To talk about fostering mental wellbeing in the arts sector, I had a great discussion with Tracy Margieson. Tracy is from the Arts Wellbeing Collective at the Arts Centre Melbourne. The Arts Wellbeing Collective is a mental health and wellbeing program specifically for the performing arts industry. It has grown rapidly, since its pilot in 2017, to become a one-of-a-kind, comprehensive sector-wide initiative.  

Image description: A black and white photo of Tracy smiling at the camera and wearing a black T-shirt and glasses. The episode title “Cultivating Wellbeing in the Arts with Tracy Margieson” is displayed next to the photo of Tracy.

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The performing arts sector faces systemic and structural challenges that have been present long before Covid-19. These include low financial security, low job security, working contract to contract, a highly casualised workforce, freelancers that aren’t protected, and no access to paid leave or sick leave. The pandemic has shined a light on these challenges and provided us with new reasons to take this issue seriously.

Tracy discusses the founding of The Arts Wellbeing Collective and the gap it filled in the industry helping and supporting people working in the arts. She goes on to talk about how the pandemic has impacted the performing arts sector and the mental health determinants that influence people in the arts far more than people working in the general public. 

Using this evidence-based research and knowledge, The Arts Wellbeing Collective works with workers and organisations to improve the wellbeing of their employees. Together they identify the challenges, design preventative initiatives and promote positive mental health. 

This will look different for every company and depends on how they visualise their ideal healthy workplace. Tracy and her team encourage leaders to examine the cause instead of just treating the symptoms to effect true change. 

This episode is full of useful information that we can utilise to protect and preserve our mental health - whether we are creative practitioners, technical staff or management. You’ll feel energised and inspired to improve the wellbeing of not only yourself, but the people around you. 


Key points

[2:51]: The Arts Wellbeing Collective is an Art Centre Melbourne initiative that promotes positive mental health and wellbeing in the performing arts industry. There are hundreds of arts and cultural organisations they work with. Together they identify the challenges and design preventative initiatives to promote positive mental health. 

[4:51]: Tracy shares her background. She has worked across local government, small to medium sector, independent producer and theatre maker, playwriting, Arts marketing, and management. She has an undergraduate degree in Semiotics and a postgraduate in Arts Management and Business Psychology. 

[6:13]: Tracy operates from meaning and purpose. She didn’t find meaning and purpose in marketing and bringing people to the Arts. Tracy was passionate about people and needed to find a sector-facing role. 

[7:45]: Mental health is not a new issue in the performing arts sector. 

[8:07]: Tracy talks about how the pandemic has impacted the wellbeing of people in the performing arts. The pilot program of the Arts Wellbeing Collective was in 2017. She discusses the mission of the collective and the gap that it has filled in the industry. 

[10:17]: 15.2% of the 3,000 people working in the performing arts have experienced symptoms of moderate to severe depression - 5x higher than the general population. 44% had experienced symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety - 10x higher than the general population. 1 in 10 had reported suicidal ideation. 

[11:43]: This research interviewed production teams, crew members, technical teams, artistic directors, general managers, publicists as well as frontline creatives. The results are cultural and systemic and don’t just impact the artists. 

[13:33]: In March 2020, there was a crisis response. All of the cancellations, postponements, and closures were very confronting. 

[14:21]: The Arts Wellbeing Collective focused on supporting people through connecting people to the help they needed, advocacy work, and considering the financial implications. The challenges they were facing were problems they had experienced before but were absolutely magnified by Covid. Low financial security, low job security, working contract to contract, highly casualised workforce, a freelance workforce that aren’t protected, and no access to paid leave or sick leave. 

[18:18]: Tracy talks about the broader understanding in the public of the challenges in the performing arts industry post-Covid. The industry is entirely people-driven. For workers to perform well, they need to feel well. 

[20:44]: There’s a mentality that if you’re really exhausted after the show then you must’ve given everything and performed really well. But people do their best work when they’re energised, excited, passionate, authentic, and awake. 

[22:26]: Tracy and her team want to create T-shirts that say ‘Have you tried resting?’. 

[23:05]: Role modeling is very important. If our leaders are exhausted and burnt out, it flows through to everyone. Leaders can role model looking after themselves. 

[24:43]: What does a mentally healthy workplace look like? It’ll be different for every company. 

[25:50]: We can associate mental health with mental illness. But our mental health is often about what’s going well and our physical health. 

[27:00]: When we jump into action we can often treat symptoms instead of causes.

[28:48]: Through working with organisations that have had success instigating mental health change, she has observed common themes of a real curiosity of how things can be done better, a thoughtfulness over whether it’s the best way, an openness to learning, and a commitment to people. 

[29:51]: The risk of the passion felt by the people in the performing arts is they will often accept bad practices and conditions. People don’t know how good it could be. 

[32:39]: The complexity of what people are living with in lockdowns is changing every day. 

[33:43]: Having conversations with people and finding out what they need in that moment will benefit everyone. 

[34:24]: We haven’t quite adapted after the industrial revolution for people-driven businesses. We’re still thinking of people as machines. 

[34:45]: Active hope - acknowledging disturbing realities and finding our part in a constructive response. If the story of things working out well was to happen through me, what part might I play? 

[35:40]: Optimism is the agency that each of us has to look after ourselves and each other. If we place our energy into the things that we have agency over to share our optimistic vision of how our industry and communities can be, true change will happen. 

[36:42]: Where to find Arts Wellbeing Collective. 

[37:31]: Summary of my key takeaways from our conversation. #1 Most people do their best work when they’re energised. Our work is people-driven and we need to look after ourselves. 

[37:57]: #2 There are systemic issues that lead to poor mental health outcomes in the arts sector. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The pandemic has highlighted these issues. 

[38:55]: Don’t just think of the symptoms of burnout, look at the causes behind it. 

[39:25]: Cultural Insight and Innovation Update: Last month the top 2 clicked resources were Pattern Markers publications: The Audience Outlook Monitor and Tips and Tactics for Sustaining Audience Engagement through the Pandemic. 

[40:19]: The 3rd most popular resource from the newsletter was a new research report from the Museums Association recently showing that almost 70% of people think that cultural spaces make their local area a better place to live. These cultural spaces are more sought after than pubs and restaurants. 

[41:18]: We’re going to create a new normal in our sector. 

If this interview raises any issues for you, or if you or anyone you know is struggling with mental ill-health or needs support, call or visit the online resources below:

Links

Resources mentioned: 

  • The Arts Wellbeing Collective: https://artswellbeingcollective.com.au/

  • Active Hope Article: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/how-active-hope-may-help-sustain-us-through-the-uncertainty-20210824-p58ljg.html

  • The Audience Outlook Monitor: https://www.thepatternmakers.com.au/covid19

  • Tips and Tactics for Sustaining Audience Engagement through the Pandemic: https://www.thepatternmakers.com.au/tips-and-tactics

  • Museums Association Reporting on New Research: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/08/culture-more-in-demand-than-pubs-on-the-high-street/

Supported by Creative Victoria, Theory of Creativity Season 2 is focussed on 'Real Change and Renewal'. Tune in on the first Tuesday of the month as Patternmakers Managing Director Tandi Palmer Williams speaks with experts in audience trends, strategic planning, organisational change and resilience. 

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