Candace Kita
When was the last time that you were told to “play harder”? Unless you happen to work at an extremely progressive workplace such as this one—where employees can mentally recharge in a gallery-turned-ball pit—the possibilities for play tend to disappear as we grow older. While arts nonprofits tend to acknowledge that creative thinking and experimentation propel innovation, resources are rarely allocated towards opportunities for staff to regularly weave play with work.
From that context arises the critical importance of Emerging Leaders Networks. These networks revolutionize the arts administration field by creating environments for experimentation and play without the framework set by traditional nonprofit boards, budgets, and by-laws. Over the past four years, I have been fortunate to participate in two networks on the West Coast, Emerging Arts Leaders/Los Angeles and Portland Emerging Arts Leaders. Both have provided invaluable playgrounds in which I could try on roles, flesh out ideas, and practice the art of arts administration, allowing me to grow into a more seasoned arts professional.
My experience in Emerging Arts Leaders/Los Angeles’ mentorship program, Arts Professionals Advisor Link (APAL), was the first to illuminate how these networks foster important playgrounds for young professionals. APAL seeks to provide guidance to strengthen the leadership capacities of professionals in various stages of their careers. At the first meeting with my cohort of fellow mentees, I expected an exciting “big reveal” of who my new mentor would be. Yet that reveal never came, at least not in the way that I had envisioned. APAL is intentionally self-administered, meaning that mentees are responsible for directing almost every component of the year-long experience—including finding an appropriate mentor and organizing events for all participants.
While the lack of a pre-set structure resulted in a rocky beginning for mentees, it encouraged us to ride the wild roller coaster of trial and error. As we initiated the matchmaking process, each inquiring email sent to a prospective mentor felt like a hopeful yet delicate paper airplane launched into the ether. Some of those airplanes landed smoothly, allowing us to connect with our dream mentors, while others did not. Yet by using our combined strengths, by three months in we had established regular mentee group meetings, created an informal Facebook group by which to communicate, and connected with leaders who generously agreed to participate as mentors. After building a working program framework from scratch, by the end of the year we had successfully organized two memorable events—a behind-the-scenes talk at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles and a dinner and tour at the Craft and Folk Art Museum—enjoyed by mentors and mentees alike.
Although we initially had no idea how the program would shape itself, the freedom to play with the possibilities impacted us in a profound way. Our year in APAL blossomed into part program development training ground, part group therapy; mentees planned together over tacos, cried together over tacos, and fashioned something uniquely ours over tacos (and sometimes over other equally-delicious foods found in Los Angeles). Mentees and mentors offered each other listening ears and tremendous grappling space to flesh out the concerns that were rarely addressed in our workplaces. I walked away from APAL with a transformative mentorship experience, an openness to non-traditional solutions, and an enhanced empathy with my peers.
Two years later, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where I quickly linked into Portland Emerging Arts Leaders (PEAL). While PEAL has its own local flavor, I found another friendly yet powerful training ground. Excited to connect with other arts administrators in a new city, I joined PEAL’s Steering Committee, which oversees the network’s various programs. Most recently, the Steering Committee has been evaluating the effectiveness of our network’s priority to engage with diverse groups, including people of color, immigrants and refugees, low-income individuals, youth, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ communities.
While PEAL embraces a spirit of play, it also recognizes that concerns of accessibility and inclusivity need to be addressed with seriousness and care. During our recent Steering Committee meetings, we have been debating ways our network can better connect with and serve underrepresented communities. Notably, we did not all agree on the best action steps to take; notably, we dove into sensitive terrain and faced delicate silences; notably, many of the arts organizations where PEAL members work daily face these same concerns. As these conversations are still in process, we are far from championing immediate solutions, but we are currently using the network as an alternative setting in which to unpack these issues. More than simply theoretical dialogues, these exercises directly invest in our collective capacities as arts professionals. As we experiment together in refining the Steering Committee’s goals and practices, PEAL prepares each of us for future responsibilities as nonprofit program managers, Executive Directors, and board members.
Whether managing a mentorship program or breaching complex conversations that affect the field at large, Emerging Leaders Networks are at play and at work, crafting experimental laboratories that strengthen our professional, social, and emotional knowledge. Perhaps what is most revolutionary about Emerging Leaders Networks is that by sculpting spaces in which to play, they also give us room to fail. Rather than seeking to create the ideal nonprofit model, these networks allow us to test our skills in cultivating a thriving arts economy. Emerging Leaders Networks encourage growing administrators to ask questions, celebrate efforts great and small, and pave the way towards a more conscious and confident nation of arts professionals. They do not underestimate the successes that can result from playing just a bit harder.
