company, The Industry, announced a radical change in management structure, establishing a cooperative of three co-artistic directors called Artistic Director Cooperative. The new structure goes into effect on July 1, 2021.

The Artistic Director Cooperative will comprise The Industry’s founder, Yuval Sharon, along with sonic artist and 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Music, Ash Fure, and Malik Gaines, an interdisciplinary artist, writer, composer, and scholar who has garnered international recognition for his solo and collaborative work.

In a press release, Eliel stated, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am delighted to welcome Ash Fure and Malik Gaines to The Industry as inaugural members of the new Artistic Director Cooperative, joining Yuval Sharon. They are passionate advocates for inclusivity in the arts, and their diverse professional backgrounds, thoughtful leadership, bold risk-taking, and visionary experimental artistry complement the mission and fabric of The Industry as well as Yuval’s own inventive work. Expanding The Industry’s artistic leadership into a cooperative of three equal co-artistic directors at this crucial juncture in its history gives the organization tremendous creative depth and flexibility while also providing a vital opportunity to increase artistic programming and promote a multiplicity of inspiring and innovative voices as the company launches its second decade.”

Sharon noted in the official statement that The Industry started out as an experiment, and the move to form the Artistic Director Cooperative continues in that vein.

“The Industry began as an experiment and is dedicated to the experimental; the inauguration of an Artistic Director Cooperative might be our most far-reaching experiment yet, going right to the heart of our organization’s identity and creating a new model for artistic leadership,” he said in the statement.

Founded in 2010, The Industry is an artist-driven, critically acclaimed company that aims to transform traditional ideas about opera. The arts organization has served as an incubator for new talent and artists, primarily in Los Angeles, with a mission to foster opera that is emergent, responsive to new perspectives, and plays an essential role in shaping civic identity.