Community Arts Worker
What the work is
Identifies issues of local need, concerns and aspirations through community consultation, and designs and implements strategies to facilitate and encourage community arts projects and happenings, and promote the value of community cultural development.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Identifies local artistic issues, needs and problems through community consultation
- Plans, develops and implements arts and cultural development initiatives and programs in collaboration with diverse groups within the community
- Develops and maintains links and partnerships with community-based organisations and local artists
- Evaluates data and prepares and coordinates reports, such as submissions requesting funding for continuing programs and new projects
- Fosters an inclusive environment to assist artistic and cultural pursuits in the community to thrive
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a community arts centre run by a fictional local council. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A group who said they were 'not creative' leaves holding something they made together
- A mural goes up and people stop to find themselves in it
- An elder and a teenager laugh together over a project neither expected to enjoy
Hard days
- Two community groups both want the same space and the same slice of a small budget
- A project that has taken months is cancelled because of a funding decision
- Putting up with long evenings, weekend events and constant paperwork for grants
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 231931, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.