Comparative Study: Community Arts Centre Management Strategies

This report provides a comparative analysis of management issues across three community arts centres: Footscray Community Arts Centre in Melbourne, Goldfields Arts Centre in Western Australia, and the Barbican Centre in London. The report explores various management challenges, including funding problems, staffing issues, and the adoption of digital strategies. The analysis highlights the specific issues faced by each centre, such as the Barbican Centre's funding reliance and workforce management concerns, the Footscray Community Arts Centre's financial deficits and leadership changes, and the Goldfields Arts Centre's staff maintenance challenges. Furthermore, the report examines how these centres are addressing these challenges, including strategies for fundraising, workforce optimization, and digital content development. The report also includes a discussion of competition and the importance of adapting to changing cultural landscapes. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of effective management for the success and sustainability of community arts centres. This report is contributed by a student and is available on Desklib, a platform providing AI-based study tools.

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Community Arts Centres

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Introduction
Community arts centres are tiny gems scattered throughout our fast and busy world.
Each arts centre has its own unique qualities and a different way of presenting art to the
people. Australia is home to a wide range of art groups andart a huge part of people’s lives
there. Art and creativity are an important part of the country’s ethnicity andare rapidly
changing the culture of the nation. They areinspiring curiosity, drawing people to engage and
participate (Ryan& Giblett, 2018). The arts centres are an active cultural enterprise
generating income for workers and contributing to the nation’s economy. Art centres not only
support Australia’s people monetarily, but also bring out the hidden aspirations of individuals
and help them showcase their creativity to others.
Footscray Community Arts Centre
Footscray Community Arts Centre is located in Melbourne.This community-involved,
modern arts centre collaborates with local residents as well as regional and universal
communities.It has also partnered with organisations and artists to create opportunities and
develop its capacity to ensure societal transformation. The programmes organised by the
Footscray Community Arts Centre are long-term, well strategized and deliver a vast
assortment of outcomes. The programmes it organises aim to influence society. Such
programmes include theIndigenous Cultural programme, the Art-Life programme and the
Emerging Culture Leaders programme (Alexander etal., 2018).
This community arts centreprovides both artistic and skilled learning through pre-
accredited and credited programmes to help artists advance their skills and learn new and
innovative techniques. It also organises community workshops.
Goldfields Arts Centre
The Goldfields Arts Centre is situated in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.
The multi-functional arts centre is operated by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. It became a

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part of the city’s lifestyle and landscape in November 1993. Numerous organisations and
individuals contributed to build the centre, such as the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines,
the Lotteries Commission, the Western Australian State Government and members of the
Goldfields community. At present the Goldfields Arts Centre is maintained and owned by the
Perth Theatre Trust.
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is locatedin Barbican Estate in London and is one of the largest
community arts centres in Europe (Barbican Centre, 2019). It serves as a venue for classic
and modern musical concerts, theatrical performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It
is the third largest art funder in the United Kingdom.
Comparison of Management Issues among the Arts Centres
As the value of art and culture increases among Australians,it is important that
community centres manage their newfound popularity both effectively and efficiently.
Community centresare seeking to change their management and administration to stay in the
market and attract audiences’ attention. Yet some management issues continue to hamper the
centres’ progress and development and act as a barrier to their growth (Wrigley &Straker,
2019).

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Barbican Centre
Funding problems
The Barbican Centre Trust assumes all responsibility for the gallery’s financial issues.
The galleryis fully reliant on donors and the trust seeks support for both the institution and
the work of individuals. The centre is on good terms with its donors as it must gather funds
for its exhibitions. It does not depend on only one donor, but views all donors as having equal
importance. It has a very thorough and effective screening process for choosing donors and
attempts to remain cost effective by developing a sustainable fundraising system. The trustees
review the risks and problems faced by the gallery and their potential impact on the money
donors have invested in it. Since the gallery has a high public profile, the trustees employ
mitigation techniques to control any probable risk (Young, 2016). To do this, they act
according to a system for risk management and public relations. These trusts lower the risk
inherent in financial commitment for donors and ensure that a grant is never awarded until
the funds have been received and properly managed. Thus, as such a prominent art fixture in
London, the gallery takes all necessary measures to avoid damaging its reputation.It is often
in the media spotlight and one blow can seriously damage its reputation (Barbican Centre,
2019).
Sustainable future
The Barbican gallery has takenthe proper initiative to create an environment that
welcomes the people. This includes organising cleaning teams and appointing contractors to
clean and repair gallery areas thoroughly (Lineberry &Wiek, 2016). It also works with city
surveyors to hire contractors and amend policies so that the building is maintained and the
surrounding environment is left unharmed.

