Ashley McDonald


Ms. Felicia W. Shaw

So, What Do You Do?

Posted by Ashley McDonald, Ms. Felicia W. Shaw, Jun 26, 2015 0 comments


Ashley McDonald


Ms. Felicia W. Shaw

Editor’s Note: Ashley McDonald, Membership Associate at Americans for the Arts, interviewed our member Felicia Shaw about her work in the arts field. At the time of this interview Felicia was in the process of transitioning from her role as interim executive director of Young Audiences of San Diego to her new role as executive director of the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) in her hometown of St. Louis, MO.

AM: Can you describe your role at St. Louis Regional Arts Commission (RAC)?

FS: My job at RAC will be to assume the leadership role of a local arts agency that has had an impressive 30-year history of growing the arts and culture community throughout the St. Louis region. I’ll be working to preserve the vitality of a successful organization that is ready to grow to the next level, particularly at a time when St. Louis is turning the corner and looking to the future. I am charged with establishing a vision for RAC and strategically moving the organization forward in a new and impactful way for the next decade and beyond.

 

AM: What are you most looking forward to in your new position as E.D. of the Regional Arts Commission?

FS: I left St Louis after graduating from college and never returned to live there as an adult, although I visited frequently to see family and friends and remained emotionally connected to the city. So much has changed in St. Louis over the years! I am most looking forward to getting reacquainted with the city and the entire region – the neighborhoods, the cultural organizations, and the artists who call St. Louis home. During my first six months, I want to spend the majority of my time out in the community discovering all that St. Louis has to offer, and listening to learn from the locals about why the arts matter to them and what they expect from me as a leader over the coming years.

AM: Could you describe your career path that has led you to this new role?

FS: I can’t say that my career has followed a perfectly linear path, but it certainly had a trajectory that positioned me to be where I am today. Immediately after graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in Communications, I took a job in banking, which was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. I was accepted into the bank’s management training program which not only helped me gain valuable work-related skills but also broadened my understanding of how the business world works, something every nonprofit leader needs to know. When they offered me the opportunity to cross-train in the corporate philanthropy division, I jumped at the opportunity. I learned how to launch a fundraising campaign and ask people to contribute to a greater cause – which are great skills to have. But, my greatest gift from the experience was the realization that although most of us must work for a living, we don’t have to settle for work that doesn’t bring joy or feed your spirit, and that you can have both. Having a job of asking people to support a worthy cause and getting paid to do it helped me realize that I was putting unnecessary limits on what I wanted to do with my life and that it was up to me to follow my passion for the arts and get paid doing it! With my husband’s support, I focused on filling the gaps in my knowledge of the arts field. I started an art consulting business to replace my banking income and went back to school part-time to earn a second degree in art history, theory, and criticism while continuing to care for our three sons who were all under the age of 6 at the time. As tough as it was juggling all of my commitments, I couldn’t have been happier to finally find my life’s purpose, which I attacked head on. Over the next five years, I volunteered to serve on the boards of multiple nonprofit arts organizations, grew my consulting business to include grant writing and project management for small budget arts organizations, and even interned with an art museum to gain an inside perspective on how a large-budget arts organization works. Days away from taking my entrance exam for graduate school I was introduced to a woman who had just been hired by the City of San Diego to launch a new local arts agency. I didn’t have a clue as to what a local arts agency even was, but it sounded like a job tailor made for me given my education, work experience, and passion for the arts. I applied and joined a committed team of administrators working to put San Diego on the map as a major destination for arts and culture. Nearly 17 years later, I was an established leader in the local arts agency field, but as second in command at the Commission, still not able to implement many of the projects that I was most passionate about. I made a lateral move to the San Diego Foundation in 2007 where as Director of Arts and Culture, I was given the freedom to launch a number of groundbreaking programs that not only broadened the cultural offerings in the region but fulfilled some of my own professional goals. After nearly eight years with the Foundation, I was once again seeking greater leadership opportunities. On January 5, 2015, I joined Young Audiences of San Diego as its Interim Executive Director. Providing leadership to this small budget organization gave me a chance to exhale while focusing on launching an unprecedented $3 million arts education initiative and looking for my next professional challenge, which I found when I was hired this year as the Executive Director for the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission.

AM: Is there anything you wish you would have known or done differently?

