Leadership in the arts is hard to define. We pay attention to the comings and goings of the sector’s leaders in the top jobs, raise toasts at farewell events, look at the recruitment materials for new arts leaders, observe and sometimes question the action of arts leaders in difficult moments, and read about the actions of leaders under pressure, but what do we even mean by leadership?

It’s not just about job titles of CEO, artistic director or chair of the board; leadership is defined by one’s actions, and involves stepping up at all career stages. Everywhere, we see less formal examples of leadership in action – from grassroots networks and campaigns, to speeches and social media posts that galvanise us on what really matters and how to take the arts sector where we want it to go.

The polarisation and widening inequalities affecting the world are felt very strongly in the arts. Over the last decade, we’ve seen a series of crises in the arts nationally and internationally in which leadership – or perhaps a lack of leadership – was clearly a factor. There’s been funding controversies, questioning of pandemic responses, board and governance disputes, restructures, media stoushes, boycotts, personality clashes and criticism of decision-making.

How arts leaders respond in times of crisis will always come under scrutiny. They are turning to each other to provide signals in ways of working, responses to pile-on that can occur in social and mainstream media, navigation of technology and solutions to climate challenges.

Arts leadership is different from other kinds of leadership, and yet it requires using many of the leadership skills heralded in other domains – managing teams, balancing the books, responding to KPIs. It also requires creating the conditions for transformational creative experiences for expectant audiences and peers, and for posterity.

Leaders of all kinds bridge the gaps to keep everyone engaged, employed, entertained and edgy

Leadership requires compassion for differing views, and deep listening.  A tension between commercial realities and the public value mission of the arts permeates the sector at all levels, as shown by the requirement to provide evidence of different forms of value to ministers, to audiences and to artists.

At its best, arts leadership provides meaningful connection ­– to governments, to audiences, across the organisation and the sector (especially with artists) ­– across the various boundaries that exist or which we concoct, and across difference. Leaders of all kinds bridge the gaps to keep everyone engaged, employed, entertained and edgy; they also create buffers that enable artists to make art and deliver arts experiences. Good arts leaders bring everyone together in service of the purpose of the organisation, and help their teams feel comfortable with the tensions.

Leadership in the arts is both hyper local and hyper global. Inclusive arts ecosystems require organisations and leaders to work with local artists and engage local audiences, while also creating conditions for global flows that offer international opportunities for artists and bring the world’s art experiences to our local audiences. The network is the key. It’s not just about knowing a lot of people; it’s about building trust, forging connection through shared experience, and working  together to deliver an arts experience that strengthens the relationship, which in turn  enables greater artistic and financial risk to be taken.

Our arts leaders distribute resources to meet the organisation’s vision and purpose. They advocate for the arts as a whole, as well as for their organisation or artform; they respond to challenges and crises, and navigate the changing conditions of the sector and the world. They balance the mundane activities they are tasked with doing with the big-picture visioning for the organisation and the sector. We need dynamic conceptualisations of leadership to meet these challenges and strong, caring and reflective environments to help us understand if we are meeting our benchmarks for good leadership.

Given this mix of realities and aspirations, we also need to think about how we can best support the development of the future arts workforce and its leaders through education and training, through providing meaningful and attractive jobs to support early-career arts workers, by supporting high-quality working conditions and by encouraging leadership for all those in the arts ecosystem.

The question of what personal and professional traits the arts leaders of tomorrow will need to navigate the major challenges of our time – such as polarisation, climate change, intensifying debates around value, cultural stewardship, philanthropic support, technological change and threat to intellectual property – deserve attention.

Another enduring question is what kind of educational experiences support the arts sector and its future workforces and leadership teams to thrive. What kinds of educational offerings can help arts workers to think beyond the boundaries of current systems and to support artists to break moulds and challenge the status quo, while learning and working within them?

In writing this, we have posed more questions that we have answered. We believe strongly we need to engage the sector in the conversation of what makes for good leadership in the arts. The bespoke nature of work in the arts and culture sector means we need bespoke leadership skills.

One way to build on our sector’s knowledge, concepts, and practices in arts leadership is to enable Australian arts and cultural professionals to learn from, collaborate with, and think with our nearest neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Adelaide Festival Centre and Flinders University are initiating an international discussion on leadership in the arts.  For the second year in a row, AFC is running a selective arts leadership intensive through the support of Richard Ryan AO. Flinders University runs a Bachelor of Creative Industries (Festivals and Arts Production) that has arts leadership and cultural policy at its core.

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A collaborative Arts Leadership Symposium being run by the Adelaide Festival Centre and Flinders University during the OzAsia Festival will provide an opportunity to discuss some of the pointy issues in contemporary arts leadership experienced here in Adelaide, nationally and regionally. Invited arts leaders from our broader region including Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore will gather to develop collaborative thinking and shared learning on the ways that arts leaders can respond to opportunities for building a stronger cultural ecosystem.

The International Symposium: Leadership in the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries will be held at Flinders University on November 6-8 (registrations here).

Tully Barnett is associate professor in creative arts at Flinders University and Christie Anthoney is head of public affairs at the Adelaide Festival Centre. They have both worked in the arts and culture sector for decades, and more recently have been actively engaged with educating future arts leaders.