Engaging evaluation as a catalyst: Artists and arts managers voices in reshaping the Australian Performing Arts Market
| Published date | 01 September 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X241270594 |
| Author | Sandra Gattenhof |
| Date | 01 September 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Academic Articles |
Academic Article
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2024, Vol. 24(3) 193–210
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1035719X241270594
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Engaging evaluation as a
catalyst: Artists and arts
managers voices in reshaping
the Australian Performing
Arts Market
Sandra Gattenhof
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Abstract
Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) is the Australia Council for the Arts key
strategic engagement to develop national and international touring opportunities for
Australian contemporary performing arts. The Market has been delivered since
1994 in four Australian cities hosted by differing cultural venues. Over a sequence of
three iterations from 2014 to 2018 the APAM presenting venue, Brisbane Power-
house, made a commitment to reshape the delivery of the Market. Positioning the
Market as a cultural intermediary, this discussion outlines how the Market engaged
with evaluative data to transform from a transactional model to a relational focus by
foregrounding the experience of artists, companies, and art managers. The findings
show how planned and ongoing stakeholder engagement influenced the focus of the
Market, and the significance of artist and arts manager voices were in transforming
the Market experience away from a focus on buying and selling to collaboration and
exchange.
Corresponding author:
Sandra Gattenhof, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice Faculty, Queensland
University of Technology, Z9 Building Level 4 (room 407), Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059 Australia.
Email: s.gattenhof@qut.edu.au
Keywords
Australian Performing Arts Market, cultural intermediary, cultural policy, networking,
performing arts markets
What we already know
·Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia) invests heavily
to develop platforms and markets to showcase Australian performing
arts product.
·Evaluation can be a catalyst or influencer of change for activities
including performing arts markets in Australia or internationally.
·This discussion builds on the notion of value for the Australian
Performing Arts Market as being an important site for the promotion of
cultural products.
The original contribution the article makes to theory and/
or practice
·The evaluation shared in this discussion comes from the first
longitudinal study of the Australian Performing Arts Market (the
Market) across 2014 to 2018. During this period the Market moved from
Adelaide to Brisbane that necessitated questioning about the utility and
purpose of the market.
·The discussion demonstrates how practical approaches for evaluative
practices, engaged both during the event and post-event, were activated
to catalyse a reframing of the purpose and delivery of a performing arts
market, thereby moving from a notion of value to one of impact.
·The discussion foregrounds the activation of participant feedback in an
action feedback loop to ensure a continuous cycle of improvement for
the Market.
Introduction
The Australia Council for the Arts has invested over thirty years of dedicated cultural
policy development and program delivery enhancing the understanding, both within
Australia and globally, of Australian arts and cultural products. Australia Council for
the Arts’
1
previous, strategy document, A Culturally Ambitious Nation (2014–2019),
contains a goal described as ‘Australian arts are without borders’(p. 3), thereby
194 Evaluation Journal of Australasia 24(3)
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting