Are You There, Artists? It’s Me, Jane.
by Jane
There is a particular rhetoric that gets thrown around Adelaide theatre circles (and I really do hope it is Adelaide specific) which goes along the lines of Arts Administrators exist only to steal money away from the artists. It is brought up frequently. For every one time it is specifically brought up as an attacking piece of “conversation” or “debate”, it is mentioned ten times as a side remark or a snide comment.
It often stems out of the funding debate. And there are certainly questions to be asked about distribution of arts funding. But when this specifically is brought up this is not what is said, and is not what is heard. What I hear is a pointed and deliberate attack on administrators as individuals.
Monday will be one year since I started my Arts Administration Traineeship. That is one year of working hard on a crap wage for the belief that when I do my job well, I create the framework so artists can do their job better.
Are there dickheads who work in arts administration? Absolutely. Just as there are dickheads who are artists. But in my experience, most administrators are there because they love art, and because they want to support artists. They want to do all the crappy jobs (and there are a lot of crappy jobs, just as there are lots of good jobs) and ultimately get everyone paid. Including themselves, for their long hours and crappy wage.
No one works in the arts to get rich. We could be working in the corporate sector, “ripping off” big business, for a lot more money.
I hate feeling that I am working myself so hard at a job I am really good at and that people – the very people we do this all for – can’t see that. I hate seeing people who have worked in this sector for years are still attacked, and must still defend their choice to be an administrator. I hate seeing friends who describe themselves as equally proud of being an artist and an administrator, made to feel lesser because someone thinks half of that is selling out.
I am so glad I work in film, where the role of the producer and administrators is respected. Vitriol like this makes me question if I will ever work within a theatre context. Because I can’t handle being attacked in this way.
I can’t handle being accused of being lesser than my artist counterparts. I can’t handle being accused of working this job only so I can steal and squander money from the artist. I can’t handle being told that I wouldn’t be a good theatre curator, because as someone who isn’t an artist I will never truly understand the work. I can’t handle being told all this, and then being told, by a woman, that I will never have a leadership position because of my gender. I absolutely disagree with every one of these statements.
I am twenty-two. I have been employed as an administrator for a year. I love my job, and the people I work with, and all of the incredible people who have supported me throughout this year. Most days I feel like I want to commit myself to this profession for life. Some days I have to listen to things like this, and question why I think I want to work a job which affords so little respect from the very people we do this all for.
Not everyone is saying this. I believe there are more artists who understand and respect the role of administrators than who don’t. But the people who make these comments are often very loud. They often speak very well. I’m sure it can be attractive for an artist to hear these comments and think ‘I’m not getting paid enough. Are these people the reason why?’ So it is very easy for these opinions to dominate a room; even if they’re not the thoughts of everyone, a room that is overall very anti-administrator can be the result.
And that really hurts.
I think it is important to note that this came up on International Women’s Day, at an event about women in the arts. This is important to note, because I feel like I am more judged, more attacked, more sidelined, for being an arts administrator than I have ever felt for being a woman, or for being a feminist.
Is this really the arts culture I tell myself I love? Some days I’m not too sure.
No Plain Jane 
Wow. So well put Jane.
As a very young, female arts administrator for two flagship companies in SA, I agree with every sentiment of yours here.
Thank you for putting this into words for all to read.
Hi Jane,
Hugs – some people are just stupid and spewing their own fears and bias onto others (sad but true).
As an independent theatre practitioner I highly value the work of administrators – I want one of my own so that I can stop doing the admin side of my projects as it’s something I’m not skilled at and I believe if I had solid admin support the overall quality of my projects would improve as I’d be able to focus my skills and energy on creating work which is where my skills and passion lay. Everyone is lifted up by supporting one another and working in teams – all the great ideas in history were driven by small teams of 3 or 4 people!
We’re all created by the bias we carry around and that’s ok but we shouldn’t be allowing it to damage and hinder our future growth or the growth and well being of others…(like the admin haters are!)
I completely agree with everything you’ve said. There is a complete lack of understanding from many artists about what administrators actually do (and put up with, and fix), and I think they must believe that we’re all just rubber-stamping everything, the only work we really do is emailing them from our luxury yachts that we sail upon seas of melted gold.
