Tuesday, December 03, 2019
Why Parent-Artists and Institutions Need Human Resources Support
HowlRound Theatre Commons: As senior manager of talent at a global NGO, people often ask “why human resources?” the moment they learn about my background in the arts. The answer is advocacy. I was immersed in the world of professional theatre for thirty years before moving into HR. As an arts educator, I advocated for my students to be seen and heard, but as an actor I realized I felt no agency to advocate for myself. That disconnect shaped my decision to seek out opportunities to make a more direct impact on people’s lives.
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Truer words have never been spoken. This article makes great points. I think in general Human Resources in the arts needs to be improved. There are so many small companies that I have seen and might even work at that don’t have a company manager and desperately need. I was pretty shocked to read about the unfair/illegal conditions that some theatres were taking part in due to a lack of human resources. It is amazing to hear about PAAL and the advising they do. I completely understand why so many companies can’t afford a Human Resources person and so having a group come in is amazing. It is also amazing that policies are being created instead of advise just being given. We need the policy to get effective change. I think one interesting thing from this article was reading about industry pressures and I am pretty upset that this industry claims to be so progressive and inclusive yet can’t even promote safe environments to raise a family. I think it is interesting that this article focused on actors who were pressured not to have children as I have heard many a story of this happening with directors and stage managers and other theatre pratictioners.
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