ARTSblog

I started thinking about leadership when I got my first, national-in-scope job. It was a word that was tossed about our office all the time and I was suspect. No one would ever say what they meant by it. It was, we knew, necessary, important, lacking, and the secret of success.

Out of need, I defined it myself. I haven’t tried to write it down before, so I’ll try to articulate some of it here. Contribute to my mess by writing in comments below!

Leadership includes elements of the following:

1.    The best of intentions. These intentions include

• The best interests of those without knowledge, authority, or money to do it for themselves
• Your peers’, coworkers’, and colleagues’ best interest
• Placing a priority on fairness for all
• A dedication to satisfying a noble goal, not egotistical instincts

2.    Positive energy.

• Nobody wants to help Debbie Downer realize her vision.
• Nobody wants to help mean people, either.
• It’s other people—not you—who really know if you’re a downer or if you’re mean. Read the rest of this entry »

Advocacy has become an integral part of my work and I hoped this blog could be another opportunity to suggest it become a regular part of your work as we work to advance our field. When I read Edward Clapp’s open letter, “This is Our Emergency” with this topic in mind I was struck by how similar our call to action is to the cries of so many marginalized groups over the decades: women, African Americans, gays, people with disabilities. The details are different, but it’s the sound of drums and grassroots and whispers becoming shouts.

Advocacy is critical to our work in moving forward and shaping this field. We all know the dire straights the arts and arts education are in, but if the last election cycle taught us anything, it’s the power of many voices shouting the same message to make real change.

To truly be leaders in our field we must be advocates, for the arts and for ourselves. Advocacy can be intimidating (I have to say what to which Senator?), overwhelming (I have to meet the deadline for this program, not write a letter), even mysterious (What exactly counts as advocacy?). I had all of these feelings several years ago when my own work in advocacy began; now it feels like second nature. Read the rest of this entry »

Am I already going through mid (career) life crisis at the age of 31?

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a work committee with a mix of arts administrators and colleagues from other sectors.  The term emerging leader came up and I proudly stated that I was an emerging leader and if someone wanted more information I would be happy to chat about it.  As I was talking a couple of colleagues stated that I was not an emerging leader.  They felt that emerging leaders were not classified by age, but more for their years of service and I didn’t fit their criteria.  After that moment in the meeting, I tuned everything out and had a mental breakdown.  All that ran through my head was… am I an emerging leader?

10 years ago the Americans for the Arts emerging leader program was created.  With that, a target demographic was established. “The Emerging Leader Network targets professionals who are either new to the field, with up to five years of experience, or are 35 years of age or younger.”   With that set of characteristics, I meet the criteria and can state that I am an emerging leader (and do)!  Americans for the Arts and other national and local organizations have done a great job of working to ensure that anyone who wants to identify or participate as an emerging leader has the opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Asian American.  Female.  18-35.  Los Angeles.  Arts Administrator.

These are the boxes that are supposed to represent me.  These are the boxes that I’m supposed to represent.  In years past, these boxes were used to insure a delicate balance of representation and I realize that in some cases they have helped open doors for me.  Yet on the other hand, the pressure of bearing this representation can be paralyzing, leading me to question, “Are they expecting me to analyze this through a racial lens?”  “Am I properly representing the arts in Los Angeles?“  “Is this how my emerging leader colleagues think about this issue?”  I’m still trying to figure out how to fine my unique voice while shouldering the responsibility of representation.

Life has become more complex than the days of “check box” identity.  A painter is not just a painter, but chances are she is also using performance and new media to communicate her ideas.  It’s not unusual for someone to belong to multiple communities defined by birth, partnership, culture and residency.  As a new generation of arts and cultural leaders, how can we continue to address issues of cultural equity while honoring a new cultural fluidity?

(Note: I was inspired to experiment with this form by a guest post on Sean Stannard-Stockton’s Tactical Philanthropy blog by Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners founder George Overholser. I hope you enjoy it.)

• An oft-heard complaint about Generation Y (and other “emerging leaders”) is that they have a sense of entitlement—that they think they are smarter than everyone else.
  
• I don’t believe that people in Generation Y are any smarter than generations that came before.
• HOWEVER, here’s something I do believe:
  • The people in Generation Y that YOU DEAL WITH in YOUR OFFICE are very likely smarter than the people who would have been in that office in earlier generations.
  • Which means that they may well be smarter than YOU!
    
