Geri Thomas was our featured guest for this Creative Conversation. Geri’s firm, Thomas & Associates is an innovative firm that offers staffing, consulting and training programs for museums, non-profit organizations, and art businesses nationwide. She was joined by four “conversation leaders”–Chris Henderson, Sonya Reynolds, Linda Rondinelli, and Maria Nicole Smith–emerging arts administrators representing four different career situations for a unique “inverse panel” or “fishbowl” style conversation. The conversation touched on issues such as determining if an organization is right for you, enhancing job security, and working as a freelancer.
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We had about 75 participants at the Creative Conversation. At the beginning of the event we asked participants to raise their hands in response to some questions to gauge who was in the room. Here are our VERY rough estimations of the results:
- First ELNYA event = 45-50 people
- Artist v. Arts Manager v. Both = Majority arts managers with maybe 12 artists/both
- Work in Nonprofit Arts v. For Profit/Creative Industry = Majority NP with maybe 20 people from FP/CI
- Performing Arts v. Visual Arts v. Other = About 20 PA, 30 VA, and 10 other
- Working for org with 100+ employees = 10, 50+ employees = 20, less than 20 = 35, less than 5 = 30
- Considers her/himself a Freelancer or Independent Consultant = About 15 people
- Has a Graduate Degree = About 20-25 people
- Supervises at least one direct report = Only 10-15 people
- Has been at her/his job for more than 3 years = Only 5-10 people
- Has sought employment in last 6 months or is currently seeking employment = 30-40 people
- Knows someone in the arts that’s been laid off in last six months = 60+ people
FEATURED GUEST
Geri Thomas is President of Thomas & Associates, Inc, an innovative firm that offers staffing, consulting and professional development programs for museums, galleries and arts and culture organizations nationally and inter-nationally. With offices in New York City and Chicago, the company has an extensive career services division to address the needs of arts and culture professionals everywhere.
She has been involved in executive search, strategic planning, organizational development, and human resource initiatives for such organizations as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Hudson River Museum, Dance New Amsterdam, and Christie’s. She has presented papers on topics such as leadership, management, and staff development at the British Museum and the Victoria Albert Museum. At ICOM Vienna in 2007, she presented the results of a ground-breaking survey that assessed career paths and professional development training in US arts organizations.
Before starting her own company, Geri was Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Jewish Museum in New York. Previous to that, she served as on the initial planning team for a new national museum in New Zealand, Te Papa. She has been an interim director at the Jersey City Museum and most recently at Lyndhurst, a museum site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She teaches graduate level courses on Museum Management and Fundraising in the Arts at NYU. She is a member of ArtTable, the prestigious group of professional women in the arts, and currently is co-chair of a study on women’s roles and positions in both the profit and non-profit arts and culture sectors. www.artstaffing.com
CONVERSATION LEADERS
Chris Henderson is the creative director of Moviehouse, an interactive screening series featuring short films, music videos, animation, and video art by the city’s most intrepid movie-makers. Moviehouse curates shows projected on alternative spaces throughout the city including 3rd Ward, the India Street Mural, Sternberg Park, and the Chocolate Factory Theater. Chris was laid off from the Queens Council of the Arts in January. Since that time he has picked up numerous freelance opportunities including Make Music New York, the Capital B project with Chez Bushwick, and the Placed and Displaced mapping study for Fractured Atlas. His income for 2009 will in fact be higher that it was in 2008, with more time to spend on Moviehouse.
Sonya Reynolds currently works for Artnet Worldwide doing Contemporary Art Market Analysis for a financial product that is set to launch in September. In addition, she is consistently involved with United Creators, a new international arts organization that shows emerging in partnership with Bang & Olufsen. A 2007 Swarthmore College graduate with a degree in economics and art history, she wishes to continue straddling the divide between these two worlds while staying close to artists and the artwork itself. She is completing a Fine and Decorative Art Appraisal Certificate at NYU while seeking ways to supplement her career with additional academic degrees.
Linda Rondinelli is the development & marketing manager of Poets & Writers, Inc. Prior to joining P&W in 2008, Linda held various development and communications positions with social justice and social service nonprofits, was an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer, worked for a corporate marketing consulting firm, and in academic publishing. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English literature from The College of William and Mary and a Master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin where her graduate studies focused on nonprofit and philanthropic studies, media studies, and cultural policy.
Maria Nicole Smith has just completed her graduate coursework at Pratt Institute’s Art and Cultural Management program. A fundraising professional with an interest in nonprofit art and cultural organizations, Maria is currently the Grants Officer at the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation–the largest community- based provider of after school programs for low-income New York City students. She is also the Grants Officer for its sister organization, the New York Junior Tennis League. Maria has worked in development at Wave Hill, program development and education at the Brooklyn Museum, marketing at Jazz at Lincoln Center and as the assistant stage manager for Kuntu Repertory Theatre during the 2003 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa.
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It was one of greatest CC I have attended. Content was time-sensitive and useful, and the room was filled with enthusiasm of attendees and panelists. One of events that was worth staying for the after-event social; had great time with new and existing ELYNAians.