Arts vet steps in at Langston Hughes

Veteran Seattle arts and communications specialist Vivian Phillips has been hired by the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department as a temporary manager of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

A communications director during former mayor Paul Schell's administration and co-director of ACT Theatre's Hansberry Project, Phillips has taken the yearlong appointment at Langston Hughes and will work alongside continuing managing director Manuel Cawaling.

According to Seattle Parks and Recreation public-relations officer Dewey Potter, Phillips is charged with "stabilizing Langston Hughes as a self-sustaining program operator." She will report to Tim Gallagher, Parks and Recreation superintendent, and — with community input — help plan the future of Langston Hughes. The center, a former synagogue in the Central Area, offers arts classes to youths and adults and produces theatrical, film and other cultural offerings.

Phillips steps in at a time of turmoil for Langston Hughes. Its artistic director, Jacqueline Moscou, was placed on paid administrative leave in October for an undetermined period, as her job performance and personnel frictions are being investigated by the city's Human Resources division.

A longtime Seattle theater artist, Moscou has retained a lawyer. And in a heated public meeting last fall, Moscou's supporters charged that the city plans to oust her to change the mission at Langston Hughes: from the African-American focus Moscou championed to one favoring more ethnically diverse programming. Some Langston Hughes colleagues of Moscou maintained her removal was largely due to work tensions between her and Cawaling.

Phillips will begin her Langston Hughes job next week. Sources at ACT Theatre say she will also continue her involvement with the Hansberry Project.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com