Our popular series, So you want my arts job? has been running since June 2019. There are some clear career paths described, but what’s surprising across all of these roles is the number of people who found themselves doing things outside of their plan, ending up in more rewarding roles as a result.
If you’re getting itchy feet in your existing job, here are 23 careers to consider in 2021.
ARI Director
Being a director of an Artist-Run Initiative (ARI) is extremely collaborative, says Rebecca Gallo, an artist and founding member of Pari, in Sydney’s West. ‘It’s been important for us to have a group with a range of skills and experience. We all need to be flexible, self-motivated, patient and willing to try new things. Some take on more of a mentor or mentee role, some work on particular jobs more independently, and others collaborate across a number of projects. Finding folks with skills and interest in administration and finance has been a challenge, but extremely important!’
Artistic Director
If you can balance strategy, business and networking with creative inspiration, then working as an artistic director might be the job for you, Shaun Parker explains. ‘The majority of people think that my job is just art, fun and creativity but in truth, I do an awful lot of strategy, business and networking – creating performance is very minimal in comparison to everything else going on. There’s an awful lot more work behind the scenes than I think people realise,’ he said.
Audio Describer
Will McRostie is the founder and lead describer at Description Victoria, a not-for-profit organisation that provides professional audio description services for blind and low-vision audiences. His working week is ‘wonderfully varied. Last night I was at the Comedy Theatre describing Come From Away, the musical. There’s a couple of days doing the admin and setting up for gigs, then we might go into a show on a Tuesday and do a tactile tour, rehearse another show on a Thursday in a different venue, then deliver that show on a Saturday. You might be doing an exhibition tour on a Wednesday morning and then Circus Oz on Friday night. So you’re constantly kind of jumping between different places, different environments and different art forms as well,’ McRostie said.
Book Designer
‘A book cover is a collaborative exercise,’ said Text Publishing’s design director WH Chong, ‘complicated by a lot of concerns: there’s the editorial concern about the book written, there’s a marketing concern about how it will work out in the world, there’s a publishing concern about how this object will forward the book, and there’s a legacy concern about how the cover will sit within all that we know about book covers. There are a lot of conventions that you have to be familiar with. Unless you know what a book’s going to do in the real world, you’ve got nowhere to begin, because there’s just a little rectangle and you can put anything you want in it.’
Casting Director
Casting directors might be the first person a performer meets to discuss a role, but they don’t make the call on who gets the job, according to Lauren Mass. If she was looking to recruit someone for her role, she’d be looking for someone who works well collaboratively. ‘This industry is all about working with others. From concept to auditions, and beyond, there are so many people and wonderful brains at work through every step of the process that you really need to be a team player. Teamwork, and understanding that not everyone may approach a task the same way, is vital,’ said Mass.
Circus Rigger
Working behind the scenes in the circus sector isn’t for everyone, but if you have a good head for heights and know what makes a stage safe, rigging could be the career for you, according to NICA’s Kaleb Hawkins. ‘Circus rigging involves a lot of out-of-the-box thinking,’ he said.
Circus Trainer
From fending off hungry camels to young artists driving innovation and change, working as a circus trainer is a rewarding and unique career. ‘When I’m explaining what I do, I always say I’m an acrobatic trainer rather than circus, as it’s just easier for people to understand. I explain how I break down skills, and how circus training is quite similar to high performance sports,’ said Loic Marques, the Training Director at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.
Exhibition Designer
If you have a keen eye for colour, materiality and space, then being an exhibition designer might be the job for you, according to the National Gallery of Australia’s Jing-Ling Chua. ‘Creativity and a keen eye for colour, materiality, and space,’ she said. ‘You also need technical drawing skills and the ability to convey design concepts through models, drawings or 3D renders. Being a good listener helps, as we take on board the specialist needs of the exhibition team and give them form to shape the experience of the visitor.’
Fight Director
Nigel Poulton is an award-winning, internationally renowned fight director, weapon and movement specialist, stunt performer and actor. ‘The most successful and fulfilling elements of my work is enlisting the performers and creating a collaborative environment in which performers can generate work grounded on impulses that they might have, based on what they feel their character might do,’ he said.
General Manager
Theatre Works’ Dianne Toulson said she is only as good as her team. ‘Collaboration within the team is vital to arts organisations. It can be challenging and hard work. So of course, capacity to communicate is the most vital piece of the puzzle for a GM. I believe every person brings their own element of experience and value to a role and that everyone is different.’
Google Arts and Culture lead
Suhair Khan leads Google Arts and Culture, having worked at the company for over eight years. If you want her job, you’ll need to possess ‘Creativity, curiosity, passion and an understanding of current movements in technology and the arts,’ Khan said.
Head of Programming, The Wheeler Centre
Live and breathe ideas? Are you creative, but organised and love a good spreadsheet? Then career in programming could be for you. Should she have to recruit someone to fill her own role, Helen Withycombe would be looking for ‘Someone who lives and breathes books, writing and ideas of all genres and forms, who is simultaneously creative and obsessively organised and loves a spreadsheet as much as a good book (okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but you get my meaning).’
