Toolkit Two: Talent Development
Image Credit:
Top right - Louise Hall, Platform 2020 winner
Bottom left - Towner Eastbourne © Marc Atkins
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Background
This toolkit has been developed as part of CVAN The Contemporary Visual Arts Network Fair and Equitable programme, a five-year commitment to instituting equity �within the visual arts in England.
The programme aims to cultivate a visual arts sector and ecology that supports its leadership and enables artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities to thrive. You can read more about the programme here.
About this toolkit
As the visual arts sector strives to become more relevant, equitable and inclusive, your organisation may be thinking about delivering a programme of internal change. This toolkit is designed to help you consider how you’ll nurture the leadership and talent development of artists and arts workers from underrepresented and marginalised communities within the sector.
We recommend using this toolkit in conjunction with the Fair and Equitable programme research report, Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector. The report includes 20 recommendations for organisations to take action around creating an equitable and inclusive visual arts sector, focusing on marginalised and underrepresented communities. This toolkit focuses specifically on the ‘ Stages of Career’ section in the report.
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How to use this toolkit
This toolkit has been created to be used by senior staff, such as directors, trustees and chairs.
You can work through this toolkit individually or as a team, however, it’s important to collaborate with your boards and those individuals who make up your governance structure to ensure buy-in from all levels.
Take your time answering the prompts; revisit them, and repeat them on a regular basis.
There is no one solution to enabling a positive and uplifting working environment for artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities. Often the best source of information and recommendations are from the artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you already work with; however, this toolkit should help you to reflect on gaps and strengths.
When working (including consultation) with people from marginalised and underrepresented communities, ensure they are clear about the ask, renumerated and fairly paid. Naturally, it is problematic to request that people from marginalised and underrepresented communities take on extra unremunerated labour to address issues that are not of their making. This needs navigating with respect and nuance.
There are other organisations that already deliver positive and impactful approaches to talent development who may have further or different tips beyond this toolkit.
It’s important to ensure that this work is taking place without waiting for direction from others.
It’s also important to have a good or outstanding approach to equality and inclusion internally, as this will naturally impact your organisation’s ability to deliver this work externally
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What this toolkit covers
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Your organisation’s current demographics
The progression pipeline
Creating development opportunities
Workplace dynamics
Inclusion
Care
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Your organisation’s current demographics
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There are several complex barriers facing people from marginalised and underrepresented communities in the visual arts sector. One concern is the lack of representation of people from marginalised and underrepresented communities particularly in leadership and senior roles
Consider your organisation’s workforce demographics. Ideally, there should be people from marginalised and underrepresented communities in your organisation’s most senior roles, and they should be in both long-term and permanent contracts.
Begin by creating a profile of your workforce, comparing the demographics of those in senior and permanent positions to those in junior and/or fixed short-term contracts. Present your findings back to your board or governing body.
Consider the following prompts when thinking �about your organisation’s demographics:
What are the demographics of your workforce? | |
Who is in the most secure roles? | |
How can you characterise the demographics of the most well-paid roles? | |
Who is on zero-hour/short-term/junior contracts? | |
What are the demographics of your freelance staff? | |
What are the demographics of your board or governing body? | |
Your organisation’s current demographics Continued
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What is the success rate of people from marginalised and underrepresented communities who apply for vacancies in your organisation? Think about internal promotions too. | |
What do you find when you compare salaries? Are there any gaps in representation? | |
How do you decide who works on a new project? | |
How do you monitor the demographics of each of your teams or work strands? | |
How do you decide which staff are offered new opportunities to try something new or to take on more responsibility? | |
Note
Representation alone will not assist with nurturing the leadership, potential and talent development of artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities or create an equitable environment. In addition, you will need to consider inclusion and opportunity.
The progression pipeline
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In order to confidently and ethically promote a creative future within the visual arts to all young people, there needs to be a clear and more secure talent pipeline for people from marginalised and underrepresented communities. The findings of the Fair and Equitable Survey demonstrated that routes to career progression can often seem opaque to individuals who don’t have existing access to networks and influence.
It’s often only apprenticeships and entry-level roles that are ringfenced for people from marginalised and underrepresented communities. Instead, opportunities should be for people at all stages of their careers. �People from marginalised and underrepresented communities should be able to enter and progress through �the sector at all levels.organien considering how to approach the issue of the progression pipeline for people from marginalised and underrepresented communities:
How could you create access to, or progression towards, senior roles in your organisation for people from marginalised and underrepresented communities? Make this scalable: if your organisation is large, you should have a significant number of people from marginalised and underrepresented communities in senior roles. | |
How could you give the people from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you currently work with more job security? | |
There are many people from marginalised and underrepresented communities who are suitably skilled and experienced for senior roles. If there isn’t a plurality of people in senior roles in your organisation, can you reflect on why this might be? | |
The Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts report (mentioned above) outlines that we should assist artists and arts workers to challenge assumptions that they need to be dependent on institutions to sustain and/or build a career. With this in mind, can you think of support systems for artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities that your organisation can implement, and that could also go beyond your organisation? | |
Creating development opportunities
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As well as ensuring artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities have access to senior roles, you may also want to think about additional ways of creating development opportunities that enable artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities to thrive more successfully.
Additional development opportunities should happen in paid time, with workloads adjusted to make space for this work. It’s also important to ensure that the artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities you work with are working to rule, are not overworking, have autonomy or structured hours, and have agency in their professional development.
