Artistic Reflection Kit
Why use the Artistic Reflection Kit?
The Kit provides arts organisations with a mechanism to continuously improve their artistic reflection and saves them time and money by providing them with ready-to-use and adaptable resources. It creates a shared language that multiple stakeholders will understand and it assists company boards to confidently and openly discuss artistic matters.
Sometimes the overall health of an organisation is simply determined by financial performance or ticket sales. Considering the artistic vibrancy of an organisation in addition to financial performance will provide a more accurate picture of an organisation's overall "health".
What is artistic vibrancy?
Artistic vibrancy is a catch-all phrase that captures the artistic dimensions that arts organisations strive for. The term is used when talking about artistic success, innovation and achievement.
The following five elements of what artistic vibrancy might encapsulate have been developed:
- Artistic quality or excellence of craft
- Audience engagement and stimulation
- Curation and development of the artform
- Development of artists
- Relevance to the community
These elements of artistic vibrancy were developed after extensive research and consultation with the sector completed from 2008-10. A copy of this research can be accessed here.
What makes an arts organisation artistically vibrant?
In addition to the elements of artistic vibrancy, a balance of the following qualities are also good indicators of an artistically vibrant organisation:
- Strong artistic leadership and governance
- Shared artistic purpose across the organisation
- Inclusive and consultative programming
- Curiosity and openness to feedback
- Ability to undertake artistic reflection
What is artistic reflection?
Artistic reflection is a process where organisations use meaningful tools to measure their artistic vibrancy. It is an integral part of an organisation’s planning process. It can be used to inform future artistic decisions and ensure an organisation's achievements against artistic goals.
You reflect on and consider all the elements of artistic vibrancy. This involves asking for feedback from multiple stakeholders, including staff, artists, peers, funders, audiences and the community, and then reflecting on what you have learned from their feedback.
Who are your artistic stakeholders?
Each organisation will involve different people in the process. Artistic stakeholders can be internal or external and should be selected to ensure diverse views.
Artistic stakeholders can include:
- Artists – working for the organisation
- Internal/Staff – includes staff, management and the Board
- Peers/Artform – includes external peers and artistic community
- Audience – includes attendees in person, via broadcast and online
- Community – includes people in target communities beyond your current audience
- Funders – includes governments, donors and sponsors
Who is the Kit for?
The Kit is intended for use by arts organisations and their boards. It provides detailed suggestions for ways to monitor, reflect upon and evaluate artistic vibrancy.
The Kit was designed for performing arts organisations and we recognise that universal solutions are often inappropriate and, after you’ve used this Kit for the first time, you may want to adapt it to make it more suitable for your organisation.
Where did the Kit come from?
The Kit is based on extensive research, consultation and tests of the tools, conducted by the Australia Council from 2008-10. A copy of this research can be accessed here.
Contact Us
For more information please get in touch with:
David Everist, Program Manager
d.everist@australiacouncil.gov.au
Telephone: +61 (0)2 9215 9112