Due to recent changes in Federal arts funding arrangements, the notion of what constitutes ‘excellence’ has become hotly contested. What might the implications of this ‘excellence’ debate be for regional artists and arts organisations? Can excellence be measured differently in regional Australia? How? Why? To what end? What opportunities might be emerging for regional artists and companies from this newly-framed discourse of excellence? What unique perspectives might regional artists offer the current debate about the […]

Due to recent changes in Federal arts funding arrangements, the notion of what constitutes ‘excellence’ has become hotly contested. What might the implications of this ‘excellence’ debate be for regional artists and arts organisations? Can excellence be measured differently in regional Australia? How? Why? To what end? What opportunities might be emerging for regional artists and companies from this newly-framed discourse of excellence? What unique perspectives might regional artists offer the current debate about the […]

Benvenuto! Australia at the Venice Biennale In the midst of the Venice Biennale’s 56th edition, Australian artist Fiona Hall will discuss her experiences at the Biennale, including her work ‘Wrong Way Time’, Australia’s new pavilion, the Emerging Curator programme and the most outstanding exhibitions from around the world. Fiona’s work is described by the Australia Council as: ‘bringing together hundreds of disparate elements which find alignments and create tensions around three intersecting concerns: global politics, world finances […]

How do we find space for the new voices in contemporary arts practice to be heard? What can we do to support the great artists of the future? Where are the surprising opportunities and non-linear pathways to sit alongside the more traditional forms of artistic and skills development? Join us as we explore the role the Australian arts industry can play in cultivating the next crop of emerging artistic talent.

Organisations often work together, but how often do they collaborate? What are the barriers to genuine organisational collaboration? Why does collaboration so often seem fraught with perceived and actual difficulties? What do organisations risk through collaboration? What do they stand to gain? Come along to hear about the pleasures, perils and pitfalls of such collaborative endeavours from arts organisations who have succeeded in such collaborations.

The arts in Australia is headed by Artistic Directors of varied credentials: those who have carved strong careers as practitioners, those who hit the Director circuit, jumping from festival to festival and those who join us temporarily from afar. So who should be leading our arts organisations? What does it take to be an Artistic Director? And how do Artistic Directors strategise to ensure an organisation’s future? Artistic Directors simultaneously navigate the past, present and […]

Arts organisations have long struggled to reflect the diverse experiences of the communities they serve. The ‘establishment’ has been accused of being ‘elitist’ while  emerging and community arts are criticised for being too ‘niche’.  Solutions to this problem have covered the gamut from quotas to positive discrimination, policy directives to fierce debate. Recently a watershed seems to have been reached and with significant shifts in programming across arts forms that seem to embed diversity on […]

With the generosity of the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, SAMAG presents a unique opportunity to hear internationally renown arts leader Joseph V Melillo, Executive Producer at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), share his insights from a thirty year career as a leader in the arts. Under Melillo’s guidance and vision BAM has been transformed from a single site local music academy to a performing arts complex at the vanguard of the Brooklyn Arts Renaissance and […]

For many of us the development of a strategic plan is an onerous process. If it was not a funding requirement for state and federal government, most companies probably wouldn’t bother. So SAMAG is starting the year with a practical investigation into the approach and philosophy required to generate an effective strategic plan. As many companies prepare to submit operational funding to Arts NSW and the Australia Council in 2015, this seminar will look at […]

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” Mark Zuckerberg RISK has become a buzz word in arts management. Artists and organisations claim to be doing it boldly, fearlessly in a myriad of ways. But what does embracing risk mean? At what point does taking a risk tip into being reckless, unprepared or lacking rigour? And […]