Robert Martin to Retire as Executive Director of the Presidio Theatre

San Francisco, November 17, 2023—Robert Martin, founding Executive Director of the historic Presidio Theatre on the Main Post in San Francisco and nationally recognized performing arts leader, has announced that he will retire as Executive Director as of December 31, 2023, and will become an independent arts management and programming consultant. The Presidio Theatre Board of Directors has begun a search for a new Executive Director.

Peggy Haas, Founder and Board Chair of the Presidio Theatre and its Board of Directors selected Martin to oversee the historic Theatre’s transformation and oversee its artistic and administration beginning in 2018 two years before the Theatre re-opened to the public. “I am forever grateful to Bob for his boundless expertise and energy, programmatic vision and ability to uplift and inspire the team that made this tremendous project a reality,” she says. “We all wish him well in his next chapter as an independent arts consultant and look forward to his counsel and continued relationship with the Presidio Theatre.”

Robert Martin has enjoyed more than four decades as a national leader in performing arts programming, commissioning, and administration with a special focus on launching new arts spaces and organizations. He has overseen the multi-faceted planning, building, opening and programming of theater/performing arts spaces including the Eureka Theatre and Cowell Theater at Fort Mason in San Francisco and the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, NM. Most recently, Martin has served as Executive Director of the historic Presidio Theatre in San Francisco, overseeing its transformation from a derelict former movie theater on the military base to a vibrant and successful performing arts center, which opened to the public in September 2019 following a $45 million transformation. “I am deeply grateful to Peggy Haas for her vision of transforming the Presidio Theatre to provide a much-needed performing arts venue for San Francisco,” says Martin. “Our first four years of programming have proven that it is a vibrant hub that brings together artists and audiences fostering creativity, supporting inspiration and a place to come together.”

About Robert Martin
During Martin’s tenure, the Presidio Theatre has participated in and hosted many premieres including Kaisahan Unidad, a collaboration featuring Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco and LIKHA Pilipino Folk Ensemble; Angel Island Oratorio for Voices and Strings featuring Del Sol Quartet and Volti; Songs for J-Town by Mark Izu; Global Moves by Margaret Jenkins Dance Company; Both Eyes Open, a chamber opera with music by Max Giteck Duykers, lyrics by Philip Kan Gotanda and featuring John Duykers; Sojurner ZY: An Asian American Science Fiction Fantasy by Shadowlight Productions and Paul Dresher Ensemble; Solaz by La Tania Baile Flamenco; Soul of the City by Brenda Wong Aoki and First Voice; and Ritual by Patrick Makuakane & Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu. Upcoming world premieres include a co-production with the Magic Theatre of Jerry Garcia in the Lower Mission written by Culture Clash’s Richard Montoya and directed by Sean San Jose.

Throughout his career, Martin has served as an arts management consultant, listing among his past clients the City of San Francisco, City of San Jose/Mexican Heritage Plaza, Antenna Theatre, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, San Francisco Fair, Statue of Liberty’s Harbor Festival, Z Space Studio, Bay Area Book Festival, Crosspulse, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, People’s Theater Festival at UC Santa Cruz, Free Southern Theater, A Traveling Jewish Theater and El Teatro Campesino, the American Festival Project and others. He is a founding member of Bay Area Theater Sports and National Endowment for the Arts Inter-Arts Fellow and has appeared on stage with Asian American Theater Company, Elbows Akimbo, Z Collective and others.

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