A colleague of mine complimented me about this the other week – saying that one of my strengths as an arts administrator is taking on tasks as a creative challenge.

Today I hope to share a little about this concept.

Throughout my work over the past 18 years, I have chosen to keep a fluid and dynamic relationship between all of the dance components in my life – as a dancer, teacher, arts administrator, volunteer, etc. All parts contribute to the whole; all components relate to being a dance artist and supporting dance in my community.

When I began to regularly apply the same skills and work ethic to all aspects of my dance life – whether in a rehearsal or creating a budget for a dance center – I found that so many of these skills are important in all arenas of my life. As an arts administrator, bringing your artistry "into the office" is a powerful tool. What do you bring? Creativity, brainstorming, improvisation, risk taking, collaboration, editing, dialogue, to name a few.

In the arts administration world, it can be easy to get frustrated and down when tackling modest budgets and lack of funds. But, if you can shift your mindset to make this your next creative challenge, you might be surprised at the results. Consider, as a dancer, the last time you were nursing an injury while still performing. What strategies did you use? Consider the creativity you have used while teaching at a public school, and those days when you did not have use of the gym and had 20 kids in a classroom. Bring those same creative problem solving skills to your admin work.

I think for me, I keep a positive attitude and indeed take things on as a creative challenge. What is in front of me? What do I want to accomplish? How can I tackle this? I aim to dive in, experiment, tinker, reconsider, and re-envision. 

See if you can apply some of your artistic strengths in your administrative work. Just because you are not dancing or choreographing at your job does not mean that it is not an artistic and creative opportunity as well.

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