ArtsProfessional reveals the career paths of the sectors senior managers
Business Development Manager Audiences Yorkshire (From 2006)
This role offers the opportunity to work in partnership with the arts and cultural sector in a very direct way. We support arts and cultural organisations through services such as audience research, marketing and audience development, consultancy and training. One of my main roles is to support a range of social enterprise initiatives like the newly- launched online ticketing solution that gives cultural organisations a low-cost sales platform through our Whats on guide www.digyorkshire.com.
Regional Creative Partnerships Director, Arts Council England, Yorkshire (20022006)
In this job, the emphasis was on supporting young people, teachers and the creative sector to develop creativity, and ultimately, change the way young people experience learning in schools. During this time, I was fortunate to visit Romania and meet artists and arts organisations and was based at CAPE UK for two years. It certainly reaffirmed my faith in schools as creative places for young people to learn. Most importantly, it identified the need for sustained investment in the arts and creative sector.
Regional Development Officer (Lifelong Learning) Arts Council England, Yorkshire (19962002)
This was my first experience of working across a region and it took me a while to get used to the regional demands as I swept from meetings in Scarborough to Sheffield, Settle to Scunthorpe. It enabled me to formalise many of the processes I had developed by instinct in my previous jobs, and to do what I love most - network locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. My greatest achievement was assisting the birth of CAPE UK.
Education & Community Co-ordinator, Bradford Festival (19911996)
This was my first taste of professional freedom, and a chance to work with people who had a positive and creative impact on the wider community. I established a year-round education programme that involved more than 100 schools. Highlights included taking 100 young people to perform live in the Blue Peter studios. I learnt a lot about partnership working, sponsorship and fundraising. Ultimately, it re-affirmed for me that participation in the arts is an extremely powerful tool in learning and community development.
Primary School Teacher, Bradford (19871991)
I worked for a relatively short time in this role, but it continues to frame a lot of what I know and understand about how people interact, and how vital creative processes are for personal growth. Whilst teaching I piloted child-led learning programmes and each term I would work with the children to create a show, which we would take on tour anything to avoid sitting at desks!