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Throughout the years and around the world, actors, directors, writers, technicians and just about everyone else involved in the performing arts have been able to take advantage of established routes to polish their skills, writes Fiona Richards. But there?s never been an on-the-job training programme for arts managers? until now.

When Michael Kaiser left the Royal Opera House in London to take up the reins as President of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in February 2001, one of his ambitions was to introduce an arts management training programme which would dramatically improve the way that arts organisations are run throughout the world. Thus was born the Vilar Institute for Arts Management, made possible by a $40m gift from the arts philanthropist, Alberto Vilar.

To fully realise the ambition, the goal was to have the first intake of Fellows at their Kennedy Center desks by September. So, shortly after Kaiser?s arrival, the call went out to professionals in the field to put forward their case for selection. The process of sifting through the more than 150 applications received from 30 countries must have caused a few headaches. But here I am, one of a lucky dozen ? six Americans, three Brits, and one each from China, Lithuania and Russia ? half-way through the year-long programme.

Having previously spent seven years at the National Theatre on London?s South Bank, I was immediately struck by the apparent similarities between the two organisations. Each operates from a large riverside building with several auditoria under one roof, serving a diverse and discerning community. But whilst the National concentrates on producing theatre, the Kennedy Center adds presentations of classical music, opera, jazz, ballet and modern dance to the mix.

As a Fellow, each day starts with an hour-long class ? either accounting, marketing or fundraising led by departmental Vice Presidents, or strategic planning with Michael Kaiser ? and then it?s time to get on with the day job. To maximise the hands-on learning experience, the year is based around a rotation of three or four placements in various departments, which offer an enviable opportunity to learn new skills and fully appreciate how decisions from one area impact on others. The choice of placements is guided by each Fellow?s interests, but a spell in Development is mandatory ? a clue to the importance placed on fundraising for the arts in the 21st century.

As a group of 12 individuals who are passing through for a year, the expectation might have been that we would be consigned to the fringes of the organisation. But on the contrary, we?ve been warmly welcomed by our colleagues, we?ve mingled with donors and board members, and we?ve even got official ID cards and codes for the photocopiers! In short, we?ve been fully integrated into the Kennedy Center ?family?. In addition, there have been opportunities to meet with key people from other arts organisations in Washington, DC and beyond, and of course the networking will continue as the 12 of us go our separate ways across the globe at the end of the year.

?Great art, well marketed? is a mantra I?ve heard from Michael Kaiser many times over the past six months. Thanks to being a product of his visionary ambition for an arts management training programme, I?m learning that those four deceptively simple words are the key to running a successful arts organisation.

But what of the Vilar Institute?s expectations? ?The point of the programme is long-term,? says Kaiser. ?Whether the Fellows go back to their previous jobs is up to them. I?m more concerned to look back in 10 or 12 years and be able to say that we?ve put one or two hundred trained arts administrators out into the world?.


Fiona Richards is a Fellow at the Vilar Institute for Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC e: frichards@kennedy-center.org For details of how to apply to be a 2002/3 Fellow, visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/vilarinstitute/fellowships/