Most commonly reported Work Activities

• Thinking Creatively Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• Interacting With Computers Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Getting Information Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Organising, Planning, and Prioritising Work Developing specific goals and plans to prioritise, organise, and accomplish your work.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems Analysing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• Communicating with Persons Outside Organisation Communicating with people outside the organisation, representing the organisation to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• Scheduling Work and Activities Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.

The Work

The management of a cultural organisations such as a theatres, orchestras or arts festivals can be broadly classed as arts administration.  
 
Most organisations need income from public and private sources to supplement box office receipts. Therefore, senior arts administrators are often involved in discussing and negotiating funding with a variety of people. For instance, they have meetings with relevant Arts Council staff, local Authority Arts Officers, and private sponsors.  
 
Arts administrators carry overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of their organisation. In venues such as theatres, they make sure that laws relating to licensing of bars and restaurants, performing rights and aspects of public safety are followed. The cleaning, maintenance and security of buildings are also their responsibility.  
 
Many organisations also have performers on tour, and it is usually the role of the arts administrator to fix dates, find venues, and organise travel and accommodation.  
 
Arts administrators also carry out personnel work. They help to select staff, negotiate contracts of employment, deal with problems relating to staff training and working conditions, and ensure equal opportunities practice.  
 
In some cultural organisations, the work of the arts administrator includes public relations work and the marketing of a range of services on offer to the public. For instance, they may write leaflets and programmes, discuss artwork with poster designers and make sure that material is delivered from the printers on time. The arts administrator will work closely with newspapers, radio and television to promote media coverage and interviews with performers and directors. In general, the smaller the organisation, the greater the variety of tasks each staff member undertakes.

Most commonly reported Work Tasks

• Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and sise of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
• Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
• Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
• Present final layouts to clients for approval.
• Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
• Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.
• Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
• Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
• Review illustrative material to determine if it conforms to standards and specifications.
• Negotiate with printers and estimators to determine what services will be performed.

Further Information

• Arts Administrator - from: N.C.S. [UK]
• Arts Administrator - from: GradIreland

This occupation is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests:

Administrative

Administrative people are interested in work that offers security and a sense of being part of a larger process. They may be at their most productive under supervisors who give clear guidelines and while performing routine tasks in a methodical and reliable way.

They tend to enjoy clerical and most forms of office work, where they perform essential administrative duties. They often form the backbone of large and small organisations alike. They may enjoy being in charge of office filing systems, and using computers and other office equipment to keep things running smoothly. They usually like routine work hours and prefer comfortable indoor workplaces.

Creative

Creative people are drawn to careers and activities that enable them to take responsibility for the design, layout or sensory impact of something (visual, auditory etc). They may be atrracted to the traditional artistic pursuits such as painting, sculpture, singing, or music. Or they may show more interest in design activities, such as architecture, animation, or craft areas, such as pottery and ceramics.

Creative people use their personal understanding of people and the world they live in to guide their work. Creative people like to work in unstructured workplaces, enjoy taking risks and prefer a minimum of routine.

Linguistic

The Linguistic's interests are usually focused on ideas and information exchange. They tend to like reading a lot, and enjoy discussion about what has been said. Some will want to write about their own ideas and may follow a path towards journalism, story writing or editing. Others will develop skills in other languages, perhaps finding work as a translator or interpreter. Most Linguistic types will enjoy the opportunity to teach or instruct people in a topic they are interested in.

Most entrants to this field have an arts degree supplemented by relevant experience, a specialized knowledge of their chosen area and sometimes post-graduate training. 

Training & Development 

FET Centre Traineeship: Business Admin, Customer service, Management in centres around Ireland NFQ Level 5-6 Search our FET Coursefinder

FET PLC Courses: Business Administration, Sales, Art, Marketing, Arts at NFQ Levels 5-6 Search our FET PLC Coursefinder

Apprenticeship: Accounting, Finance, Sales, Animation Apprenticeships NFQ level 6-8 Search Apprenticeships

Higher Education CAO Entry: Business administration, Business Administration, Sales, Marketing, Arts at NFQ Levels 6-8 Search our CAO coursefinder

Postgraduate Study Options Sales, Business, Accounts, Management, Cultural policy & Arts administration NFQ level 9

Last Updated: April, 2023

Salary Range (thousands per year)* €26k - €45k

Salaries vary depending on employer, location, experience, and duties.

Data Source(s):
Indeed / Sigmar / Morgan McKInley/ Prosperity

Last Updated: March, 2024

* The lower figures typically reflect starting salaries. Higher salaries are awarded to those with greater experience and responsibility. Positions in Dublin sometimes command higher salaries.

View Salary information from Indeed.ie
Note: data not aways available

This information has been derived from the Solas National Skills Bulletin (2023).

Employment grew strongly between 2021 and 2022, with an additional 7,300 persons employed. As illustrated in the CSO Census data below, employment is spread across a number of roles; since 2016, the strongest growth, in absolute terms, was for graphic designers and authors, writers and translators.

New employment permits issued for this occupation in 2022 were primarily for film/TV and animation/visual effects (VFX) roles but also for linguistics experts in the ICT sector. There was also a high volume of recent job hires in line with the recent employment increase. The data does not point to overall issues with recruitment for these roles.

Administration

The strong employment growth for this occupation primarily relates to a significant jump in employment between 2019 and 2020, with further, more modest, increases in 2021. The high volume of recent job hires, which far exceeded any employment growth in 2021, indicates that job churn is a factor for this occupation. A quarter of those employed were aged 55 years and older, and over half of those in this occupation held third level qualifications. Industry and the health sector combined accounted for approximately 30% of employment in this occupation with the remainder spread across numerous other sectors. Due to the demand across sectors and the high volume of job churn, job opportunities are likely to continue to arise for this occupation, although automation technologies associated with these roles may subdue future growth.

• The Arts Council of Ireland

  • 70 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
  • (01) 618 0200 CallSave 1850 392492
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