My little boy started school a couple of months ago, and whilst it’s great to see him starting to learn how to read and write, what matters most to me right now is that he’s happy and confident at school. He clearly loves it.

Feeling secure, and

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Patience is a virtue, but not one of mine, so the queues that were a prominent feature of my visit to the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery today were not my idea of great visitor experience. There were queues

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Last week Sir John Tusa published an article arguing we need to get better at making the case for the arts. That we are not very good at expressing the ‘intrinsic’ value of the arts is no revelation – it’s been a constant refrain in UK cultural

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It’s been two years now since I started this blog in November 2009 and I’ve published over 100 posts during this period on a range of topics from arts funding and policy, to business models, audience engagement, leadership in the visual arts and being a working mum.

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A few weeks ago, I came across a story running in the charity sector press about the appointment of the new CEO of the Institute of Fundraisers: the professional membership body for those working in fundraising. The article focused on how the successful candidate wasn’t a fundraiser by profession, but a general manager. There was

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The language of personal relationships often dominates discussions about joint leadership models in the arts. Several people I interviewed for my research referred to these partnerships as ‘professional marriage’. Some Artistic / Executive Director pairings in theatre (e.g. Tom Morris & Emma Stenning, currently at Bristol Old Vic) are long-term commitments which endure beyond one

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In my book, a job title should give you a clear sense of what

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These are difficult times for arts and cultural organisations (if you hadn’t noticed). We need to generate new income streams reduce costs; to attract, volunteers, funders and staff and audiences in an increasingly competitive marketplace; keep up with technology, keep up with artistic practice – the list is terrifying. No wonder we ask so much

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One of the fascinating things about spending time in another country – particularly one like France which is many ways is very similar to the UK – is noticing the differences between our ways of

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Like Wordsworth (although that’s where the similarity ends) I do a lot of thinking on my feet: literally. During my lunchtime run, on the days I’m working from home, my mind often wanders to what I’ve been working on early that morning and I often

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