What hurts the most is that I have rarely come across administrators who do not wholeheartedly respect and value the work that artists create, and I have also met many artists whose gratitude for the work that admins around them have done was humbling. This is not the way that things have to be.
We all want the same thing – a vibrant and culturally rich place in which to live. We all believe that the arts are vitally important to that vision. This superiority is disgusting, insulting, and bereft of critical analysis. Thank you for calling them out.
Wow…I guess postmodern theory is right – we all see, hear (read) what is being said differently and make our own reading (become the writer). I think it is unfortunate that the ‘open, honest and critical debate’ (as Emma encouraged us to do) has left so many of us feeling raw, possibly angry and feeling undervalued. For the record I don’t hate Administrators. I love them. We need them. One of my most favourite people in the world is an Administrator – Maggie Armstrong who is brilliant, loves artists, respects the artistic process and is one of the heroines along with Caroline Ramsay, Sheila Caroll and Claire Whitam of the survival of Vitalstatistix (to name a few). By reducing the debate to a ‘them’ (artists? or are the ‘them’ the administrators?) and ‘us ‘(administrators? or the artists?) is not helpful and/or productive. I didn’t hear one person say that we don’t need administrators. No-one said artists are better than administrators. What was being discussed was structures, roles and processes. We all agree that the lack of funding is the major problem and how that money is distributed. Jane, no-one (and I assume you are referring to me) said that you would never make it to a leadership position in the arts because you are a woman. I said that the trajectory is often more difficult for women. A more steep and difficult climb for women. Women have to climb a very steep ladder rung by rung whereas men often hopscotch their way to the top (often with half the skill base). I have no doubt that you achieve whatever you put your mind to. You have already achieved so much. Unfortunately you seem to have heard/’read’ comments about national arts funding structures, and patriarchal hegenomy as personal attacks. No-one was attacking you or any other administrator in the room. As far as I observed there was frank and honest discussion going on, and except for the ‘producer model ‘(i.e. its structure) most of the time there was universal agreement (and the fact that Vitals don’t identify as a ‘women’s company’ – we all know this is a particular bugbear of mine, and it seems most people disagree with me. I don’t feel undervalued or attacked because people disagree with me. I would encourage more critical open debate).
Catherine former AD Vitalstatistix
I believe that if someone feels attacked, then they are being attacked, regardless of the intention behind the attacker’s statements. Dismissal of the perceived attack only dishes out another blow, by not acknowledging how words, tone, content etc. can come across and make people feel.
I understand that no-one went as far to say that they hate administrators, but the “us and them” (or “them and us”) point wash pushed by the use of the term ‘managing class’.
The statements made had a number of administrators in the room questioning why they bother in this industry, what would happen if we stopped bothering?
Also.
*was (not wash!)
and the term used was “sub-class”…
Jane, I honestly thought I couldn’t love your writing any more, and then you threw in a Judy Blume reference….
Thankyou so much for writing this. I have a friend who often gives me shit for saying I want to work in the arts, because they think that means I’ll just end up being a receptionist. I’ve already sent it to them.
it is all too easy for someone to blame others for their lack of [insert-whatever-here]: far easier to blame than to change.
and when the blaming is vitriolic, perhaps the person really is spewing out all the anger and frustration bottled up inside … though while you’re the target, it’s likely they’re really angry and frustrated at themselves – the words mirroring onto you how they really feel about themselves, but are refusing to face up to that – let alone why they feel that way. (it’s quite likely they don’t realise that this is what they’re doing. but it might also be deliberate, aka malicious. let’s go with ‘not aware’ – it’s more common).
if that is so, why pick on you?
most likely because they don’t understand you, or what you do.* it’s easier to project onto other than onto self. perhaps there is an opportunity hidden in all this for you (and other administrators) to find a way to explain, to reach out to those who are bewildered and/or ignorant?
you might not get everyone, but the more artists (and others) who do understand what you do for them, the easier it is for them to not only empathise with you, but also to do those little things that help you out and that make a big difference to everyone’s day …
* what i’m talking about is same mechanism underpinning racism, bullying, and other fear-based behaviours.
sorry about the lack of whitespace in my previous post – seems the <p> tag doesn’t get interpreted by wordpress >.<
Perhaps it is post-modern to extend our analysis of a singular occurrence, perception, or statement to the systemic environment within which a particular statement (or other) was made, but this extension of analysis beyond isolated incidents is vital to feminism, queer theory, socialism, and every other study of society.
