Educating artists in management: an analysis of art education programmes in DACH region

Abstract

Labour force in the art sector is characterised by high qualification, but low income for those people who perform the core contribution in art, i.e. the artists. As artists are typically self-dependent in managing their business, they should have managerial skills besides those skills necessary to perform their artistic core activities. If the lack of managerial skills is a reason why artists fail to make a living from their talent, then this chain of cause and effect could be ruptured by adequate educational opportunities. This paper analyses the curricula of a wide range of institutions offering art education programmes and identifies their managerial learning content. In doing so, we focused on German-speaking countries, the so-called DACH region (i.e. Germany, Austria and Switzerland, whereas D, A and CH are country codes). We identified and analysed 159 course syllabi of 81 art universities, schools and academies. The results of our study indicate a lack of managerial learning contents: a vast majority of institutions follow a rather traditional approach to art education, focusing solely on artistic competences. We suggest the implementation of managerial learning contents to better prepare art students for successful careers in the arts.