Author: Sikes, Michael

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

Abstract:

This article a reappraisal of the role and nature of arts administration training. It provides a set of strategies to reform the field in light of vast changes. Changes that include:

• the downsizing of federal agencies, programs, and funding;
• increased competition among cultural organizations and entities outside the field;
• >audience demographics;
• multiculturalism; and
• the culture wars.

To date, arts administration training programs have lacked unifying standards and curriculum. The current programs represent a variety of disciplinary orientations and administrative settings. In 1999, the fields professional organization, the Association of Arts Administration Educators, sought to change this through the identification of a common core curriculum and the development of standards for programs and faculty tenure.

Even in this challenging phase, the author gives reasons for considering the future of higher-education based arts administration training. He accomplishes this by offering a series of metaphors (the arts administrator as warrior, explorer, and architect) to convey specific skills, outcomes, and values that programs need to foster in order to mold the fields practitioners and future leaders.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Professional Development