Exit through the gift shop..?

 On reading of yet more redundancies in the arts sector in the name of efficiencies, I tweeted “can someone show me the escape door please? i want to get out of this…#yetmoreartsredundancies”.

This drew an “oh no” from a friend who has just been made redundant and is considering a career change: “Not a good time for me to consider a career in arts admin/curating then”.
My response? “yes, if you are prepared to work for free/at minimum wage/short term contracts, the rewards of an arts career are exponential…” and “those are all current sector trends it would appear, hopefully short termism only for a few years…can chat more on 20th maybe?”

Limited in character-count, my response was of course on the side of brevity and my social calendar aside, this conversation really got me thinking: if I were to start my career again, would I begin one in the arts? And if I were to change career now, what could I do?
What does a career in arts management offer? From my experience, a varied, challenging and stimulating career. I have worked with some personally and professionally inspirational and transformational artists. I have worked on projects that have used every single publically funded penny to create meaningful and sustained change. And I have seen my own endeavours help others take flight – that’s my reward and job satisfaction in a nutshell.
What skills has my arts career given me to transfer? Expert budget management for sure. A pragmatic mind certainly. Administrative and managerial skills at the ‘exacting’ end of the spectrum. So far, so transferable, but what makes an arts manager distinctive? For someone essentially working in the back office function of the arts, this sector has developed and honed in me a lateral approach to problem solving; embedded creativity, learning and fun in my approach; rooted a desire to make a positive difference; and nurtured an ability to lead. Those are my arts-enabled USPs.

Where I would take all of that I don’t know – I don’t want to work outside the arts. But I can certainly feel the HR squeeze in the sector and I see an increasingly polarised playing field.
On balance, my advice to my friend? Of course, start a career in the arts, it will reward you and enrich your life in myriad ways. But starting out, you’ll need to be pragmatic about how to balance gaining experience with a living wage and be prepared to juggle working, work experience, and education and professional development.