• The secret power of Generation Y is not that we’re smarter: it is that we are MORE
  • More numerous: the population of the world is 6.7 billion, 81% higher than it was in 1970.
  • More highly educated: 29% of Americans age 25 and older have bachelor’s degrees now, compared to 11% in 1970.
  • More professional: Nearly one-third of employed Americans work in the so-called “creative class” (i.e., white-collar professions), compared to about a fifth in 1970.
  • More egalitarian: the percentage of women in the workplace has shot up both domestically (from 43% to 59% between 1970 and 2006) and internationally, and racial barriers to employment have lessened significantly.
  • More ambitious: The number of high-quality colleges that offer meaningful financial aid has exploded; many more scholarships exist for talented low-income individuals. Read the rest of this entry »

Veteran Leaders  – You were once just as we are now: in the early stages of your career, eager to make a difference, and to build our professional standing while improving the landscape of the American arts.  You may have been afraid to say “no” to mounting tasks and projects, but persevered till each and every project was accomplished.  You learned on the job by doing your job, and you were inspired by supervisors who were often older than you.  You were motivated to prove yourself.

We too are now in those early, exciting years of the professional realm which becomes a substantial and meaningful part of our lives.  The discussion of age-bias in the field is not an argument in a “young vs. old” or “entry level vs. experienced”.  As a young administrator in the arts, I do not feel that the topic is necessarily a recent issue, but rather one that you yourselves dealt with as well.  I believe the Emerging Leaders Network , 20UNDER40, and other, similar forums strive to openly discuss the challenges we face as rising arts administrators so that even younger generations may more easily navigate their entry into and relationships within the field of arts administration, and we as their future supervisors do not perpetuate age bias, which seems to be a recurring issue.

Novice leaders  have heard that some administrators of older generations are offended by groups such as Emerging Arts Leaders and 20UNDER40.  Edward Clapp of 20UNDER40 says he has received complaints from experienced leaders citing the project “ageist,” ” exclusionary,” and “dangerous.” (See Clapp’s earlier blog post)  Dangerous?  Why is it dangerous to have a discussion of current issues facing the arts sector and their leaders today?  I do not believe the issue of age is a dangerous topic with the potential to destroy all that has been achieved.  Read the rest of this entry »

I wanted to quit my job and leave the arts four years ago!

This year, I will celebrate my 10th anniversary as an arts and culture administrator.  (I always make sure to include culture, as I started my career working for my local history museum.)  Even with moving to different positions and organizations, it would not faze me until 2005 that I was on a career path and part of a larger global community of colleagues.

My career trajectory included working for the museum for three years, moving to the state humanities council, then to being a presenter, to finally coming to the state arts commission.  During most of that timeframe, I was living in my hometown, a small rural community in between Phoenix and Tucson.  However, I did move to Phoenix for the state job.

After less than a year working for the arts commission, I wasn’t happy. There was something missing from my personal life that was making my professional life uneven.  After months of deliberation I came to the conclusion that I was missing the community feel from my hometown and I needed to find a job in Casa Grande and move back.  Since art or museums jobs are scarce, I probably would have to find something out of the cultural sector. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a pleasure to be a part of such a great group of folks, discussing such a fascinating (and sometimes polarizing) subject. My name is John and I’m a program manager at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. I work in National Partnerships, serving the national network of state Alliances for Arts Education. I also help to dissemination the Kennedy Center’s suite of teaching artist training programs in arts integration, residency planning, and other areas.

The topic of emerging leadership is near to my professional heart. One of the reasons I stayed in the arts was the network of peers I quickly built from my first job in arts administration. I was working for the Washington State Arts Alliance in Seattle, WA and my boss suggested I get involved with the Emerging Leader Network of Americans for the Arts. I went to a conference, found kindred spirits, and made sure to get to every Americans for the Arts conference until I was honored to be elected to the Emerging Leader Council itself. From there, Americans for the Arts hired me and I moved to DC.

