ORLANDO, Fla. — The unusual tri-leadership structure at Orlando Fringe has come to an end, with Genevieve Bernard stepping down from her role.

Since September 2024, the organization had eschewed the traditional executive director position in favor of three co-directors: Bernard, managing director Melissa Fritzinger and artistic director Tempestt Halstead.

Fritzinger and Halstead will remain in their positions, which matches a dual-leadership structure used by many arts organizations: one executive focused on the business side of operations and one focused on artistic output.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together as a tri-team. With our staff, board, volunteers, artists and community, we’ve collectively worked to steer this organization in a healthy direction,” Bernard wrote in a Fringe newsletter to supporters. “We didn’t just build organizational health and operational strength. We rebuilt relationships, strengthened connections across our community, and restored something essential to who we are. We brought the soul back.”

The Tri-Directorate, as it was known, weathered storms such as loss of funding, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ public denouncement of Fringe festivals and costly repairs at the city-leased downtown Fringe ArtSpace, which the leaders eventually left.

Bernard, who has been involved with Orlando Fringe for years as a performer, producer, staff member and leader, said her decision to step back was prompted by a desire to refocus on her two main loves: Creating art and educational efforts. She will remain part of the organization’s education staff.

“Genevieve is an important part of the Orlando Fringe, and we respect and support her decision to make these changes,” Fritzinger said. “She is still part of the team.”

Marketing manager Jacqueline Krause was hired about a month ago, Fritzinger said, to take over communications duties that previously fell to Bernard.

It’s the right time to make the change, Bernard told Fringe supporters.

“When I first stepped into this role alongside my incredible co-directors, I had a simple goal: I wanted to reignite joy within our organization. I wanted us to remember that while building a healthy, sustainable organization is important, joy is part of the work, too,” she said in her announcement. “I’m proud to be making this transition from a place of real confidence in the organization and in the people carrying it forward. We’ve built something resilient and strong, and I’m excited about what comes next, not just for me, but for all of us.”

It has been a time of change for Orlando Fringe, which left its longtime offices at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center last month for new digs on Virginia Drive. The organization has been negotiating with Orlando Shakes over renting venues in the Shakespeare Center for next May’s annual Fringe Festival, a two-week extravaganza of short plays, concerts, comedy acts, dance recitals and other shows that has been centered at Loch Haven Park since 1995.

In a sign that those negotiations are ongoing, the application for artists wishing to perform in the 2027 festival doesn’t list specific venues that will be used. Applications became available yesterday afternoon.

“This year we are not asking for preferred venue on applications,” Fringe staff wrote in a message to artists. “We instead have included a few more questions about your show/concept that will better help us place you in a venue that matches your needs. … These changes are to help us better support you and your shows!”

One definite change is the location of the organization’s smaller festival, the Winter Mini-Fest, which will be hosted by Orlando Family Stage for the first time this January. The four-day curated festival of award-winning and new Fringe shows, has previously taken place at the Shakespeare Center and in ArtSpace, downtown on Church Street, while the organization operated the space.

Orlando Family Stage in recent years has increased its involvement in the May Fringe, and hosted four venues in the most recent fest.

“Our partnership around the main festival has been a positive one,” said executive director Chris Brown. ”At the heart of it, both organizations believe in creating opportunities for artists and making space for a wide range of stories and creative voices. Fringe’s model of giving artists a platform aligns well with the role we want Orlando Family Stage to play in Central Florida’s arts community.”

Rentals are an important part of the nonprofit’s business model, Brown said, and Orlando Family Stage values serving different types of organizations.

“Over the course of a year, that might mean everything from school performances and author talks to festivals and even church services,” he said.

The January timing of Winter Mini-Fest fit into the theater’s schedule, although Orlando Family Stage will be preparing its own upcoming productions and getting ready for its second Florida Children’s Book Festival.

“We are accustomed to balancing our own production work and education schedules with rentals and community partnerships, so welcoming Fringe alongside that activity is very much part of how we operate,” Brown said. “We are excited to have the Mini-Fest here and to continue building on a relationship that supports artists and strengthens Central Florida’s creative community.”

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