What does an arts organisation do when the first, mad flush of enthusiasm has gone - and more to the point, the enthusiasts are cruising through their thirties? Ag Dul ar Aghaidh/The Next Stage was the title of a national conference on managing such change in arts organisations, which took place on Friday and Saturday last at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, writes Des Traynor.
Arranged by street theatre company, Macnas, this talking shop was sponsored by ADAPT, a human resources community initiative supported by the European Union, through the European Social Fund (as well as by other sponsors, including The Irish Times).
In January 1996, Macnas received a grant from ADAPT, to be used towards restructuring the company, and one of the conditions of getting the money was that, at the end of a specific time frame, information on what had been learned of the processes involved would be disseminated throughout the wider arts administration community. This get-together was held to satisfy that requirement.
During Friday's sessions, disturbances arose from what one delegate described to me as "the public purging of Macnas's problems", an internecine conflict which was referred to several times on Saturday as "The Macnas War".
Gary McMahon, PRO of Macnas, clarified the situation: "Macnas is now 11 years old, and none of the founder members is still working in the company.
The originators have moved on, and a second generation of people has taken over. People who became involved in arts organisations 10 years ago, like Paraic Breathnach of Macnas, were madly enthusiastic, to the point of obsession, to make it succeed.
When people get into their early thirties they want greater rewards for what they do. It is time to move on, both for their own good and for that of the company.
The second generation of arts administrators and artistic directors, starting out now, have a greater expectations of return for their work, both financial and creative." Macnas's reinvention of itself got underway in earnest at a Board of Directors meeting on August 30th, 1996, at which the existing chairman and board resigned, along with the General Manager and Artistic Director.
The ramifications of this clean sweep were presented as a case study on Friday by Declan Gibbons, the new manager, during a session called "The Changing Organisation", chaired by Michael D. Higgins.
Two more case studies of organisations which have undergone significant change in the last number of years followed, courtesy of Jacob Skov of the Danish group The Frontrunners, and Han Bakker of the Dutch company, Dogtroup.
The undoubted star of the show on Saturday was Arts Council Director Patricia Quinn. She chaired a session at lunch-time on Saturday on how structural change within organisations can improve communications, both internally and externally, and came across as highly articulate, unfazed by difficult questions, shrewd, and possessing the human touch.
She highlighted how the current higher profile for the arts in Ireland is in some measure a delayed reaction to the creation of the Ministry, and said that arts administration was becoming more responsible. She also stressed that institutions are only as good as the people in them, and looked forward to a greater dynamic between the Arts Council and the people it deals with.
Annette Clancy of Garter Lane in Waterford said she welcomed the Arts Council identifying itself as a sister arts organisation, and Ms Quinn agreed that it was no longer a case of, "You out there, and us in here with the money". She went on, "I do prefer the word `partner', rather than `client', which is still unfortunately heard around the office." She pointed out that people in arts management sometimes had an inferiority complex about their skills, but that management training, even in the wider business community, was often poor. She concluded by telling the conference that her dream was of the people involved in the business end of the arts, the artists themselves, and the technicians, all getting good training, and all interacting with each other.
