In our undeniably globalised environment, how can we ensure we engage across borders? And what role do the arts play in the international conversation about living in our times? Hear from a diverse panel of speakers who will discuss the impact of key international arts projects. They will unpack vital issues from identifying strategic international partners and developing productive relationships to the challenges of working at a distance and ensuring arts projects have relevance to […]

The decline in arts coverage has made waves across our industry. As ad spend increasingly shifts away from traditional print publications the, so too does the investment in experienced journalists. So what does that mean for the arts? Will the decline in arts coverage impact the size and diversity of the arts audience? Will the lack of professional arts critics impact the quality of our art or are we merely experiencing a digital democratization? Steph […]

In the age of Netflix, Stan and iView, never in human history have we had access to such vast quantities of high quality, cheap culture. The latest stats from Live Performance Australia show us that Aussies are voting with their rear ends, with theatre revenues down 43 per cent and attendances by nearly a quarter on the preceding year. Things aren’t much better for contemporary live music. So what do we do? What is needed […]

This panel discussion will drill down into the intersections of professional and personal life in the arts. The arts is a sector that offers great potential for emotional rewards, but is also a sector dominated by precarity, a sector that is resource-scarce, time-poor and often extremely stressful. In such a cultural landscape, how can arts professionals manage burnout, practice self-care and ensure the continued emotional and physical well-being of both themselves and their families? How […]

We’re all looking for ways to increase our reach and audiences that engage with our work. 1 in 5 Australians experience disability, with many people experiencing barriers to accessing or participating in artistic work. By removing those barriers and providing access to their work, artists and arts organisations have an opportunity to increase their reach, impact, audience size and revenue. Run in partnership with Accessible Arts, this presentation will showcase organisations large and small who […]

We all know that the arts can change live for the better, but how exactly? Hear from the three of the nation’s leading experts on how creativity can work as a tool for good by tackling disadvantage and providing new pathways.

Following a tumultuous 2016 and with the median creative income for Australian artists being well below the national average, we check in with four Sydney artists and arts practitioners to talk the highs, lows and everything in between for creating a career in the arts. We will look past the stereotypes to talk through fair pay and funding, wellbeing, paying the rent, the business of being an artist and what the future holds.

2016/7 marks 25 years of SAMAG. From our early days as a group of business people wanting to contribute their skills in support of Artists, through to today’s annual program of seminars to strengthen the Arts sector, we want to celebrate the contribution SAMAG has made to the sector and the sector has made to SAMAG. For our February seminar we want look back at our successes but keep an eye to the future by hosting […]

On the eve of his first festival, please join SAMAG for a conversation between Wesley Enoch, Director, Sydney Festival and George Mannix, Manager City Animation, City of Parramatta. This intimate conversation event will explore arts leadership, as well as the challenges and opportunities for Australian arts in times of austerity. As the public purse and the civic space contracts, what new creative spaces and new public conversations might artists and arts companies open? How might the […]

The right mentoring relationship can shape your career – but how can you make a mentorship work for both people involved? This panel will discuss the benefits and shortfalls of formal and informal mentoring, the capacity of mentoring to build diversity, and identify and strengthen leadership capacity, and the ways in which mentoring forms career pathways in the arts. The panelists will engage in a robust practical conversation about what mentorship can and should look […]