As it launches its 10th season as one of the Southeast’s leading performing arts institutions, the Charleston Gaillard Center announced today the appointment of Nicole Taney (pictured) as its inaugural Vice President of Artistic Programming. This new role marks a return to Charleston, where she spent eight years as Director of Artistic Planning and Operations for Spoleto Festival USA. Ms. Taney begins at the Charleston Gaillard Center in August 2025.
Ms. Taney has more than two and a half decades of experience in the non-profit arts and culture sector in Charleston, Boston, and New York, having produced, presented, commissioned, and toured artists across disciplines, with an emphasis on dance earlier in her career. Her experience includes positions at Celebrity Series of Boston, Spoleto Festival USA, New York Live Arts/Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, New York City Ballet, Trisha Brown Dance Company, Carnegie Hall, and Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Nicole back to Charleston and to the Gaillard Center,” said Lissa Frenkel, President and CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center. “Her impressive breadth of experience—from commissioning groundbreaking work to introducing new voices to diverse audiences—aligns beautifully with our mission to foster connection, dialogue, and discovery through the arts. As we mark our 10th season and look toward the future, I’m excited to partner with Nicole to further expand the Gaillard’s artistic vision and deepen our impact across the Lowcountry and beyond.”
Nicole Taney was most recently Artistic Director of Celebrity Series of Boston, where she managed and oversaw artistic programming for one of the nation’s largest and most highly regarded independent performing arts presenting organizations, creating a season of some of the world’s greatest orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists, and leading artists in contemporary dance, jazz, world and folk music, and spoken word. Prior to that, she was Director of Artistic Planning and Operations for Spoleto Festival USA, where she produced and presented multidisciplinary programming for the annual Festival, including conceiving and commissioning the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, and shepherded the year-round community outreach programs. Taney was also the director of producing and touring at the renowned New York Live Arts/Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, company manager for New York City Ballet, general manager of Trisha Brown Dance Company, and worked in development and public relations for Carnegie Hall, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and at The Children’s Museum in Boston. She was also a Grant Panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and an Adjunct Professor of Arts Management at the College of Charleston.
“It’s an honor to join the Gaillard Center at this milestone moment and to come back to Charleston,” said Nicole Taney . “Looking ahead, I’m excited to build on the organization’s strong foundation and further its commitment to presenting ambitious, world-class programming that engages, challenges, and inspires. I look forward to deepening connections with our community and to shaping a bold artistic vision that reflects both Charleston’s cultural richness and the global stage.”
Over the past nine seasons, the Gaillard has become a cornerstone of Charleston’s cultural heartbeat—bringing world-class artistry to the Lowcountry while creating space for community, creativity, and connection. Since opening the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall in 2015, the Gaillard has welcomed more than 415,000 audience members from all 50 states to 385 performances—including 16 original commissions that reflect the organization’s commitment to advancing new work and supporting contemporary voices.