SPAC Annual Meeting Highlights CEO’s Decade of Leadership

SARATOGA SPRINGS — At its annual meeting on May 14, staff of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) reflected on the past decade of transformations as the organization celebrated 10 years of leadership under CEO Elizabeth Sobol.

“Anniversaries invite reflection as well as celebration,” said Sobol at the annual meeting. “They ask us to look back with clarity and honesty—and forward with courage and resolve. Because sixty years ago, the creation of SPAC was exactly that: an act of bold and audacious imagination.”

Reflecting on SPAC’s evolution over the past decade, Sobol continued, “Ten years ago, we were the stewards of something extraordinary—but also something at risk. And so, we asked ourselves: what would it mean to be as bold now as SPAC’s founders were then? Over the past decade, we have transformed this campus—honoring its history while preparing it for the future. We have evolved from a seasonal presenter into a year-round institution, bringing life, learning, and artistic expression into all four seasons.”

Throughout the meeting, leadership reflected on SPAC’s transformation over the past decade into a year-round cultural organization. Since Sobol’s arrival in 2016, SPAC has expanded its programming, grown its educational reach, renovated and reimagined its campus, and launched new initiatives devoted to increasing accessibility, wellbeing, and connection.

Today, SPAC welcomes approximately 500,000 visitors annually and contributes an estimated $105 million in annual economic impact to the region, according to a 2023 study by Camoin Associates.

SPAC leadership highlighted the growth of its education initiatives, which have expanded from serving 5,000 students annually in 2016 to more than 60,000 individuals today in partnership with over 150 schools and community organizations throughout the Capital Region.

Leadership reflected on the launch of SPAC School of the Arts in 2021, which expanded access to arts education and creative learning opportunities. Additional initiatives highlighted at the meeting included a new collaboration launched last fall with Pilobolus and the Skidmore College Dance Department exploring the relationship between creative movement, social connection across generations, and wellbeing.

Additional initiatives discussed included expanded partnerships with Capital District Latinos, Double H Ranch, AIM Services, the Backstretch Employee Service Team, and the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, as well as continued growth of flagship programs including Classical Kids and the SPAC Dance Project.