ArtsProfessional reveals the career paths of the sectors senior managers.
National Director, Creative Partnerships (2005to date)
This is the best job in the world! I spend much of my time observing projects that have transformed young peoples lives. Creative Partnerships sees creativity as key to raising the aspirations and achievements of young people and equipping them with skills for life. Its rare to do a job where not only is the impact you have so enormous but you actually get to see it. Im also constantly astonished by the commitment and enthusiasm you get from school staff, creative practitioners and Creative Partnerships staff.
Head of Programme Development, NewcastleGateshead Initiative (20012004)
Id been away in the US for four years and this role involved picking up the momentum that had been generated through my work before Id left. It was reasonably effortless because of the ambitions and mature relationships already in place in the region. I was responsible for coordinating the bid for NewcastleGateshead to be named European Capital of Culture in 2008. We won morally! The view was that the judges thought wed do it anyway. Newcastle Gatehead came out of the bid with a powerful set of partners and a clear vision for the future, which they have resolutely continued to implement.
Director, International Festival of Arts and Ideas (19972001)
Moving four young children from the north-east of England to the north-east of America in just six weeks was probably the maddest thing I have ever done. I remember my partner and I went to the States for two and a half days, in which time we had to: a) get the job, b) decide if we wanted it, c) get a house, and d) get the children into schools. The experience fundamentally changed us all and Id like to think that New Haven will never be the same again. During my time there, the International Festival grew into one of the biggest and most successful festivals in the US. In 2001, the Festival took place over 17 days, attracting an audience of 140,000. Performers included the Metropolitan Opera, the RSC, Dublins Abbey Theatre and Russias most acclaimed theatre company the Taganka Theatre. Income from ticket sales doubled every year from 1997 to 2002.
Chief Executive, Northern Sights (19931997)
Northern Sights was established to deliver Visual Arts UK, the year-long cultural celebration that took place in the North of England in 1996. The work I had done in 1987 on the role that the arts can play in economic regeneration had persuaded me that culture can be a powerful catalyst. Running Visual Arts UK gave me the opportunity to put my theories into practice. The key to our success was that Northern Sights remained very small only four of us at its peak. We challenged communities, cultural institutions and individuals to deliver the celebration and they rose magnificently to the challenge, demonstrating what is possible when you empower people to pursue their own vision.
Deputy Director, Museum of the Moving Image, National Film Theatre, London Film Festival (19881993)
I went to the British Film Institute to help with the opening of the Museum of the Moving Image and integrate it within the existing operation of the National Film Theatre and London Film Festival. The museum was an astonishing success, drawing in hundreds of thousands of people who would not normally visit museums. Its a tragedy that, after my departure, it lost its way and has since been closed.
Consultant to the Minister for the Arts, Richard Luce MP (1987)
I was given this wonderful opportunity because in those days the government Office of Arts and Libraries was on Horse Guards Parade. I was physically the nearest arts administrator to the desk of the civil servant responsible for arts and libraries. I was commissioned to prepare a report for the then Conservative Minister of the Arts, Richard Luce, on the role of the arts in inner cities, with specific reference to regeneration. The experience was life-changing because of what I learnt about the capacity of culture to transform lives. The Conservative Government that commissioned the report hated it.
General Manager, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) (19821987)
I got this job without ever having worked in the arts before or done any management but its where I learnt everything about how to manage organisations. The role came during a very difficult period for the arts at the height of public spending cuts in the Thatcher years. Somehow we all survived and most of the people there went on to glorious careers.