After yesterday's post about money, and our lack of it, a faithful reader, an arts administrator, asked me to remind you that administrators are not out to exploit teaching artists. I am happy to do so, primarily because I am giddy with the thrill of finding that someone is actually reading this thing.
Seriously, since comments on the blog are as rare as unicorns, or full-time teaching artists with affordable health insurance, here is the faithful reader's response, reprinted, verbatim:
Anonymous said...
I've worked as a TA for several organizations and as an art administrator for a small handful. It's a touchy subject, but in each case I made more per hour as a TA than I do as an arts administrator. I made more as a full time nanny than both, incidentally. Insurance and health care aren't free for us either. We're not middlemen fleecing our staff. What would be the point? How would I make education better that way? And most of us are, after all, working for nonprofits, where any extra money goes to offering schools free or discounted programming- which we of course pay our TAs in full for. I know it's hard to cobble together a living as a TA. But rest assured, your boss often makes $8 an hour when factoring salary and the time put in. My job is to try and make teaching artistry as impactful and educationally relevant as possible. I'm not a booking agent. And I don't get paid enough either. We should think about elevating the whole feild and our worth, rather than fostering an internal resentment that is neither relevant nor fruitful.
Also: Joni Mitchell - All I Want
No comments:
Post a Comment