Without that network, I would not have developed the interpersonal connections that solidified my commitment to this field. Were it not for the colleagues and friends—those with whom I had frank and easy conversations, shared language, shared even a style of clothing—I would have easily departed the field for another type of job. We were compatriots, battling scarce funding, personnel challenges, and other issues that weighed on us, professionally. I’m sure this experience is common to any generation or group of any kind. Like likes like. But more than that, we sustain each other in rougher times. These connections do not preclude nor devalue connections made across our differences. Read the rest of this entry »

When my manager at the time approached me about applying to be an Emerging Leader Council member, my first thought was “Why?”.  I was a coordinator at the city arts council; what in heaven’s name could I possibly bring to the table?  And what is an Emerging Leader?  Well, her answer was simple: “What is your title at the theatre?,” referring to the community theatre where I volunteer.  I responded “President of the Board of Trustees, why?” “That makes you a leader.”

I had to really think about that – and not just that, but the fact that I enjoyed organizing folks and helping people make connections. That I was active on the state level in support of community theatre.  That I was an active member of the artistic community and people (for whatever reason) listened to and spoke with ME about stuff – challenges in their theatres, needs in their community, finding people to fill positions…

It was like a whole new world opened up, and I was suddenly looking at myself with new eyes. I never considered myself a leader; I think most “leaders” don’t.  They do what they do because they can’t do things any other way.  It’s intrinsic, base. Pre-programmed and hard-wired.  And that is the challenge of perpetuating a concept of the “Emerging Leader”. How do you convert people who just are “leaders” into Leaders who identify themselves by that title and recognize who they are and what they bring to the greater community?  Read the rest of this entry »

I was always pegged as a “leader.” They pick them in high school. Or so it seems. And from treatment as such, you get to do wonderful things. Then you float around in the real world for a bit, working two jobs to pay rent while figuring out what you want to do with your life, and you are no longer a leader. You are a shmoe like everyone else.  After that hiatus, someone at a reputable college sees from your records that you were a Leader, so of course, they invite you to attend, for further grooming. And you learn Leadership Skills (can’t think of any offhand), get to do wonderful things (like go to school for free), and in return, in all your wisdom, you Train Leaders before another stint as jobless shmoe.

Yes, I actually taught a course for the other first-generation, low-income well-doer Leader-types on leadership in community service. Seeing upper-class white kids invade the local community with their conceptual ideals and clumsy ignorance was like nails on a chalkboard to me, so I mostly focused on what NOT to do, which I hear is a poor way to Lead. Still, the people in the community were sad that I was leaving town after graduation (or perhaps scared). Come to think of it, I even interned for several years at an organization called “Grassroots Leadership Development.” They trained Leaders. I had a fancy well-paid fellowship in what was to be “my field” – public school reform. I was always wary of what these investors expected from me, from high school onward, hoping to be across the country when I’ve failed to be the Leader they expected. Read the rest of this entry »

Ten years ago, at a 1999 Americans for the Arts conference titled “Remembering the Past/Envisioning the Future”, five young arts professionals attending the conference were frustrated by the lack of participation by other young leaders, especially considering the conversation centered so much on the future.  These leaders realized something had to be done.  Americans for the Arts agreed, and the Emerging Leaders Network was born.

My name is Stephanie Evans, Local Arts Agency Services Coordinator at Americans for the Arts.  I am an Emerging Arts Leader, working to coordinate the field of Emerging Arts Leaders to offer networking opportunities and professional development.  But what does that mean?  Why do we identify ourselves as Emerging Arts Leaders?  The official definition is “anyone under the age of 35 or who has been in the field for less than 5 years.”  But what are we leading?  Who are we leading?

Many of us are leaders in our own individual roles.  We are Executive Directors, Board Members, Community Leaders, Volunteer Leaders, the list goes on.  But collectively – What are the thousands of Emerging Arts Leaders working towards?  And should we be working towards anything?  Does our voice matter?  It should.  It’s our future.  But at the same time, we come after a generation of hard working veteran arts leaders who have given us jobs, advice, mentorship opportunities, and even if we want to change things, their work needs to be honored and respected.
All of these questions are the reason I am so excited about the 20UNDER40 Project, the anthology of twenty essays by Emerging Leaders, and the discourse that this project has incited thus far. Read the rest of this entry »

This is my very first foray into the blogosphere. Sure, I Facebook and have left an online review or two, but unlike others straddling the Y and Millennial generations, I am not a dedicated, you tubing, tweeting, social networker. I first heard about 20under40 at the AFTA annual conference then followed a bit of the debate on Facebook. I was excited about the project then surprised to hear the caustic debate over the age factor. Why limit the voices in this project to those under 40?

