In our lives as arts administrators, it is all about the art, right? Everything we do is to showcase the art and the artists, whether they be opera singers, ballet dancers, violinists, painters, etc. And when recognition comes, it is usually related to the art like reviews and awards.
But what about all of the hard work that goes in to getting people to see the art? What about all of us working “behind the scenes” to get people to buy tickets to that show? What about the hours of work that went into crafting engagement programs in the theater lobby designed to educate new audience members and are skillfully presented as just “fun”?
As all of you know, these days it can sometimes be difficult to convince someone who has only ever been to a classical music concert once on a field trip 30 years ago when they were in elementary school to spend $100 on a ticket to sit quietly in a dark theater and listen to music that was written 250 years ago and have a meaningful experience. Amiright?
I’ve always had an idea floating in the back of my head to recognize and honor arts administrators for their work in not only at their organizations but also as it relates to the field in general. Sort of like a “40 Under 40” or “Most Creative People in Business” but for the arts.
Luckily, the team here at ArtsHacker is amazing and we have brought it to reality.
I present to you the first annual Most Creative People in Arts Administration list.
ArtsHacker’s Most Creative People in Arts Administration program strives to highlight the professionals working at arts organizations throughout the US and Canada and their inspired projects which further the mission of their organization and the arts in their community and beyond. Our goal is to recognize and foster creativity along with the development of new ideas in the field of arts administration.
Recipients will be selected based on their contributions to their organization and to the field of arts administration as demonstrated through creative projects, initiatives, and programs created to further the mission of their organization and the arts in their community and beyond.
There will be no preference awarded to position or experience and nomination is open to institutional employees throughout all departments as well as consultants and freelancers.
So, whether you are the General Director, a first year Marketing Coordinator, or a consultant, you are eligible to get the recognition you deserve for your innovative projects and programs.
We are looking for people who have created programs that engage the community, bring in new ticket buyers, present their organization in a new light, enhance the audience experience, revolutionize internal procedures, or utilized data for the forces of good.
So, bring forth your education programs, marketing victories, ticket sales campaigns, fundraising projects, and social media successes.
Check out this page for more information and for the nomination form. We’ll prepare our inboxes for the deluge of arts admin amazingness.
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Did you guys intentionally lift this idea directly from Tim Cynova? Or was it a matter of (not quite so) concurrent invention? Seems oddly exactly the same: https://blog.fracturedatlas.org/the-unsung-heroes-of-arts-administration-fb3b2f7d8c11#.qpclwvj6f
I’m hurt you didn’t see my blog post about this at Adaptistration where I mention we’ve been working in it for a few months. 🙂
But to be precise, Ceci brought the idea to me in June and we started discussing it as a group on July 5, 2016.
that date in particular is known becasue that’s the day the idea was proposed to the authors in our weekly update messages which go out via MailChimp.
We can even tell you which authors responded with feedback from that initial query becasue (surprise, surprise) all of the action items in those messages get tagged with Google Analytics event tracking (not to mention the default MailChimp click tracking).
There are also Basecamp and Skype logs you can review where we hammered out details from June through the day we launched the program.
This is ArtsHacker Andrew, we’re all about tools and documentation 😉
I’m sure I have no idea when Tim and the crew at Fractured Atlas started discussing their version but you should ask.
We scheduled our release to follow the big design update that rolled out the week of September 18.
But really, is there any genuine concern over too much recognition for arts admin professionals who don’t normally get the attention they deserve for creative and successful projects?
So when are you planning to nominate someone?