FS: Looking back on my career, I have very few could-have, should-have, would-have life events. I have accepted every misstep I made along the way as teachable moments that have helped me prepare for and perhaps avoid the next bumpy path I will encounter.

AM: What advice would you give to emerging leaders, women and/or arts administrators of color working in the field?

FS: Make a commitment to life-long learning and professional development. I talked about how in my early career I was like a sponge – I took classes, attended seminars and workshops, went to conferences and read anything I could put my hands on that would help me be a more knowledgeable arts administrator. I paid attention to what was going on and made my learning a priority, investing my time and my money in my own growth and development. And, to that end, be actively engaged in creating the life you want. If your present job isn’t living up to your expectations and you don’t see the opportunities for advancement, move on. But remember, never burn bridges on your way out the door or it will get locked behind you. You will need references and may even need to return to that organization for a job one day.

AM: What's your most memorable arts experience?

FS: Probably at the top of my list is an experience I had in first grade - Farragut Branch School, St. Louis, MO. I even remember my teacher’s name – Miss Beech. These were the days when the arts were part of every child’s education – visual arts, theatre, and music. In fact, there was a piano in every classroom and teachers were expected to be able to play! Miss Beech introduced the weekly art lesson by placing a blank sheet of manila paper on our desks and asking each of us to choose only the crayons and chalks that had shades of blue and purple. And then she began to tell us about an American composer by the name of George Gershwin who had written a composition called “Rhapsody in Blue,” a blend of classical music and jazz, which used a technique called improvisation. When she played “Rhapsody in Blue” on our record player I immediately understood everything that Gershwin was trying to do. We were told to close our eyes and listen to the music first and then to open our eyes and draw whatever the music was inviting us to draw. I think for me, even at six years old, the experience was transformational. And this, by the way, was public school! It was probably then that I decided that I wanted to be connected to moments like that the rest of my life.

AM: What would you say is art & culture's role in creating and sustaining healthier, vibrant and more equitable communities?

FS: When artists and arts organizations are deeply embedded into the life of a community they can be a powerful tool for social change, civic engagement, and community revitalization. The economic impact of the arts is particularly strong. I’m especially interested in developing the capacity of artists as creative entrepreneurs. Their start-up businesses become microenterprises that increase employment which is scaled for neighborhoods where people can live and work. A symphony and art museum is right up there with a national sports league in terms of importance.

AM: What can arts professionals do to help the public understand why arts & culture is vital to our local communities?

FS: One of the challenges that artists and arts organizations face is improving public awareness and appreciation of the value of the arts. No artist or arts organization would debate the need to do a better job of communicating the worth of what they do. In fact, millions of dollars are spent each year on glossy brochures and fancy websites for this very purpose. We in the arts love to talk about ourselves and love it even more when we’re preaching to an appreciative audience. Therein lies the problem. We spend moretime talking about how wonderful we are and how a daily dose of art and culture will make everyone’s lives better, than we do we authentically engaging with communities to learn what they want and need. The valuing of our worth as artists and arts organizations will follow when we put the community first.

AM: What skills do you feel arts leaders need to possess to be successful in the field?

FS: Arts leaders need all of the same skills or qualities any leader needs to be successful. If you are a prudent risk taker, thick-skinned and open to criticism, optimistic and enthusiastic about the task at hand, and always on the look-out for opportunities, you will stay ahead of the game. But most of all, in this era of change where everything seems to be in a state of flux, arts leaders must be visionary –able to cut through the clutter, clarify the direction of change, and develop strategies that can be easily communicated and put into action. One other quality that we don’t talk about nearly enough is patience and the ability to think long term. Although our fast-paced world seems to demand an instantaneous response to everything, for the big issues that matter, we will need patience to persevere and see the good stuff through.

AM: What would you say are the most common misconceptions about leadership?

FS: Too many people are put into positions of leadership today because people think they need a good manager. But management isn’t leadership. Management is necessary to operations so that we are systematically targeting objectives, budgeting, and creating plans to achieve those objectives – all important stuff to keep an organization running smoothly. But leadership is the secret sauce that gets organizations off the ground in the first place. It’s what created RAC and the San Diego Commission where I worked for so many years. Leadership defines what the future should look like, what players need to be on the team, and how those people will be inspired to stay the course to get the job done and get it done well, creating the change that communities want and need.

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