Arts Management Today
Art Management entails business administration techniques and strategies in the world of art. Management can either be Science or art. Since managing involves specific skills that are personal possessions of managers, Science provides knowledge, and art deals with the various applications to experience, and abilities. Arts Management degree educates on financial and marketing aspects of running and directing artistic venue. There are several job opportunities in the field such as; Music label manager, Fine arts museum director, the Opera Company, among other creative related skills. This paper demystifies a coherent argument on the issues in Arts Management Today while providing an in-depth understanding of the field of Arts.
Management world focuses on the creative aspect of individuals based on various theoretical considerations that apply to real-world situations. Management, therefore, qualifies to be termed as an art as it encompasses all features regarded as art forms. Thus, the administration may be referred to as art due to the requirement of specific skills that are personal possessions of managers. Science entails knowledge, while art deals with the application of the acquired knowledge and skills. Management employs the use of tact, and creativity to develop individuals own style aimed at satisfying characteristics of art.
Moreover, Arts Management involves the necessity of educating art leaders on how they can face and solve issues in the art sector. Besides, the academic studying of arts management began in 1963 by launching the Fine Arts Management Program at the New School for Social Research in Paquette. Several scholars such as Richardson et al., (2017), identify arts management as a tool used to create an appropriate environment for artists, and arts administration. It may be viewed as a way to build a community that is united by culture, communication, and tolerance.
Additionally, art management may be a transitional tool to create a new economic system that involves artists as being agents of change in society. Ultimately through arts management, opportunities for progress, sustainability, and development are opened. Various issues affect arts management. These issues vary between countries globally. The problems are also distinct from one economic situation to another. The case has posed a significant challenge in various countries. They are also rewarding as organizations have identified new ways that are profitable in solving them. These issues may include; decrease in subsidies from the government, decreasing number of professionals in art agencies, inadequate funding from the government, among others.
The decrease in subsidies from the government- Immediately after the post-World War Two, the cultural scene was more vibrant and lively both in Western Europe and the United States. There was an absence of government policies towards arts, and culture. However, today the welfare state is globally in chaos and crisis due to specifications of cultural systems from the government expectations. Entrepreneurs are currently advised to be active, as the arts managers find other ways of funding. Therefore, organizations have strived to find new ways and partnerships for mutual support while developing exciting and beneficial collaborations. The British government has further triggered Brexit processes posing new challenges in arts fields.
Financial Funding- This has posed a significant challenge in Asian and other countries in the world. However, Rivetti et al., (2018) insist that the central problem in the arts sector is lack of training opportunities by the arts managers for art-related professionals while emphasizing that the main difference between cultural policy and art management is in practice. Apart from a financial funding crisis, most countries, museums, and galleries have inadequate staff related to arts management yet; it is the current issue in arts management. There is a need for trained people in arts management positions as they are the backbone in the field of arts. People are the primary agents of the whole art sector. They should thus be well trained to manage different departments in arts. Suppose there are a qualified and experienced team of art managers. In that case, they can effectively face problems, and diverse issues with creative, and new innovative ideas that will spearhead the whole art field to more significant development.
The decreasing number of professionals- From the International Overview for Public Arts Administration report recently, it was evident that there are threats in arts management since there is a decreasing number of professionals in national art agencies. The inadequate number of professionals may be due to; human resource rotation, limited academic programs, inadequate training, and low level of understanding of the business environment. Despite having a sufficient number of artists, musicians, performers, and actors, there is a lack of peers to assist in curating, marketing, fundraising, and strategic management.
Today, the arts field is served by a significant number of art leaders’ although most of them are self-taught. Therefore, they do not have necessary art, and business-related background but have charisma and natural comprehension of the field. Smaller organizations are fully affected as the leading art establishments can afford to hire professionals in the area leaving smaller organizations in crises as they do not have enough funds to pay experienced managers to deal with the issues. At the moment, art sector seems to function effectively as they have the necessary tools to perform activities in the coming years. However, there is a need to employ several changes in how they perform their duties.
Changes such as technological modifications and advancements are crucial in obtaining a good number of audiences. Also, financial management and fundraising strategies may be of significant consideration in arts fields (Cuyler, 2017). Art leaders should, therefore fight for customers, and not the artists. The arts management should identify what they need to do to face existing, and issues to come to salvage the situation in the world of arts. They should therefore offer the basis for essential strategic management, business environment awareness, consideration of economic conditions, and marketing tools involved. They should be knowledgeable of art history and understand the modern direction arts are taking. By doing all these, arts managers will be fully equipped to face, and solve current, and future issues and develops the field of arts globally.
References
Richardson, J., Jogulu, U. and Rentschler, R., 2017. Passion or people? Social capital and career sustainability in arts management. Personnel Review.
Cuyler, A.C., 2017. A Survey of Arts Management Educators’ Teaching on Diversity Issues. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 47(3), pp.192-202.
Rivetti, F. and Migliaccio, M., 2018. Arts and entrepreneurship: Disentangling the literature. Entrepreneurship-Trends and Challenges, pp.11-21.