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Worker problems
The Barbican Art Centre suffered from several problems,such as funding issues, and
needed to implement some cost-cutting methods. Although there was lots of work going
on,the gallery had doubts about hiring new staff. Despite needing the workforce,it had to start
using cost-cutting techniques in order to save money. The administration carefully identified
the problems and took action to address any needs. On Workforce Management Day 2019,
Londonbrought together new and innovative workforce management experts from around the
world. The company and management team were taught how to hold, involve, optimise and
fascinate a quality workforce. The workload has heavy for the Project and Engineering teams
because of important new additions to the buildings. This collaboration is enhancing their
ability to work as a team and widening many aspects of their cultural knowledge. They are
developing new staff efficiency programmes and employing skilled, efficient workers. They
are even training staff members by providing anexcellent management structure and ensuring
that new strategies are being followed.
Digital content
Digital media is on the rise, and people are becoming more involved in the online
world than in the real world. Ours is an era of ‘like, share and comment’, where people ‘like’
things they feel must be appreciated and share them with their friends. This tendency allows
any video or photo to achieve popularity in the online world. Thus, every art centre should
adopt a digital strategy to attain thedesired popularity and fame for its artwork (Wilson-
Barnao, 2017).
The Barbican Arts Centre management team is attempting to grow its digital network
andshare itsartaround the world in many ways. The Digital Strategy Update Report for 2018
described the digital growth and is said to be fully embedded with the departmental reports.
The Digital Strategic Group has shifted its viewstowards study and development ofthe

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cultural organization by collecting data to use in its decision-making process. It is even
planning some workshops intended to improve audience attraction and education regarding
art and culture. One of its main aim has become to identify digital learning approaches and
use them in the development of art and culture (Spencer, 2017).
Competition
The Barbican Gallery faces many of the same issues consistently, thus it is creating an
environment that will inspire visitors. It exceedsvisitor expectations by presenting new and
superior art items. To embrace cultural diversity, it includes staff members of all races in its
workforce. To promote equality,it is adopting measures to appoint workers without
consideration for caste or cultural background. It also empowers artists and visitors by not
discriminating in the works it displays. In addition, it encourages audiences to be very
ambitious and achieve the best. To build better relationships with audiences,it is using all
possible techniques and focusing on individual customers who could benefit the gallery
(Vincent, 2017).
Footscray Community Arts Centre
New leadership
The Footscray Community Arts Centre appointed a new Executive Director and
Artistic Director in 2018. Thesehireshaveinfluenced the development of the organisation,
including itsfinance, governance and staffing systems. The new directorswill provide
energetic commitment and valuable leadership and will lead the gallery to a more grounded
art practice. These management changes will bring new ideas and developmental strategies to
create success and prepare the gallery for challenges and various new opportunities. The
structural change will underpin progress towards the organisation’s 2020-2024 calculated
plan, designed to sustain the needs of upcoming artists and the local community (Footscray
Community Arts Centre, 2019).

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The new Artistic Director is responsible for outlining the creative path and direction
of Footscray Community Arts Centre’s programmes (Butler, 2017). He is also responsible for
developing its reputation in the communal, domestic and international sectors of art. The
Executive Director’s responsibility is to lead progress and implement guidelines for the arts
centre’s operations, governance and business strategies, including the administration’s core
funding.
Funding
Since 2013, the Footscray Community Arts Centre has not received key
organisational funding. However, the Australia Council for the Arts has invested over $650
million in various initiatives and missions such as West Writers, Collaborate Asia, Creatively
Ageing and Emerging Cultural Leaders (Khan, 2010). The outcome has been favourable for
the Footscray Centre, but the organisation’s artists and workers are viewing their futures
differently manner because of this problem. The decrease in funding since 2016 is a direct
consequence of cuts during the last 12 months and in the 2015 budget, which have not yet
been rectified.
The Footscray Community Arts Centre has continued to support autonomous
organisations and entertainers through its Residence Programmes for companies and artists. It
understands the struggles that these people and organisations will face in future years; thus, it
contributes to initiatives that will help self-made companies and artists. It sees the need to
build new paths and enhance the capabilities of artists.
Staff
The Footscray Community Arts Centre had a remarkable year in which all software
design, advertising, production and management staff worked tirelessly. Their efforts resulted
in a successful year by showcasing their imaginative work and creative skills and supporting
the artists and audiences.

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Deficit of 2017
In 2017 Footscray Community Arts Centre experienced an operational deficit. It had
to deal with losses, including reducing operational costs to remedy this problem. In this
particular year, the centre faced many challenges. Substantial unverified grants accompanied
the operational deficit. The transition from the programme to operational funding decreased
its success and admissibility for securing grants (Lindeman et. al., 2017). This resulted in
many challenges for the national arts sector as well as restricted funding and augmented
competition and expenses. The administration and board members revised estimates and
expenses throughout that year in addition to executing a midyear reforecast which
meaningfully reviewed anticipated grant success. To eliminate the deficit, they focused their
efforts on an internal structural review, innovative programming prospects, continual income
growth and new mergers. After the deficit of 2017 was adjusted for, 2018 proved to be a
positive year from a financial perspective.
Goldfields Arts Centre
Funding
The Goldfields Arts Centre is perceived as a centrepiece of the artistic scene in
the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. It serves as a venue for many state and national events that
entertain citizens and visitors who value good art and culture. In 2013, the Goldfields Arts
Centre received $6.2 million from Royalties for Regions to support its maintenance and
development. This large sum was meant to improve and enhance their facilities and to ensure
that the residents of that region had access to an exceptional contemporary arts and culture
experience. The funds were used in the development of the centre's operational
administration. For example, it was used to replace equipment which needed to be modified,
implement corrective work and elevate programming, such as air conditioning, new furniture,
building repairs, etc (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2019).