The statements that were made at BossLady are not isolated. They are representative of many statements and attitudes to which all of the administrators that I know have been exposed on a regular basis, myself included.
When you say that we have “read” what is said in a different way, you are correct. We read what is said with different experience of these issues. Whilst I am not trying to say that administrators are oppressed in the same way, your arguments sound very similar to those made by people called out on, for example, homophobic language or jokes – “I do not “hate” gay people, one of my favourite people is gay.” I know (as a queer woman) that this is a somewhat hyperbolic comparison, but you can understand that these arguments both lack an understanding of the greater picture; an understanding of another’s point of view, and an insistence that, if it does not seem insulting or attacking to the speaker, it is a problem with the queer (or queer friendly) person’s point of view, not what has been said. In isolation, this may be right. With a greater and extended understanding, it becomes clear that it is not.
I, like you, believe in frank, honest, and open exchange of ideas. The key word here, however, being “exchange”. If you wish to express your ideas, you must also, I believe, be willing to listen to the retorts and reactions of those to whom you are expressing these ideas. Moreover, you must be willing to understand the context from which your fellow conversationalist is speaking. Without these elements, your arguments will relate only to isolated and non-contextualised theory, and truly exist only in a world in which your experience, and your experience alone, is the universal one. This is not critical, open debate. This is assertion of one experience over others. To be able to achieve that which you yearn to, we must see the truth from all sides, and we must all help each other to do this.
In my view it takes only a commitment to listen.
And, adding something that I think needs to be said, I don’t believe that your points were inherently flawed. I agree that there may be lots and lots of people who work in arts administration whose jobs could be streamlined and ultimately made redundant, and if that means more funding for the art to get made, brilliant, go on ahead and do it. I also agree that it is more difficult for women to get into positions of power in the arts (hell, that’s what the whole discussion was meant to be, and was, ultimately, about). It’s a shame that these points did not get the airtime that they needed (and still need) due to the points that I have outline above. I simply think that it’s important to be concise and clear with your reasoning, and make it clear to whomever may get caught in your rhetoric (and I’m mostly talking about Eileen here) that they are still valued and their jobs are appreciated, rather than making grand, sweeping statements that can be seen to include those about whom you are not talking.
We must also be aware of the privilege that we have, and how that will affect our arguments.
So just to be clear – it’s not what was said, but how it was said, that is what I have a problem with.
I also slightly resent the implication that any success I enjoy in this field will be more about my penis than my talents. My current six volunteer jobs do not feel like hopscotch. I don’t want to sit around all day thinking “Do I only have this because of male privilege?”. I’m pretty sure I don’t, because literally every boss I’ve ever had has been female.
I get that it was fucking hard in the old days for the trailblazing women, but can we not find some measure of faith in a new generation to carry out the concepts of meritocracy and equality that have been instilled in us in a post-liberation learning environment?
Catherine, we’re your greatest allies. You should re-assess your salted earth manner of expression before you alienate the very people who are both the product and ongoing agents of the change you and many others have worked so diligently to achieve.
I’ve been working in the performing arts professionally since 1981 – mostly as an artist. Currently I am an Artistic Director – that means I do both art and administration. A large part of my “art” now is in dreaming up ideas and projects and then raising money to create really good jobs for artists who take the ideas on to the next phase. I then offer all the support I can muster to make sure we all do our jobs really well and achieve excellence. Last year I created jobs for around 30 artists. Is it art? is it admin? where does the art stop and the admin start? Does it matter?
We all play different roles and take on different responsibilities at different times – and it might change over the lifetime of a long career. The bottom line is we all need each other.