Library and Museum Digital Strategist
Catherine Devine heads up Microsoft’s global strategy around digital transformation for libraries and museums. ‘My current role is global strategy at Microsoft around digital transformation for libraries and museums. This means I spend about a third of my time with libraries and museums customers from around the world, understanding their current priorities and challenges as well as raising awareness about what is possible with technology.’
Literary Translator
Author and translator Elizabeth Bryer says that her role requires people who have ‘a nuanced understanding of at least two languages, and of several literary traditions in both languages. In other words [she’d look for] a love of reading and a love of language. I would also look for someone willing to take creative risks and to devote themselves tirelessly to another person’s work. Someone who can balance the big picture with the detail, who cares equally about both, and is willing to do the care work that translation inevitably involves.’
Madman Marketing Manager
Madman’s marketing manager Lee-Ann Woon demonstrates that landing your dream job is all about talent, persistence and most importantly, kindness. ‘This applies to every job, but don’t be a dick and don’t let ego get in the way. Most of my jobs have been through contacts and recommendations. Even if your boss has built a career out of bullying, don’t emulate their behaviour just because you think that’s a way to get people to say yes,’ she said.
Mona Curator
Talent, hard work, patience, and humility are just some of the traits you need to work as a curator at Mona, according to Nicole Durling. ‘Mona has a unique voice, due to it being a privately owned museum, so being a curator here is quite different from working at a public museum or gallery,’ she explained. ‘Our motivations are not always clear to us initially and often only understood in hindsight. Mona is a learn and adapt environment, which can be challenging but which is also highly rewarding.’
Mona Director of Museum Concept and Vision
With an obscure title – and one totally befitting to the unique Mona brand – Elizabeth Pearce told us about her role in creating the text that surround all things Mona, while staying in sync with David Walsh’s mantra for no bullshit. ‘I am one of the people charged with making sure Mona remains a museum of ideas, as well as a museum of art. I contribute to that end in a number of ways, namely: as a member of the curatorial team, as a writer, and as a part of the leadership group,’ she said.
Picture Book Illustrator
Artist and activist Van T Rudd became a picture book illustrator by accident. After more than 20 years working across murals, street sculpture, live protest, painting, and punk music, he made his picture book debut in 2017 with The Patchwork Bike, written by Maxine Beneba Clarke. ‘Psychologically, for me it helped that I was naïve about the publishing industry because it meant that I could just go hell for leather,’ he said. And his advice for other would-be book illustrators? ‘Just try something. Make sure it’s kind of breathtaking in its own way and enjoy the creative process. I wanted the images to provide a sort of parallel story alongside Maxine’s words and to carry a flavour of political activism.’
Producer, Perth Festival
If you’re organised, a good listener, good humoured and comfortable sitting with fear, being a producer might be the job for you, according to Perth Festival’s Anna Kosky. ‘My role encompasses things like program development when we’re in the planning phase. I work with the Artistic Director, Executive Producer, Program Associates or Creative Leads to test the viability of ideas, whether that be from a financial, logistical or from a creative rigour point of view. It then moves into project planning to build the critical paths and budgets, and then of course to the fun bit (most days!) delivering the events and being on the ground.’
Projection Artist
A designer, maker and curator, Samoan-born artist Jacob Tolo is a storyteller at heart. His interest in projection art began during a multimedia degree and led him to become the 2020 Festival Curator of the Gertrude Street Projection Festival. The biggest misconception about projection art is ‘That we do it on our own,’ he explained. ‘Projection, like design, is a team sport. It takes a team of people to make the work shine. Literally. From creating exhibitions to working on the GSPF I rely on many people with various skillsets to create those experiences and moments.’
Rights Manager
The publishing industry is more than just editors and publishers – in fact, it’s more than just books. When asked to describe her job as rights manager for Allen & Unwin, Maggie Thompson says that her role is, in essence, managing ‘All the things you can do with a book that aren’t selling the book itself in Australia.’
Sound Designer
Daniel Nixon says, ‘Musical knowledge is a massive advantage [in this job]. Good rhythm especially. An ear for detail, and an understanding of the appropriate equipment. The most important thing is an active imagination, coupled with the technical knowledge to realise your ideas.’
Voice Coach
From inhabiting dialects to teaching actors to croak like a pelican, Charmian Gradwell’s job as STC’s Voice, Text and Dialect Coach is a fascinating one – and a job that allows her to observe dialect changes as they happen. ‘There are always a myriad of exciting things happening linguistically and psycho-acoustically. But to answer the question: possibly, at the moment, the best thing is the phenomenon of several new dialects emerging and becoming established within a single generation of speakers – meaning that you might have parents in a region unanimously speaking with one dialect whilst their children speak another. This is a relatively new phenomenon and is really exciting.’
