Arts Management – Page 7 – LARSEN

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 2026 as I hope to publish 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.

Putting people first post COVID-19

Managing team wellbeing can be a challenge at the best of times – and the best of times seem very far away.

As we settle into our newest new-normal, our teams are stressed and preoccupied. Many are still recovering from being distanced from the social, cultural and creative interactions important for their health and happiness. Many are still adjusting to what it means to re-engage with the world.

How to make digital and hybrid work

Digital and hybrid work is nothing new – but it has never been so ubiquitous or so clearly understood, nor changed at quite this rapid pace.

In a post-COVID creative sector, we need to take the opportunity to reflect on our recent experience and imagine new, hybrid arts organisations that allow for more flexible and effective employment and delivery options.

Digital, flexible and accessible: launching Our Hybrid Future

Here are two things about me: I work from home. And I manage teams remotely (or I have done in the past). At the start of 2020, these things – while nowhere near unique – were still rare in the circles I worked in. Most of my friends, colleagues and clients went to work each day in offices, and most of them worked with or managed people within the same buildings they shared.