Cultural management is an interdisciplinary field, lying in between the managerial, marketing and economic competences and skills, and the profound understanding of cultural history and heritage, trends and developments in the arts. We have more than 130 academic programs and training courses for professionals across Europe, with various angles and curricula, most of them members of the European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centers.

During our seminars and conferences, we often debate the questions: What do we actually need to become successful managers in the arts? is there a strong need for a specialised training? Or this is a profession where we “learn by doing”? Do we need to understand and love the art, or it is more important to have an entrepreneurship and managerial spirit and intuition to run a business? Or both? How to take a senior position in the state subsidised cultural sector, especially when instead of transparency of the vacancy, the appointment is a result of a certain political decision?

Mario Resca has just been appointed as the new General Director of the 4000 Italian museums. At his age of 62, he has ran McDonald's Italy for 12 years, and has been also the director of the large, state-run Casinò di Campione. He says in his press interviews that he plans to work on the image of the country, to do marketing and to circulate Italian artworks around the world. He also frankly admits: “"I didn't know anything about the restaurant industry, and for 12 years I directed McDonald's Italy. I didn't know anything about gambling and now I direct the Casinò di Campione". Mr. Resca strongly believes that cultural heritage should generate earnings and use all potential resources to do that. In his whole carrier he has never been focusing on cultural matters, but he believes this fact doesn’t matter. The expectation is that he will try to make money based on a better marketing as of the cut in the government support for museums in the next 3 years.

Italian cultural professionals and opposition politicians strongly criticise the appointment of Mr.Reca by the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government and raise the question “what have hamburgers got to do with Italy’s extraordinary cultural patrimony?” The association Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, an institute for study, research and training , has decided to launch an appeal to international scholars to join in opposition. The text of this call is on the association’s website.

There are many professional and very well developed academic programs and training courses in cultural management in Italy. Here are some of them:
- ECCOM - European Center for Cultural Organization and Management - provides both public and private organizations working in the cultural sector with a variety of services such as research work, training programmes and consultancy.
- ATER (Associazione Teatrale Emilia Romagna) offers a training programme covering the management aspects of cultural and theatrical enterprises, which includes advanced and further training, together with retraining and specialisation.
- Fondazione Fitzcarraldo is an independent centre for planning, research, training and documentation on cultural, arts and media management, economics and policies, at the service of those who create, practise, take part in, produce, promote and support the arts and culture. Seminars and courses are held on a wide range of subjects, including "Theatre and concert hall management", "Marketing for the Performing Arts", "Marketing for Museums", "Fund-raising and development strategies", "Programmes, networks and European funding for cultural activities", "International projects", "Cultural project managers", and have been attended by over 300 operators.
- International Center for Arts Economics has been acting for seventeen years in co-operation with leading economic expert in this field, including famous names such as: William Baumol, Bruno Frey, Dick Netzer, Alan Peacock, Robert Tollison, David Throsby and many others. Main purposes: to be a center of reference in the field of cultural economics and management, of support to the university activities (at local and international level); to offer academic and professional education in arts economics and management.
- MUSEC – Course on Economic and Management of Museums and Cultural Services is aimed at professionals of the sector already employed or operating with museums, public and private agencies and organizations, profit and non-profit.
- University of Bologna provides a graduate degree in Innovation and Organization of Culture and the Arts (GIOCA) - a highly innovative program, designed to help students attain the management skills they will need to work in cultural organizations, focusing on profound managerial knowledge and using a strong interdisciplinary and international approach.

So, the question stays unsolved: do young people need to invest in their education and study hard to be equipped with profound theories and innovative methods of managing the arts, or they should just start by running small businesses first, and later shifting their carrier in the arts, using their accumulated entrepreneurship skills, mixed with a good business intuition? Or the necessary step towards a successful arts management carrier is to become a good friend of a top-level politician?

Read more about Mr. Resca’s appointment here:

http://www.thearttribune.com/A-call-against-the-appointment-of.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/18/italy-mcdonalds-italy-museum