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: info@positive-solutions.com.au

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