From Simon Kensdale
Charles Morgan?s article on spiralling costs within Arts Council England (AP issue 90, 31 January) is especially interesting on remuneration. As an ACE Drama Adviser, reporting on touring shows for free, I raised an eyebrow when I saw the recruitment adverts for top officers. I wrote to Gerry Robinson about this and received the predictable reply ? that it was necessary to offer large salaries to attract the best people. The belief that there is some direct link between extravagance and performance seems to be as rooted in the arts world as anywhere else in society. Of course, the interesting thing with the arts sector is the range of skills it contains. Anyone who can play the clarinet, direct a play or write a good novel deploys a level of intellectual acumen and talent that makes a mockery of what is required to be a chief executive. What senior managers do is not, in itself, difficult: they?ve just convinced themselves it is and try to kid the rest of us. People who are essentially only administrators come to believe that they are more important than the artists and the artforms they are employed to assist and represent. What is true for the arts world is also true for any professional field: teachers, health workers and local government officers. We all know that value is created at the sharp end, yet have come to accept that the financial rewards will be reaped by someone smart enough to stay put behind a desk. Artistry, creativity and sheer hard work will never pay as much as bean-counting, pen-pushing and schmoozing. We must just sigh and get on with it.
Published: 14-02-2005