I started my career as a Box Office trainee, explains Samantha Budge. I had no arts management experience, and was fortunate that my line manager was happy for me to constantly ask questions about the organisation, thus underpinning the skills that I was learning on the job.
Three years later, when I became Box Office Manager at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke, I was initially nervous about taking on the role, but the support and teaching I had received meant that I surpassed my own expectations of what I could achieve and was able to successfully implement a number of new ideas. Being very ambitious, however, I knew that formal arts education would enhance my career prospects, so in 2001 I accepted a place on BA (Hons) Arts and Event Production at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. I have now completed my second year.
As the Box Office generally falls within the marketing function, much of the knowledge I had gained on the job was set in a marketing context. My degree has developed and expanded that knowledge by introducing other management issues such as contract negotiation, programming and applying for funding. Lectures, discussions and practical opportunities allow me to utilise my management skills, and the degree programme provides a broader context for all that I had previously learned. I have also developed a deeper confidence in my abilities and judgement when working within a professional arts management environment.
A formal arts management education programme provides many benefits that can be difficult to realise when learning on the job. Working as part of an arts organisation you have a job description to fulfil and many demands are placed upon your time. It is easier simply to accept your role as it is than to challenge the organisation to consider new approaches, particularly as colleagues who have been with the organisation for a long time may no longer have the enthusiasm for trying out something new. Ultimately this can mean that you may only learn the organisation?s established methods, which if they work for the organisation is great; but learning can become a stifling experience. You are also in danger of being locked into learning about your own area of the organisation, and having few opportunities to see how you fit into the bigger picture.
Formal education and learning on the job both play an important role in developing arts managers, but it depends on the commitment of an organisation as to the extent to which a learning opportunity is created. Both forms of learning are dependent upon a positive environment and a willing student. I have had wonderful experiences in the organisations that I have worked for and feel I am now benefiting from a structured form of learning. I will soon be equipped with knowledge and confidence that is rooted in both prior experience and understanding.
Samantha Budge is a student at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. For details of the BA (Hons) Arts and Event Production contact Course Director Richard Wright t: 01202 363279 e: rwright@aib.ac.uk. To contact The Haymarket Theatre e: zoe@haymarket.org.uk