A while ago, Nicholas McBryde, the founding director of the Otago Festival of the Arts, stepped down from that role with no intention of returning. He went overseas for an extended tour meaning to enjoy himself.
Also, a while ago the Fortune Theatre, which had been struggling financially and, some felt, artistically and was being viewed sceptically by its principal funder, Creative New Zealand (CNZ), appointed a new general manager, Jeremy Smith, and a creative director, Lara MacGregor.
About a year on, things were looking better at the Fortune although anxiety still hovered around CNZ's new funding model which saw its annual grant to the theatre decline from $480,000 to $440,000 in the two years from 2011.
There were greater worries about the Southern Sinfonia, the Dunedin-based orchestra, whose funding seemed likely to disappear entirely, because CNZ had announced it would support only one such orchestra in the South Island.
As the Fortune's fortunes seemed to improve, Mr Smith took a step sideways to become the new manager of Olveston, the house museum in Royal Tce bequeathed to the city in 1966. Mr McBryde, who had returned to Dunedin, replaced Mr Smith at the Fortune.
Meanwhile, the Otago Festival of the Arts had run into difficulties with its 2012 edition. Artists were unpaid, paperwork was in disarray or nonexistent. The new director, Alec Wheeler, left the role and the city.
On April 9, it was announced Mr McBryde would replace Ms Wheeler. The Fortune's board regretted his loss but wished him well at the festival.
Last week, I spoke to Mr McBryde about his return to the child he'd created. He seemed almost surprised at the turn events had taken. But he was not at all daunted, rather renewed and refreshed and in the process of finding a new design.
What we shall have is Otago Festival Mark 2. The situation is not unlike the one he faced in 1999 when he had to shape the first edition, except that the market has changed and the new model has to be less demanding of audiences' stamina and pockets and be mounted from no reserves.
He is six months short in planning the next festival, but has been in that position before. He doesn't know yet how Mark 2 will look but is confident it will be different and successful. Knowing Mr McBryde, so am I, and many others too, I think.
We also discussed the more distant future and lessons to be learnt from recent events. It's too soon to really go into that but a way should be found for the institution to transition directors without faltering.
I agree and events do reveal the difficulty the city has filling these several roles with people capable of meeting their considerable challenges. And even very capable incumbents need broader support if their institutions are not to face periodic crises.
Some people think crises are endemic in the arts but arguably ours are more crisis-prone than others in New Zealand.
This is not only because of the difficulty of mounting these operations from a very small population base but also coping with national bodies like CNZ, which don't always make life easier, at least for us.
Until May 30, Mr McBryde is still in his role at the Fortune. Having inherited Mr Smith's and Ms MacGregor's good work, Mr McBryde feels CNZ no longer views the theatre sceptically. Its confidence has been won.
He hopes the next two years of funding will soon be locked in. It is heartening that the hard-pressed city council has put an extra $20,000 on top of its present $103,000 annual grant to help make up the $40,000 shortfall in CNZ's funding since 2011.
The Sinfonia's prospects seem brighter, too. From its founding in 1966, the civic orchestra's national funding - from CNZ's variously named predecessors, differently styled arts councils - was always there in principle. It might vary, and might conceivably go to another Dunedin orchestra. But there was a national commitment to such provision in the South.
By 2011, that had changed. There were to be Totara grants and Kahikitea grants, the first larger and longer. The Fortune Theatre was to be downgraded to Kahikitea status, the reason its funding dropped, and the commitment reduced to only two years, quite apart from the worrying scrutiny it was undergoing.
But for orchestras there were only going to be Totara grants and only one in the South Island. Would that come to Dunedin?But now CNZ is talking of metropolitan and regional orchestras and the Sinfonia seems likely to be one of the latter. Again, there's some sighs of relief, but no reason for complacency either.
Peter Entwisle is a Dunedin curator, historian and writer.