I’m of the opinion that any age can “emerge” in this field; it’s common to change careers later in life. Professionals of all ages have an important voice in the conversation about the future and reality of this generational shift. But, being the youngest in the room is all too familiar, and can breed a bit of insecurity. Like every young professional, I work hard to hold my own and know that I have valuable contributions to make based on my life experiences. Sometimes I am given the opportunity to contribute; other times I have to put myself out there and see if the field will look past my shorter resume.

There is something very different about emerging in this field because of youth rather than following a new career path; each has their own challenge and opportunity. When exploring my own experience in this field I am struck first by two connected concepts, social capital and mentorship. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been working with Edward on this book project for quite some time–as the “old fart” offering support and feedback on creating a book and managing a big project. I entered the project believing that the “mainstream” (whatever that is) field of the arts/arts education has been unwelcoming to the voices and input of young leaders. Indeed, as an active mentor to many young professionals who graduated from programs I taught and intensives I led, I have a visceral sense of the way many have felt ignored, disrespected and sometimes flat-out squelched. At the same time, I am actively in touch with many young leaders who have found their voice, found their leadership, and are making a huge difference already. So, I enter this dialogue believing there are few generalizations that apply truthfully.

My two cents: the voices of young leaders are heard occasionally in remarkable mainstream situations (I can think of a few institutions that have hired young superstars who are change makers in their 30s); the voices of the young are more widely heard as a result of small organizations, project successes, and artistic breakthroughs of their own creation; and overall, as a field, we DO disrespect the leadership and voice of young leaders. There are demographic reasons (the Boomers are not retiring in the traditional leadership ladder pattern of past generations); economic reasons (the arts/arts learning fields are in almost constant stress which constrains both job advancement and the innovative and bold ideas of the young); and for very human reasons that appeared in previous blogs and online conversations around 20 UNDER 40 discussions. Read the rest of this entry »

Being a woman over fifty who doesn’t own her own home, who is still paying off her student loans and who 20 years ago realized that upward mobility was no longer the modus operandi if she chose to stay in the arts –I do have to ask, what is all the fuss about.

What is so different for the younger generation now than when I entered the work force? (Before you shout heresy, hear me out). Armed with my BFA and a kick-ass resume I worked two and three jobs, my friends and I produced our own shows to get our equity cards. We grew as artists by starting our own performance spaces to do the work we wrote ourselves. We formed our own acting troupes, got noticed in the Village Voice–a big thing back then, slept little, barely bought food and shopped at the Goodwill. Later when I graduated from Harvard with Brustein’s patriarchal blessings ushering me into the world fortified with more mega names on my resume I thought I was especially equipped because of the ultra-rarified knowledge that is the legacy of an “extraordinary” university education–wow, I knew a lot.

And I did know a lot and so do the younger artists around me that I’ve hired and who have just graduated from those extraordinary programs.  And like you I too thought I’d never pay back my student loans. I also desperately wanted a seat at the table. I went to conferences thinking the “leaders” where obsolete and needed the discerning innovations that swam around my, I must admit now, inflated ego. The arts were economically anemic then too. Then we had Mapplethorpe, Bible-thumping Republicans chasing artists with hellfire and rescinding funding, oh, and then dismantling the NEA and state arts councils, all the while, homeless turned up in vacant cars or lived in cardboard shanties in Thompson Square Park. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2003, I found myself barely thirty and running an arts organization that was five years older than me. I had interned at this organization just ten years prior as a first year in college. While the circumstances around my experiences were unique in that Linda Mabalot, my mentor and the executive director of the organization of 17 years, passed away suddenly, forcing the organization into transition and change, the lessons that I learned from our relationship are worth sharing.

Here are the five things that Linda taught me about mentoring emerging leaders.

Mentorship….
• Is about sharing a passion. In searching for a mentor, finding one that you share a passion with is key. The rest will come organically from there.

• Is not a scheduled weekly or monthly meeting. Linda was always available for me to ask questions, share ideas and strategize together. If a mentorship is really working, it could be a lifelong relationship.

• Is a two way street. This is an opportunity for both the mentor and the mentee to learn from each other. Linda and I shared a truly give and take relationship. Read the rest of this entry »