From Anthony Field, CBE, FCA, Theatre Projects Consultants
Christopher Gordon’s illuminating article about senior public appointments in the arts sector (ArtsProfessional issue 59, October 6) raised a number of interesting points.
He kindly paid tribute to the days when Arts Council departments (Art, Drama and Finance) nurtured the talents of new cultural leaders. When we set up the first Arts Management courses we also attempted to mount a short course for senior leaders in the arts sector. We planned to present training seminars on the role of Chairs of Boards, the constitution of non-profit-distributing companies, and the relationship between the Chair and Artistic Directors as well as between the Artistic Directors, the Chief Executives and Finance Directors. We were met with a torrent of abuse and accusations from these leaders, who considered that we were criticising their work when, in fact, they maintained they knew their jobs. In fact, Arts Council officers sat on the Boards of subsidised companies as assessors in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and found many of them to be appallingly chaired and given poor support from their company secretaries. The obviously poor communication between senior officers was also apparent to us.
Of course, we were naïve as we should have mounted a conference and not called it a ‘training course’!