Al Cushing
Al Cushing grew up in St. Johns, New Brunswick. He did two years at the University of New Brunswick before transferring to Carleton University in Ottawa to study sociology. He became involved with the drama club and became the venue technician for the theatre. He moved to the National Arts centre in 1973 and ended up as the technical director and assistant to the theatre department’s production director.1) He met his future wife, artist Linda Leon, in Calgary in 1978.2)
Around 1983 Cushing was contracted to procure equipment for the new Calgary Centre for the performing Arts. He also ran a production services company jointly owned by Alberta Theatre performing Arts and Theatre Calgary. He then spent nine years in Winnipeg as the production manager for the Manitoba Theatre Centre. He went back to Calgary as director of production and then spent ten years as vice president of operations. He took a job at the Yukon Arts Centre in 2007.3) He was the CEO for nine years until his retirement in March 2017. Under his direction, the Yukon Arts Centre grew from a single theatre to multiple performance spaces including the Old Fire Hall and the Whitehorse wharf. He led a major fund-raiser to upgrade the sound system in the main theatre. In 2016, the arts centre helped to open the Art House in Carcross in partnership with CTFN, the local artist collective and the Carcross Tagish Management Corps.4)