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Staff maintenance
Staff revenue is a major problem tackled by these facilities, especially in remote and
rural areas. The arts centre showcases indigenous art forms of the area, but because of poor
management, it is burning out. People enter the Goldfield Arts Centre with tremendous
enthusiasm and fresh new ideas. But after a few years, their idealism tends to fade and they
become weary of the repetitive, monotonous procedures. To maintain the longevity of the
staff and artists, the art centre is guaranteeing employment in the Indigenous art centre. This
offer is extended only to people who will be able to contribute to the art centre’s
sustainability. Therefore, if the staffing system is maintained properly and efficiently, the art
centre will be able to effectively distribute art and spread cultural awareness.
Management issues
Most of the problems and issues was build-up due to the immense workload and
pressure under which the staff and managers of the arts centres operate. The most crucial
component of artistic, fiscal and cultural success is proper management of the art centre.
Managers come mostly from artistic backgrounds and have little experience in marketing
(Richardson, Jogulu, &Rentschler, 2017). Most managers are practicing artists, cultural
development workers or social workers. The managers reportedly possess little knowledge
about accounting and have almost no experience managing large enterprises. It is essential
that an art and culture organisation have positive, impactful governance. An arts centre that is
governed effectively by competently support and train workers, staff and administration.
Future at Risk
According to Goldfields Arts Centre (2017), the owners have negotiated a provisional
pardon for the arts centre, but the centre’s future is still in doubt. A three-month lease was
extended by the Department of Education and Training, who are the owners of the building.
The future of the full-time and casual staff appointed for special events is also said to be

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unclear. The Council Chief Executive said that the council have a really difficult job of
managing the ratios and assets, so leasing the property was the best way to deal with the
centre’s problems. This will eliminate any capital issues and deliver on some of the asset
requirements. It also means the centre will continue contributing culture and art programmes.
According to the Council Chief Executive if the owners continue to run the arts centre and
invest in it, it will improve and will be able to make a substantial contribution to the cultural
setting. If the lease that is being offered is declined, then the centre will be shut down. The
government did not want to take on the entire burden (Lineberry &Wiek, 2016).
New reforms to save the GAC
The McGowan Government is safeguarding the future of the Goldfields Arts Centre
by implementing various new reforms. The reforms state that the Perth Theatre Trust will
assume full responsibility for the Goldfields Arts Centre. The trust provides the city with a
five-year tenancy to allow it to achieve its goal and manage the facility properly. The arts
centre’s daily operation will be managed by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to ensure smooth
operation. After considering the arts centre’s previous problems, the Art Minister announced
that the centre will continue to function. This was made possible by a new deal between the
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the McGowan Government. The agreement also stated that
the Western Australian Government will fund the current maintenance projects as well
(Jorgensen, 2018).
This agreement ensured a better future for the Goldfields Arts Centre. As a multi-
functional art venue in Goldfields, its primary, and indeed only, role is to promote artistic and
cultural diversity in the Australian outback city and in the wider region. The art and culture
industries play a significant role in strengthening local communities and add a dynamic
structure for the residents. They also have a substantial impact when it comes to generating
tourism and employment for the locals. This is the reason the city finally agreed to support

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the Goldfields Arts Centre; it is a chief attractor to the unique regional city of Kalgoorlie-
Boulder (Gibson &Fleming, 2015).

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Conclusion
As cultural and artistic interest is growing and spreading among the citizenry, the
importance of galleries is also increasing. Cultural awareness is in fashion these days, so
young audiences are experiencing greater interest in artwork and attend exhibitions at these
galleries in increasing numbers. After being in this business for such a long time, these
centres know how to deal with their management issues. They tend to curb the issues before
they become noticeable by artists, visitors and donors and adopt new management
approaches almost immediately. The Barbican Gallery is a renowned gallery in London
where people of various cultures come to view the artists’ efforts. It maintains an appropriate
management technique and tends to attract audiences from all walks of life.
The Footscray Arts Centre has had management problems and went through a tough
deficit phase in 2017. But as a well-managed organisation in the capital city of Australia, it
managed to overcome the problem in no time. It accomplished this by appointing new and
effective leaders to overcome the problems and create a better creative future for the arts
centre. These leaders demonstrate a lot of faith in their staff and artists and shows that they
will help the centre triumph over any problems.
The Goldfield Arts Centre has faced major problems since 2013 that have not yet
been completely solved. These problems threaten the centre’s very existence.
Therefore it is apparent that the bigger and older the arts centre, the more efficient its
management. In spite of the centres’difficulties, the artwork they showcase has received
overwhelming support from everyone. Although they face diurnal challenges in their sector
and their issues pose a genuine concern for the art industry, correct governance and diligent
maintenance will improve the industry’s organisational management.

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