A word of advice for our era: ‘Never be surprised’

With a sector in full bloom, strategic arts consultant Penny Miles reveals her optimism for the future and explains how keeping calm is a vital skill.

With more than 25 years of experience in the arts and adjacent industries, as well as her role as Melbourne’s ‘Night Mayor’ (Chair of City of Melbourne Night-Time Economy Advisory Committee), Penny Miles shares with ArtsHub her views as to where the arts are next heading, and offers advice for those who want to make the most out of the opportunity…

Many working in the arts would have felt how the fog has lifted in the sector this year. There hasn’t been the usual buffer of a slow January/February – instead, it has felt like a dive straight into the deep end with a calendar chock-full of events, programming, performances and major announcements, most notably in the launch of the National Cultural Policy, aptly titled ‘Revive’.

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Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.