Feature ~ Blog

If only the life of an arts manager was as romantic as that of an artist.  If it was, I would probably complain less about my modestly modest salary, demanding work schedule, and financially uncertain future. But let’s be honest - there is nothing sexy or romantic about an arts manager frantically finishing the final touches of an arts council grant. Certainly not as sexy as a tortured artist frantically scrawling love poems by the dull glow of candlelight.

I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side. I could of course be plagued with bouts of depression, insomnia or some chemical addiction like most ‘great’ artists in history. For centuries we have built this grandiose idea of the artist as being one willing to sacrifice and suffer for passion, like a compulsion eating away at ones insides.

My compulsion since I first began as a student of the Arts Management Program at the University of Toronto and my compulsion since graduating has been advocating art. Whether it’s writing about art, producing events, curating exhibitions, raising funds, I am guided by this unwavering desire to bring people together to experience an alternate view of the world, of our environment and community. And while I have many creative compulsions, the work I do as an arts manager, above all, allows me the opportunity to fuse my talents (creative, social and administrative) in a powerful way.


So why do I feel so ‘unsexy’? Why do I find myself sitting with my colleagues having the same conversations about work-burnout, low pay and long hours? Why have so many of my fellow graduates ditched the not-for-profit world for a more financially comfortable lifestyle? Is passion really enough? Something needs to give.

Arts Management as field of education and training is relatively new to the realm of academia. The Co-op Arts Management Program at U of T was only established in 1984 and now is one of the largest of its kind in Canada.  What this means is that a new era of emerging arts managers with specialized skills are joining the workforce, all with markedly different work expectations from that of their seniors. As part of a larger generational shift from a Generation ‘X’ to ‘Y’ mentality, this new era of arts professionals are tech savvy multitaskers, willing to explore multiple opportunities, concerned with work-life balance and flexibility, and willing to leave a job if they don’t feel a sense of value or self worth.

If we want a sustainable arts infrastructure in Toronto we need to consider the sum of its parts. While there has been much advocacy in our city surrounding new cultural building ventures and increases in government funding for artists, little has been advocated for arts administrators and managers. We have traditionally followed a model in the not-for-profit arts world that keeps administration costs low in the service of art. What this has done, I believe, has created a belief system among arts professionals that suffering and sacrifice without the ‘sex’ and ‘glamour’ is an unavoidable by-product of this industry. 

Call me naïve but I believe there is hope for us emerging arts managers. I believe that this new generation of educated and trained arts professionals will stand up for change, will re-evaluate and re-imagine the role of the arts manager as cultural producer, visionary, arts advocate and community leader; all very sexy roles if you ask me.


Laura Mendes is an emerging arts manager, curator, writer and aspiring dance artist. She currently works at a film production company, runs an arts centre called Labspace Studio and works as a freelance arts administrator.