Desart delivered a Board Governance workshop at the 2015 Desart Art Centre Conference in Alice Springs. This workshop was facilitated by Matrix on Board. Board members would like to share with their Art Centres what they learnt at this workshop so please use these notes for further discussion

1. Desart Conference – Board
Governance Workshop
March 2015

2. Cultural Roles and Challenges

3. What Makes a Strong Arts Centre
• Culture
• Artists
• Bush trips
• Keeping arts centres clean
• Working and meeting
together
• Good relationships
• Training the young people
to work together
• Supporting other artists and
other communities
• Respect for each other
• Supporting and helping the
manager
• Everyone taking
responsibility
• Strong directors
• Regular board meetings
• Having skilled art workers
• Good training
• Not talking wrong story

4. What Makes a Weak Arts Centre
• no funding
• weak arts centre
manager
• no communications -
computer/ telephone
• manager coming and
going
• weak relationships
• no bush trips
• no exhibitions
• not working together
• no meetings
• no training
• private dealers
• no transport
• bad manager
• humbug
• no other art centre visits
• not many artists turn up

5. Role of the Board in Making a Strong Arts Centre
• hold meeting with manager and
explain money story
• Board members meet together
with staff
• Board members meet with artists
about exhibitions and paintings
• go to conferences
• go with other artists from other
centres - get everyone involved
• good communication between
board and staff
• travel for exhibitions
• have rules for new managers
• look after manager good way
• better communication with older
artists
• sharing with arts centre
manager and supporting them to
improve the arts centre
• support the arts centre manager
• planning together
• board members make sure they
have training and arts centre
manager has training
• rules around business and stick
to rules
• if something bad happens have
a meeting - talk together - not
before meeting

6. What Makes a
Strong Arts
Centre
We want the arts
Centre to be
strong like this
tree.
Maruku Arts

7. What Happens When An Arts Centre Manager
Says “I’m leaving”
Example Slide 3

8. 7 Steps – a Board Needs to Do When the Arts
Centre Needs a new manager
1. Write the Job Description - a list of what the
manager does in the job
2. Do the interview – a meeting to talk about why
they want the job and a chance for the Board to
ask questions
3. Choose the new manager – have a meeting to
talk about who is the best for the job
4. Find out from the old manager what story the
new manager needs and teach the new
manager the job

9. 5. Time in Between Old manager leaving and
new manager starting – who worries about
the arts centre when we are waiting for a
new manager to come
6. New Manager Starts work – help the
manager do a good job
7. Probationary Review – like a second
interview, time to tell our story about the new
manager and hear their story –things to talk
about – are we happy with the work of the new
manager?, is the new manager happy? Do we
need to do anything different?