Artistic Cultural Human Resources

ARTISTIC / CULTURAL HUMAN RESOURCES
ART AND CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Art Management (also referred to a art administration) applies business administration

techniques and processes to the art world. It includes running the daily business
operations of art institutions either private or public.
Art Management’s purpose is to reconcile both disciplines as they potentially have

opposing objectives. The former is concerned with the practical aspects of running a
business: rational management of resources, keeping expenditure within a budget,
pursuing efficiency. The latter is a mean of expression, it carries the authors’ vision
and emotions and is not concerned with profit.
To be legitimate, art management must respect arts by not stifling the artist’s creativity
and their freedom to express themselves. Art should always have the freedom and the
space to fulfill its role towards society: inspire ideas, educate, embody the current
issues and struggles of a society, shape nations and peoples’ identities, create cultural
legacies that are passed on to the next generation.
What is the role of Art management? Why is it needed?
Museums, art galleries, theatres, opera houses, are all institutions. As such they are
legal entities who need to meet legal, economical and organizational requirements to
exist and operate within society. Arts Management’ role is to support art institutions,
both for profit and non-profit, meet those requirements. To quote Woody Allen: “If show
business wasn’t a business, it would be called show”. Besides, art institutions often
face budget and technical constraints. For instance, any at institutions has to be
economically viable, manage staff, fund finding, etc.
Examples Art Administration tasks and responsibilities:
● Event management and planning

● Managing art pieces in galleries and museum: transport, borrowing artwork
● Staff management, hiring actors, stage managers, dancers, musicians, etc.
● Funding, accounting and budget management
● Ticket sales, pricing, advertisement and communication
Why study art management?

Why should you study Art Management? Nowadays, any cultural organization need to
abide by strict organizational rules to run properly. So art management positions are in
great need. You will be the one to make the institution activity happen. If you are fond of
art and wish to help an art institution strive by developing its activities, while making a
decent living.
What position can you get with an art management degree?

Art managers and art administrators are positions strictly dealing with management, as
their name suggest. However, many other position include some art management
related responsibilities and tasks. For instance, budget and staff management play a
central role of high responsibility positions such as artistic directors, museum and
gallery managers.
Examples of Cultural Management jobs:
⮚ Art Administrator
⮚ Art Manager
⮚ Artistic Director
⮚ Museum Director
⮚ Gallery Manager
⮚ Project Manager
⮚ Fundraiser
Where does Cultural Management Fit?

When most people think of arts and culture they think about the artists themselves.
Most people know what a director does or an actor, writer, musician or painter for the
matter. But what does a cultural manager do?
Cultural managers work closely with the artistic community to support the artistic or
heritage vision of an organization.
1. Artistic excellence, cultural relevance, and heritage preservation

and presentation are at the center.
Cultural managers and administrators work closely with artistic directors, curators and
others to support the artistic heritage vision of the organization, and have or develop
extensive knowledge of the art heritage discipline.
2. Relationships and networks are essential in this environment.
Arts and cultural managers and administrators cultivate extensive networks,
partnerships and teams. These include the staff and volunteers of their own
organizations and their Boards: funders, governments; professional committees; and
the very important public – as the appreciators and consumers of the organization’s
artistic Production.
3. Jobs in cultural management and administration are varied and

diverse
There are many diverse jobs in management and administration within arts and cultural
organizations, although the fastest growing area is development and fund raising and
very few organizations have staff dedicated to human resources management. Jobs
could be found in a small theatre company, a local museum or historic site, a publishing
company, a new media production company, a provincial or territorial arts council, or a
national artists training school. In an increasingly complex environment, cultural
managers need to develop a large range of skills to be able to address the demands
placed on all arts cultural organizations.
4. Most arts and cultural organizations are very small.