Use the following as prompts when you think about creating development opportunities:
How do you regularly identify the needs and interests of the existing artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you work with? Who is responsible for actioning this? | |
How can you ensure that there are sufficient resources to be able to offer the artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you work with more opportunities and access, relevant to their needs? | |
Think about a menu of development opportunities that you can offer artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities. Opportunities that are continuous, timely, relevant, and of sustainable high quality. This might be by introducing artists arts workers and staff from marginalised and underrepresented communities to your networks and those with influence, offering invitations into new spaces and conversations, offering peer support, free training, time for professional development, coaching or co-creation of professional development programmes with other artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities. Liaise with artists, arts workers and staff from marginalised and underrepresented communities to ensure your offer is useful and relevant | |
Note
Development opportunities should not be instead of increasing access to senior positions but in addition to.
Workplace dynamics
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CVAN’s Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector report outlines:
‘Negative workplace dynamics experienced by artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities, especially those who undertake challenging Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, community outreach and development work, have not contributed positively to representation in senior roles.’
Individuals who speak up in order to effect change or highlight inequitable systems or events are sometimes perceived or labelled as difficult or challenging. The report highlights accounts of the additional equality, diversity and inclusion workload expected of marginalised and underrepresented communities to fix inequality issues that are not of their making. In some cases the work of people from marginalised and underrepresented communities is not fully recognised, acknowledged or credited. Workplace dynamics can affect equality within the workforce. These dynamics can impact morale, energy levels, inclusion, isolation, progression, workplace retention and more.
Consider the following prompts:
Is there a piece of work developed by a person from a marginalised and underrepresented community in your organisation who could have been better credited or acknowledged? | |
Have you or someone you know ever presented an idea or the work of a person from a marginalised and underrepresented community as your own? | |
Dissenting voices within a business are healthy and necessary. Does the culture of your organisation authentically welcome dissenting voices or only ‘positive feedback’ and is there a reason why? | |
Is there a person in your organisation or network who often speaks up about change or inequality and are they perceived as challenging? How can this person be better cared for? | |
Would stakeholders from marginalised and underrepresented communities say they are authentically listened to by your organisation? | |
Does your organisation learn from the ongoing feedback from people from marginalised and underrepresented communities to effect change? | |
Inclusion
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As covered above, representation alone will not assist with nurturing the leadership, potential and talent development of artists, arts workers and staff from marginalised and underrepresented communities. In addition, you will need to consider inclusion.
Consider the following prompts:
How are artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities included within the structure of your organisation? Consider everyday activity to policy discussions. | |
How are artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers)from marginalised and underrepresented communities included within your organisation to make decisions and set future vision | |
Within your organisation, are the skills and knowledge of artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers)from marginalised and underrepresented communities you work with valued and perceived as important? Can you give examples | |
How are policies, processes, culture, and behaviours that are detrimental to artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities identified, prevented, stopped and learned from? | |
Has there been activity to challenge, uncover and address past behaviours and organisational decisions that may have reinforced discrimination and prejudices | |
Care
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It’s important to consider how your organisation specifically cares for artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities. It’s important to consider and value the knowledge and lived experience brought to your organisation and to the wider sector. It’s also useful to be aware of the barriers faced, in order to create ethics of care within your organisation.
The approach to care may necessitate upholding clear values and expectations within your team. It may require deep listening, as well as confidently addressing areas of improvement transparently and collaboratively. Remember, throughout this work, decisions should be made with people from marginalised and underrepresented communities never without them. Considering issues around care may require reminding ourselves that people come before business need.
Use the following prompts when thinking about care:
Which organisations strive to support artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities successfully? Describe what they do and consider how this may influence your approach. If you can’t think of any, consult with your networks. | |
How can you enable people you work with who aren’t from marginalised and underrepresented communities to better understand everyday injustices and barriers? How is there continued learning for this group? | |
How can you give the artists, arts workers and staff (including freelancers) from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you work with more power and agency? | |
How can you provide people from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you work with additional paid time off when/if needed, to process, take care of themselves and take time to reflect? | |
Care Continued
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How can you ensure you’re authentically listening, so that people from marginalised and underrepresented communities don’t have to repeat themselves? | |
What immediate action will you take when people from marginalised and underrepresented communities that you work with are in situations where they could be treated better? | |
Reflect on how your organisation has reacted when people from marginalised and underrepresented communities have complained. Complaining often requires a huge amount of energy and effort on the part of the complainant/s. How was the complainant/s supported? Was there a difference between what should have ideally happened and what actually happened? | |
Have there been learnings and/or effective and timely changes as a result of any complaints? How is conflict viewed in your organisation? Is it seen as a failure or an opportunity to grow? | |
Can you think of things that you can personally do to assist with creating ethics of care for people from marginalised and underrepresented communities within your organisation? | |
In conclusion
This toolkit was created and developed by Monique Jivram. Monique’s career spans more than ten years in arts organisations as a funder and practitioner in inclusive community, public engagement and visual arts programming. Operating at the intersection of curation and inclusive public programming, Monique’s work focuses on improved inclusion, more efficient distribution of resources, and supporting underrepresented people to thrive in the arts sector.
This toolkit builds on sections of CVAN’s 2022 research report Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector, �written by Dr Cecilia Wee and Veionella Spaine, with further programme support from Rukhsana Jahangir.
Footnote
There’s no single method to enable the successful nurturing of leadership and the talent development of people from marginalised and underrepresented communities. However, it might be important to ensure that opportunities are bespoke, relevant and led by each individual’s needs and ambitions and that these opportunities constantly evolve. It’s also important to ensure that this work is taking place without waiting for direction from others. There are many resources that you’ll need to help you on your journey. We hope that this toolkit can be a useful starting point.
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