Mark Slavkin

When we consider careers in the arts, I would like to see more attention paid and resources assigned to cultivate the next generation of teaching artists.

At the Los Angeles Music Center, teaching artists are central to our work helping schools gain capacity to provide quality arts education. Our teaching artists provide inspiration and support for teachers to develop the courage, confidence, and skills to engage their students in meaningful learning in and through the arts. As “real artists” the teaching artists bring a different sensibility than students may experience in a typical school.

In spite of the central role teaching artists play in our work and that of many other organizations around the country, it seems these opportunities are not showcased as part of the core curriculum in most college level arts programs.

How can young artists aspire to a career they do not know even exists? Even in those cases when students are introduced to the idea of becoming a teaching artist, it is often in the context of “service learning” as opposed to an integral part of the life of a professional artist.

John and his pony.

Right now I'm learning from a 400-pound animal with the brain of a three-year old child, as I train a Shetland pony to pull a cart. Ponies, like horses, are prey animals whose first instinct is to fight or flee, so this can be a daunting and humbling task. My CEO/Executive Director-self has no gravitas here. At the barn, I am a beginner. My teachers range from teenagers to one amazing horsewomen in her eighties. I also work with a very patient and experienced trainer. We never discuss one’s day job; all conversation is through and about our animals Being a novice at mid-life is rejuvenating. I love grappling with new skills that take a long time to master. Laughing at failure and learning from mistakes propels improvement. My competitive self is satisfied with a training session well done, thrilled that Pacific Raindrop and I have done our best for that day.

Stephanie Evans Hanson

Earlier today, I had the chance to listen in on a talk by National Endowment for the Arts Local Arts Agencies & Challenge America Director Michael Killoren as he was speaking to a group of Americans for the Arts and NEA interns.

As he spoke about his career path and what he’s learned thus far, one thing he said stood out to me: Most innovation is happening at the local level.

We spend a lot of time, energy, and resources advocating for increased dollars for the arts at the federal and state level, which is important and that work should continue. However, I believe a focus on what’s happening culturally at the local level in what we estimate to be 19,000 cities is equally important to pay attention to. This is one reason why I am very excited about the upcoming Emerging Leader blog salon, titled Emerging Ideas: Seeking and Celebrating the Spark of Innovation, taking place July 25-29 on ARTSblog.

Tara Scroggins

Networking is important, especially to emerging leaders (EL). Climbing the career ladder, creating new partnerships, and even social events can all be enhanced by who you know.

A combination of knowing who to connect with and how to approach them will transform an ordinary contacts list into the much-revered Golden Rolodex.

I’ve just made a transition in my approach to networking that seems to be part of the “emerging” process:  instead of a laser focus on prospective employers, I’m fostering career-long relationships with my peers.

Katherine Damkohler

Integration across academic disciplines can strengthen a child’s learning. When teachers reinforce content through a variety of approaches it helps children retain information and fully appreciate academic concepts. However, one academic discipline cannot fully convey the fundamentals of another.

For instance, a History teacher cannot expect to effectively relate the scientific processes of an electrical current to students by teaching them the historical biographies of Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison. And yet, many educators apply this approach of substituting subject instruction to the artistic disciplines.

I have seen too many schools refrain from hiring an arts teacher because they have been lulled into thinking that training a classroom teacher to integrate the arts into their lessons serves as an acceptable substitute for bringing a full-time arts instructor on staff.

Theresa Cameron

Perseverance and imagination.

These are two words that successfully describe what rural and small arts organizations continually do.

I was once again reminded of this first-hand as I listened to the rural and small arts organization peer group discussion at our Annual Convention in San Diego last week.

It’s been a few years since Americans for the Arts held a rural and small local arts agencies gathering and attendees were excited to talk to, and learn from, each other.

Stephanie Evans

I like structure. It helps me think clearly, feel organized and productive about my day, and create balance in my life. Then I entered the field of arts management: a sector that by it’s very nature and design is possibly one of the most unstructured career paths you could enter into.

Yesterday, I co-facilitated the discussion session "Demystifying Professional Development: Benefits of Classroom vs. on the Job Learning" with Ramona Baker (Principal at Ramona Baker Consulting and Director of the Masters Program in Arts Administration at Goucher College) and Letitia Ivins (Assistant Director of Civic Art at the Los Angeles County Arts Commission).

