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PUTTING THE ARTS CENTRE AT THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY
Leadership, audience engagement and the box officeDavid Fishel, Positive Solutions
What makes a great arts centre?
Gwion Qwion rock art site, Kimberley, WA
Rock art, Andalucia, Spain
What is art about?• Creative instinct
• Communication and shared experience
• Craft and excellence
• A search for meaning
• Fun and childish delight
What makes for a great arts venue?• The core audience experience
• The ancillary services – ticketing, parking, catering, retail
• Customer care
• Public programs and active community engagement
• Accessibility – physical, cultural, financial
• Integration with the business and education communities; connectedness with the creative sector
• Organisational stability
Arts Centre MelbourneThe Trust’s vision for Arts Centre Melbourne is simple – it is to be recognised as one of the world’s great performing arts centres. Achieving this vision will mean that we will be: •Actively engaging people in exceptional performing arts experiences •The venue of choice for the world’s best performers, performance companies and producers•An integral part of the arts across Victoria, with deep connections and high levels of engagement•An innovator, known for ground breaking programming and presentations•Accessible to visitors of all ages and backgrounds•Financially strong and stable
West Yorkshire Playhouse• Awash with imaginative
projects
• Wednesdays at lunch-time is “Heydays” day
• Sport & Arts Towards Knowledge (SPARK)
• A story sack
• Story Makers
• West Yorkshire Playhouse Schools Touring Company, Head On
• Backstage visits, support for exam students
BMEC - Local StagesCreative Producer activities include:
•Support for individual theatre, dance and music projects•Workshops and masterclasses•Local cabarets•Residencies and exchanges•Open mic nights•Commissions•Professional development
Local Stages image from BMEC website
BMEC – other initiatives• Catapult Festival
• Inland Sea of Sound
• Creative Learning Project
• Smashed Arts
Catapult Festival
BMEC - community projects kick-started by others• Aboriginal Performing Arts Program• Central West Short Play Festival• Roadwork and Black Lines
BMEC – Success Factors in Community Engagement
• Relationships with tertiary/ education• Close relationships with RADOs• Cross-over between programs so that they all
feed into each other• Giving the community strong networks
Aboriginal Performing Arts Program, Anita Heiss blogInland Sea of Sound, ABC website
Technical competenciesCommon to Property Management
Customised to the Arts Unique to the Arts and Entertainment Sector
Building and equipment maintenance
Marketing Arts programming
Security Sponsorship Ticketing services
Cleaning Fundraising Production
Catering Technical services Arts development
Human resource management
Arts education
Financial administration
Outreach
The venue is often a big, ugly square thing. How do you make it more vibrant. Pop up
performance. Live music. Post show talks. Whole evening experience, wrapping around the
central performance. We’re trying to make the venue a destination. But you also have to break out and be in different places. We have to work
on multiple fronts.
Discussion:1. What makes for a great arts venue – what are
the distinguishing factors and ingredients?
2. Which venues do you admire and why?
3. How do we measure up?
4. What would make a difference for us - apart from money?
NORPA Lismore
Leadership, creativity and childhood
The demands of leadership
People look to me for creative, adventurous choices, and smart concepts for sustainability. Take risks, but balance with the business
The demands of leadership• Need to communicate and build a
compelling story
• Need to make decisions that are beyond what the audience knows it wants
• Listen, respond, but also lead from the front
• There needs to be a bold vision of what you can do
The demands of leadership• I take seriously my role as advocate for the art
and artist• Resist temptation of making art secondary to
business and infrastructure – keep the art in focus• Speak passionately about what we do – then
people take us seriously
Money follows good and bold ideas. . .
Influences on a venue's program
VISION
External relationships
Characteristics required of all leaders
• Social skills• Honesty • Generosity• Drive• Confidence• Charisma• Humility• Willingness to take risks
Differences required in artistic leadership
• Ability to tell stories
• Ability to conceive and nurture a unique vision
• Drive to challenge boundaries
ConfidenceConfidence is something that is a skill and can be learnt, but you need to surround yourself with the
right people.
You don’t normally have that social aspect as a
legitimate part of many other jobs. That is something you can learn as daunting as it may
seem to people who shy away from it.
Change and leadership• The impact of technology
• Audience change from consumers of culture to desire to participate in the making of culture
• Impact of globalisation
• Increased cultural diversity
• Decline in traditional resources
• Increase in bureaucratic processes
• More ‘crowded market place’
Leadership is something you have to take. I believe you can create leaders, but it has to be something you want badly enough to
go and get.
Discussion
• What sort of leaders do we need to be to build and sustain great arts venues
• Is venue leadership ‘different’
• Leadership strengths and weaknesses – what would make the biggest difference for you
Programs/ services you do well
Accessibility Hirer support
Marketing Program Box office
Active within industry Management
Artist support Reputation VenueConferences & events Friends program
Audience growth Customer service
Programs/ services to improve
Digital capability Program Artist support
Hirer support Management Box office
Venue improvements Events
Residencies Marketing Customer service Software integration Finance management
Audience development Advocacy
Changing expectations
Commercial focus Innovation Strong leaders
Community hubs
Do more with less Limited funding
Multi-arts approach
Business savvy and commercially focused
South Bank Centre, London – restaurants in shipping containers
Innovation and a multi-arts approach to programming
Adelaide Fringe Festival
Need to increase revenue
Seymour Centre, Everist Theatre
City of Greater Bendigo Ticketing and Venue Management Review
Elements of Current Ticketing System Being Under-Utilised
Utilisation of Box Office System Potential
Rating of the Interaction and Communication Between Box Office and Other Areas of the Organisation
How Prepared Respondents Felt They Were To Manage Or Oversee Box Office Function
Those who did not feel prepared:
I have had no preparation in managing the Box Office in my current role… this organisation has always let whoever runs the Box Office
just muddle their way through, as the way the Box Office was run when I arrived was quite inefficient, not utilising the ticketing system to
its full capabilities at all
Because I worked [in ticketing] for many years prior to being promoted, I was just expected to ‘know the ropes’. I have received no management training, or training in Council protocols and procedures
for budgeting and reporting, and am having to cope as I go along, which is quite stressful.
Changing demands on the Box Office
A much more extensive knowledge and understanding of the internet and its terminology and processes is now mandatory, whereas in the
past this wasn’t considered important
Digital technology, mobile apps, interfaces and social media are demanding a more savvy system that is fast and current
Council has limitations in terms of keeping up with technology change. For example, Council rules against upgrading to a new web browser
and has specific protocols for the use of social media
The arts matter
The arts matter because they embrace, express and define the soul of civilisation. A nation without arts would be a nation that had stopped talking to itself, stopped dreaming, and had lost interest in the past and lacked curiosity about the future.
Contact
David Fishel
Positive Solutions
PO Box 765 New Farm, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4005
Telephone: +61 7 3891 3872
Facsimilie: +61 7 3891 3872
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.positive-solutions.com.au
Creative Thinking – Positive Solutions
– Theatre and arts centre management
– Feasibility studies, market testing and concept development
– Business planning and organisational development
– Research and policy
– United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong
Principals
David Fishel
Cathy Hunt