speck's curtain call

Innovative leader of Houston's biggest faith-based theater group announces curtain call

Jake Speck is taking his talents to Nashville.

Photo courtesy of A.D. Players

Just days after his organization’s biggest event of the year, the leader of Houston’s biggest faith-based theater group is making his curtain call.

Jake Speck, the executive director of A.D. Players, has announced that this season will be his last. Speck delivered the news to the organization’s board of directors earlier this month, according to a press release.

He arrived in Houston in August 2017 and is credited with leading the company through its transition into the new George Theater, as well as the rebranding and restructuring of the organization to its new moniker, A.D. Players at The George Theater.

Speck, in tandem with artistic director Kevin Dean, has led A.D. Players to its three highest grossing and most well attended seasons in its 54 year history, according to the nonprofit.

He was named one of the 50 Most Admired CEOs of 2020 by the Houston Business Journal and is a Senior Fellow of Class LIII of Houston’s American Leadership Forum.

The former performer also successfully led the fourth-annual A.D. Players After Dinner Affair, a festive “anti-gala” which took place on August 21—the nonprofit’s biggest event of the year and big return to in-person performances.

Next summer, Speck will reportedly head to Nashville, where he will take the role of artistic director at his alma mater, Christ Presbyterian Academy, a leading Pre K-12 college preparatory school there. Apropos to his current role, he will also manage the school’s brand-new, multi-million dollar performing arts center.

His wife, Emily Tello Speck will join him as the Upper School arts director, per a release.

“This was one of the most difficult decisions Emily and I have ever made”, Speck said in a statement. “Houston has been so incredibly kind to us and the A.D. Players community has become our family. But we have been offered a tremendous professional opportunity to work together and return to Nashville, a community we care deeply about and one where much of our family lives.”

Passionate about live performance, Speck recently told CultureMap: “The audience feeds off the performers, and in turn, the performers feed off the rush of adrenaline and enthusiasm of the audience. There’s truly nothing like it.”

Little doubt Speck will bring that enthusiasm and adrenaline to Nashville.

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Houston's iconic Rothko Chapel receives new grant to restore Beryl damage

Courtesy of the Rothko Chapel

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Houston's beloved Rothko Chapel is one step closer to recovery after Hurricane Beryl in 2024. A substantial new grant from Bank of America will fund the restoration of Mark Rothko pieces damaged by the storm.

“This grant comes at a pivotal moment – not only for the Rothko Chapel, but in the broader context of our changing climate and growing vulnerability to extreme weather events,” said David Leslie, executive director of the Chapel. “The conservation process will require extensive time, specialized materials, and expert technical support to stabilize and restore these works, ensuring they can once again inspire visitors within this sacred space. Bank of America’s support underscores the urgent need to preserve culturally significant artworks like these, especially as we face new environmental challenges that threaten our artistic legacy.”

The Bank of America Art Conservation Project has been used to fund the preservation and restoration of culturally significant artworks since 2010. In 2021, the project also funded the restoration of an 13th Century Incan textile housed at Houston's Menil Collection. This year's other recipients include the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico City, Sir John Soane's Museum in London, and the Sydney Opera House.

Since 1971, Rothko Chapel has been one of the best meditative spaces in Houston. Commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil in 1964, Rothko designed the space and painted its famous black panels. Rothko himself did not live to see the completion, dying by suicide in New York in 1970. Now, the chapel stands as a non-denominational spiritual center, hosting concerts, mindfulness clinics, and other events designed to promote mental healing in visitors.

When Hurricane Beryl hit Houston on July 8, high winds and torrential hammered the chapel's roof. Water leakage damaged the walls and one of Rothko's black triptychs on the east side of the building. It took seven months of work before the chapel was reopened to the public in December, but the damaged art was still housed off site for restoration. Bank of America's grant should hopefully speed up the process of returning the iconic pieces back to public view.

“It is devastating to see the domino effects of an event like Hurricane Beryl, jeopardizing the storied institutions and culturally significant works that provide so much context into the Houston identity,” said Hong Ogle, President, Bank of America Houston. “I am very proud that Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project allows us to support the arts in a unique and impactful way and preserve the works that mean the most to our community.”

In addition to the restoration, Rothko Chapel recently broke ground on a $42 million campus expansion. Two new buildings to the north with house administrative services and an archive, and a meditation garden dedicated to Kathleen and Chuck Mullenweg. A new program center will follow after.