It is important to know that the majority of arts and cultural organizations have only one
or two staff. The Executive Director (sometimes called General Manager or
Administrator / Administrative Director) very often must take on all management and
administrative tasks, with the help of a core group of Board Members or other
volunteers. However, other organizations, including many heritage organization, have
considerably more management and administrative staff, and in arts service
organizations the staff are all involved in management and administration.
A Large Variety of Jobs

In small organizations, all of the tasks or branches of cultural management are
undertaken by one Executive Director or General Manager. In larger arts and heritage
organizations, some of these management functions become separate positions.
Cultural Management Jobs

1. Marketing
● Director / Manager of Marketing

● Publicist / Public Relations Coordinator
● Sales / Marketing Coordinator
● Touring / Box Office / Telemarketing/Retail Sales
2. Production
● Artistic Manager / Coordinator

● Curator / Archivist
● Production Developer
● Production Manager
● Stage Manager / Technical Director
3. Human Resources (HR) Management
● Board Developer / Liaison

● Director / Manager of HR
● Director / Manager if Volunteers
● HR Coordinator
● Volunteer Coordinator
4. Information Technology (IT) Management
● Director / Manager of IT
● IT Technician
● Web Designer / Administrator
5. Fundraising & Development
● Development / Fundraising Coordinator

● Director / Manager of Fundraising / Development
● Director / Manager of Membership
● Membership Coordinator
● Special Events Coordinator
6. Facilities Management
● Facilities Manager
● Maintenance
● Security
7. Board Developer Financial Management
● Bookkeeper / Finance Clerk

● Controller
● Director / Manager of Finance
● Finance Officer
8. Administration
● Administrative Assistant
● Director / Manager of Administrative Services
● Office Manager / Administrator
● Receptionist / Clerk
9. Other Key Activities
● Developer / Evaluation Coordinator

● Government / Stakeholder Relations Coordinator
● Professional Development Coordinator
● Researcher / Policy Coordinator
● Strategic / Long-range / Program Planner
OPPORTUNITIES
I. University or High School Student
● You like to organize your physical workspace to make it more comfortable
and user-friendly.
You could learn to plan, maintain, and manage the physical spaces an organization
uses for its productions or installations. This type of work falls into –
Facilities Management.
II. Artist or Other Cultural Sector Worker – often create one of a kind object
that communicates information concerning the creator and context.
● You have been the human face on publicity for an art or cultural
organization or a specific production. You could promote the artistic or
cultural “products” of an organization. This type of work falls into – Marketing.
● You have contributed your artistic or cultural practice to a special
community benefit or other cause, or helped in other ways at fundraising
events. You could help develop special events, target potential supporters, etc.
This type of work falls into – Fundraising and Development.
● You have been involved in a number of different projects at the same time.
You could coordinate efforts on a number of concurrent products or events. This
type of work falls into – Production.
● You have organized a group a artists or other cultural workers to do a
project, assigning tasks to specific people. You could manage the people,
both staff and volunteers. This type of work falls into – Human Resources
Management.
III. Workers in transition from another sector – a transitional worker is a person
returning to the job market after time out for various reasons, or are individuals seeking
to improve to their social and financial situation by switching jobs.
● Passionate
You want to move into cultural management so that you can make a contribution to
something important: the creation and production of diverse art forms or the
preservation and interpretation of cultural and transitions.
● Versatile
In this field, you will be called upon to learn many new skills. You enjoy taking on new
challenges; learning as go, and sharing what you know.
● Leadership abilities
You are at ease with making decisions and good at team building. You are comfortable
taking the lead on projects or activities even if you are not the boss. Cultural
managers must also be comfortable assigning the lead to others.
● Entrepreneur / Innovator
You are a self-starter, happy to dream up new approaches or help make someone
else’s good idea work. You are comfortable taking some risks and careful to
keep evaluating your progress – and make changes if necessary.

Artistic Cultural Human Resources

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Artistic Cultural Human Resources

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Artistic Cultural Human Resources

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ARTISTIC / CULTURAL HUMAN RESOURCES

ART AND CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

Art Management (also referred to a art administration) applies business administration

Art Management’s purpose is to reconcile both disciplines as they potentially have

What is the role of Art management? Why is it needed?

Examples Art Administration tasks and responsibilities:

● Event management and planning

Why study art management?

What position can you get with an art management degree?

Examples of Cultural Management jobs:

Where does Cultural Management Fit?

1. Artistic excellence, cultural relevance, and heritage preservation

3. Jobs in cultural management and administration are varied and

4. Most arts and cultural organizations are very small.

A Large Variety of Jobs

Cultural Management Jobs

● Director / Manager of Marketing

● Artistic Manager / Coordinator

3. Human Resources (HR) Management

● Board Developer / Liaison

4. Information Technology (IT) Management

5. Fundraising & Development

● Development / Fundraising Coordinator

7. Board Developer Financial Management

● Bookkeeper / Finance Clerk

9. Other Key Activities

● Developer / Evaluation Coordinator

You might also like