Arts Management – Page 6 – LARSEN

And another thing: reviving Australian cultural policy

So, Australia has a brand-new National Cultural Policy. And, you know what? I think it’s pretty great.

My latest ‘and another thing’ vlog walk the line between cautious optimism and being a critical friend.

Boards can do better

In the first part of my Bad, Better and Beyond Best Practice report from AICSA’s Rethinking Arts Governance event in October 2022, I identified the main reason organisations have Boards as that we’re required to do so.

While I’d dearly like our sector to imagine a radically different future for arts governance, the truth is – in the meantime – we’re stuck with what we’ve got.

Bad, better and beyond best practice

In October 2022, the Arts Industry Council of South Australia invited me to lead a full day of discussions at their Bad, Better and Beyond Best Practice: Rethinking Arts Governance event.

What does ‘less is necessary’ look like?

It’s been a difficult few years for everybody. With the pandemic joining floods, bushfires and nearly a decade of arts funding cuts, Australia’s arts sector has never been more vulnerable.

As a result, we now find ourselves in the midst of a new crisis: one characterised by sector-wide burnout, staff shortages, ‘post’-pandemic exhaustion, and breaking (or already broken) teams. Which puts a whole generation of artists and arts leaders at risk.

Bad news Boards

The suggestion that Australian arts organisations should reset (or even remove) their Boards has clearly struck a nerve.

Within days of my provocation at the 2021 Reset Conference, I was inundated with responses from all over the world. This included hundreds of social media posts, pages of emails and dozens of interviews that acted both as an overwhelming affirmation of the proposal and a depressing indictment of the state of the sector and the broken governance models we’re forced to work within.

Looking for allies for arts governance

From the start of 2023, I began reducing my client workload in order to write – with a focus on my debut poetry collection (Public. Open. Space, Fremantle Press), the second edition of The Relationship is the Project and my independent research into rethinking arts, cultural and for-purpose governance – which will remain my focus in 2025 as I continue to develop it into a book-length manuscript.

If my work or writing has been of value to you, I’d appreciate you joining me as an advocate, ally or accomplice from just $2.50/month on Patreon).

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Art of Governance survey opens

In preparation for my 2022 Bundanon residency, I kicked-off some research into the governance of arts, cultural and not-for-profit organisations in Australia (and beyond).

Our hybrid (accessible) future

COVID-19 rushed the world into digital and hybrid ways of working faster than anyone could have imagined. Unsurprisingly, this led to a lot of reverse-engineering, working-it-out-on-the-job, and many of us getting things wrong. However, it also led to new ways of working and making from which many don’t want to return.

Adelaide arts organisations take their work online

When the first COVID-19 lockdowns hit last year, many vulnerable and marginalised communities became immediately more marginalised. In response, Adelaide’s artists and arts organisations took their work online as a way to keep showing up for people suddenly disconnected from their communities, and to make sure their diverse stories and experiences could be shared.