Different by design

Dartmoor-based rural arts organisation Aune Head Arts (AHA) was founded by artist-managers. Our management, policies and projects continue to be driven predominantly by artist-managers. When recruiting Board Members, we ask that they have a “willingness to break moulds and rules and to ensure that AHA is managed in a way which suits it, rather than following someone else’s rule book”. Staff and board are suspicious of adopting, without examination, management structures used by other organisations. Being artist-led has given us a desire to find our own routes and solutions, but we have an highly developed understanding of sound business practices. As the Award Leader for the MA Arts Management at the Dartington Campus of University College Falmouth, AHA is up to speed on research, theory and practice.

So what’s different about us? For a start, each member of our team, whether PAYE staff or short-term project manager, is paid the same, as everyone has comparable levels of skill and experience. Salaries are reviewed annually, and there is an annual index-linked raise. Equal pay is only part of the equation: we have a flat management structure; no hierarchy, no job titles. The policy for this structure is part of our Statement of Employment Particulars, “…everyone is an equally important member of the AHA Team. Each Team Member is responsible for ensuring that the work of the organisation is done efficiently, effectively and to the highest possible standard. In some instances Team Members have specific responsibilities which are theirs alone, in others the responsibilities of Team Members overlap.” We all make tea, wash dishes, paint display panels, and move furniture and artwork. Each team member also manages at least one project, and has areas of specialism: fundraising, advocacy and outreach, payroll, internal policies and procedures, HE lecturing, etc. We review the workload monthly in response to current and anticipated circumstances, and make collective decisions on how tasks will be apportioned so that we each work to our strengths, while taking responsibility for our own paperwork/administration. We are in-house portfolio workers and have exchanged roles many times over the years.
Having no office is another difference, although thanks to the Dartmoor National Park Authority we have in-kind artwork storage space and a Princetown postal address. We work from our homes. Short-term project managers use my dining table or work from home. AHA provides laptops, connected so that we can access files, share a diary and a database. We communicate frequently to catch up on project work, check deadlines, etc. We also take time to exchange personal and professional news and swap jokes; we’re friends as well as colleagues.
There is open (non-hierarchical) communication between the staff and the board. Staff are invited to board meetings and receive all agendas and related documents. We have a joint annual away-day to review the organisation, its structures, finances and projects. The equality at AHA has created a sense of trust and ownership. Holiday and paid leave are generous, and we work to our own schedules. AHA is important to each of us. The organisation has evolved as a tight-knit collective, and this structure gives us the flexibility to respond effectively to changes in the sector.