Artists on Boards

To encourage artists to consider being trustees I have written two resources for a-n, The Artists Information Company website which encourage artists to consider being trustees. The guides are informed by my time as the 2017/18 Visual Artist Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme supported by a-n. 

For the two resources: Artists on boards: a guide to becoming a trustee or board member and Artists on boards: top tips on becoming a trustee or board member I interviewed artists who currently hold board positions, are board observers and those sitting on steering and advisory committees, together with chairs of cultural organisations. The responses from this mix of voices reiterated the importance of artists on boards from being "reminded of its day-to-day purpose and the wants and needs of its members" to "we encourage active discussion at our board meetings, and having artists as trustees and observers has proved extremely beneficial in providing different ideas and approaches”.

How to increase diversity within trustee boards is on the radar of the UK Government, Arts Council England and the newly formed Cultural Governance Alliance which launched this week. In an article published by Hilary Carty, Director of the Clore Leadership Programme she asks how do we encourage a more eclectic range of voices at board level, encouraging individuals with relevant, transferable skills and experience to embrace trusteeship?

Hopefully the guides will go some way towards offering some ideas. It is one thing to invite a new trustee into the board room its quite a different actively to set in motion support systems which help new trustees to not only stay in the board room but also make their best contribution. Accessible information, advice and training can all play a part in encouraging people new to governance to begin to explore what they could offer. Now is the best time for change in governance so if you are an a-n member check out the guides or browse through the resources the Cultural Governance Alliance have collated on their website. 

Read more from my post Diversification of Trust on my blog The Autonomous Artist

Link to the members articles - https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/artists-boards-essential-artists-voices-heard/