professional membership
Featured Member
| Project: | Emerging Success: a Rising Star in Arts Management |
| Organization: | Mitch Menchaca from Arizona Commission on the Arts |
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| Mitch Menchaca |
There are a few recurring questions that emerging leaders ask current leaders in any field: How did you get to this position? What steps took you on this career path? How can I advance my career? And sometimes paths in the arts world are less random than they appear, especially when success is achieved at such a young age.
To answer some of these questions, we can dive into the mind and career of Mitch Menchaca. At the young age of 30, Mitch is one the most successful emerging leaders working in the arts today, rising to the position of senior director of programs at the Arizona Commission on the Arts. In addition to his duties at the commission, he also serves on many nonprofit boards.
Not everything happened overnight for Mitch. His career has taken a distinctly different path since studying theater in college. After deciding not to pursue theater as a career, Mitch decided to go back to his hometown of Casa Grande, AZ and he applied for a position as docent coordinator at the local history museum. It was this part-time job that opened the door to the museum’s outreach coordinator position. And after three years of hard work at the local museum, he was promoted to interim director.
After gaining valuable experience as interim director, Mitch decided he was ready to leave the small town life and move to Phoenix where he worked at the state humanities council coordinating a small grant program and traveling exhibitions. Through a few more strategic job changes allowing him to grow his arts management skill set, Mitch eventually landed in his current role at the Commission for the Arts.
In his 10 year career in arts leadership, Mitch credits both his ability to work and gain valuable experience while going to school as well as getting involved with roles on boards as propelling his career and leadership development.
Mitch’s advice to emerging leaders is straightforward: “Take risks in your career, network network network in the arts and outside the field, and gain as much experience as possible.” Also, when getting involved with boards for the first time, use the first year to listen and learn about the organization and its policies before getting involved deeper on committees and leadership roles. Lastly, he also encourages new members in the field to remember that success doesn’t happen overnight.