The idea for this session came out of the 2009 Emerging Leader Survey, where we asked survey participants what their concentration of study was. The 554 responses broke out as follows: 37%  - Arts; 15% - Arts Administration; 8% - Business; 40% - Other. 40% - Other? 

Graham Dunstan

This is my 13th Americans for the Arts Annual Convention—that’s if you count me crashing the closing reception at the World of Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta in 1999 even though I wasn’t a registered attendee. (That took effort, so I count it).

I spent some time yesterday thinking about what Convention offers me and if I rely on it now for different things than I did earlier in my career. When I was working at the Fulton County Arts Council in Atlanta from 1999 to 2004, Convention for me was all about helping grow the fledgling emerging leaders program and gaining the tools I needed as a new arts administration professional.

And I’ll tell you, I looked forward to Convention all year long. When I arrived on site I’d absorb the information from the program book—circling sessions I wanted to attend and creating a complicated schedule with different colored highlighters so I best take advantage of every session and networking opportunity that interested me. 

Today, after two years in the making, I will finally graduate from American University with an M.A. in Arts Management. It certainly has been an interesting two years. One thing is certain – my experiences were not what I would have predicted two years ago when I was applying for programs. However, is this not the case with most things in life? We often expect one thing, yet get another; for better or for worse.

So, let’s get right into it…

First, expectations. For me, undertaking this degree was a necessary life decision. Three years ago, I was in a job and career path that I hated. So, I made a decision while I was still young and unencumbered with obligations, that I would “take the plunge” and go after a life and career that would be personally fulfilling. Since I approached graduate school with this mindset, I suppose I viewed everything in the beginning with rose colored glasses. It was the option that made the most sense, and was the best thing for me to do if I ever wanted the opportunity to work in the arts. 

Liesel Fenner

It has been a whole week of public art blogging from 19 PAN peeps!

Thanks to everyone who contributed, and keep the Tweets, Facebook shares, comments, etc. coming.

Topics ran the gamut, from Leo Berk’s ‘non-typical’ artist residency working with the King Country (WA) bridge division, to Katherine Sweetman’s (first and final) blog–as-art-intervention for the San Diego Union Tribune.

As we noted, many of the bloggers will be presenting at the Public Art Preconference, June 15-16 in sunny San Diego. (Re-click on the link: the site is updated every day). 

Kim Dabbs

I have to be honest. I used to be one of those people in my car when driving by a runner, would always grumble, “that person sure is crazy.”

I used to wonder why someone would torture themselves in the Michigan cold, or the humidity that creeps up in August every year.

I used to wonder why someone would willingly subject their body to the miles of pounding on the pavement step after step.

It was my associate director at Michigan Youth Arts that changed all of that for me.

She is a runner and our organization decided to launch a 5k run as a fundraiser in the fall of 2009. During our first Arts in Motion event, I helped during the registration while watching all of these committed runners come out in the frost covered the grass crunching under their shoes to raise money for our organization.

This year I decided I had better step it up and actually RUN for the arts. I began a ten week training program and on October 10, 2010, I ran and completed my first 5k.    

The pARTnership Movement’s latest tool-kit, on partnering with Employee Resource Groups, is a great introduction to working with these often under-discussed groups. Why should they matter to you, and how can you partner with them? Also, what are they?

An Employee Resource Group (ERG) is a network of likeminded individuals with similar interests or shared pasts and can usually be contacted though the company’s HR department. They’re often known as affinity groups, because they bring together people who have had a shared experience that influences their professional demeanor or outlook.

I attended this year’s AFTA convention for the first time as an emerging artist leader thanks to the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) and a grant from the NEA. When QCA’s Executive Director, Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, invited me to the convention (the NEA grant allows QCA to bring an individual artist every year), I was so thrilled, yet didn’t really know what to expect.

Arts Entrepreneurship is nothing new. It is fair to assume that artists have always been entrepreneurial. Educators in higher education have been earnestly addressing this topic as early as the 1970s, first at the Eastman School of Music. However, what is new is a formalized system of education that teaches artists how to, specifically, act entrepreneurially. Today, there are over one hundred colleges and universities addressing the topic, and at least 33 Master’s programs around the world focused on arts, creative, or cultural entrepreneurship. In academic literature, there is absolutely no consensus as to what “entrepreneurship” means, much less “arts entrepreneurship.” In this post, I will address the key components found in one definition, and speak to the importance of arts entrepreneurship and its potential to help artists make a living from their creativity, artistry, skills, and talents. I will speak to increasing chances of success while decreasing risks associated with a career in the arts.