Leaked CEO email reveals hazards of arts leaders in corporate partnership dilemmas

A sector CEO’s attempt to reassure staff amid corporate partnership-related backlash has sparked questions around best practice in these situations.
Corporate arts partnership dilemmas: a close up of someone's hand holding a gold pen over a desk about to sign a contract.

It’s the kind of crisis arts leaders are becoming a lot more familiar with.

It typically comes after an arts company signs a corporate deal with a business whose activities are seen to be in stark opposition to its own values, raising difficult ethical questions.

The community outrage resulted in a protest outside the WA Maritime Museum on its free – Woodside sponsored – family open day on 17 August.

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ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).