Burning out? It’s not you who needs fixing

Burnout is a perpetual risk for anyone working in the arts. How can we shift responsibility from the individual and fix the problem from the top?
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Paper leaf – Sydney by street artist Miguel Marquez

For many arts workers across literary, performing, visual and community arts sectors, 2015 has been a taxing year with narrowing budgets and funding pools.

Yet it’s also held many important conversations about the prevalence of burnout and how we can better take self-care.

Arts work will always be emotionally and intellectually taxing but avoiding exhaustion and burnout is not simply about encouraging individuals to take care of themselves. The breadth of the problem shows the onus must be on organisations and improving the foundations of the arts ecology.

‘With the word burnout you instantly think of a person, an individual who has just worked too hard and thrown themselves into it,’ said Esther Anatolitis, Director, Regional Arts Victoria.

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Madeleine Dore
About the Author
Madeleine Dore is a freelance writer and founder of Extraordinary Routines, an interview project exploring the intersection between creativity and imperfection. She is the previous Deputy Editor at ArtsHub. Follow her on Twitter at @RoutineCurator