What does an artistic director do?
Artistic director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real artistic director resumes:
- Manage and develop the art & photography school programs along with maintaining the retail art gallery.
- Manage content effectiveness, ROI, media orders, ad confirmations, production requests and discrepancy notices.
- Choreograph and produce contemporary dances in NYC and Albany venues.
- Recruit mid-career and establish artists to curate a collection for the gallery.
- Plan and coordinate all competitions, public performances, venue, costumes, and ticketing.
- Serve on ad hoc committee for creation and development of a new cabaret theater space.
- Engage and maintain communication with followers through social media (Facebook) and the festival blog.
- Create an iconic UI for instagram to showcase the song and dance the group is covering.
- Produce, direct, and choreograph dance performances; design and construct costumes for full-length productions.
- Select wardrobe and present concepts for various photography projects.
- Prepare PowerPoint presentations using product mock-ups for client meetings.
- Develop and present PowerPoint presentations for incoming families, displays for public informational opportunities and publish church and parent newsletters.
- Coordinate events for VIP clients with artists.
- Collaborate with executive staff to develop content and produce photographic editorials.
Artistic director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Artistic Directors are proficient in Artistic Vision, Community Outreach, and Non-Profit Organization. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Artistic Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Artistic Vision, 21%
Developed and executed artistic vision for annual performances; designed and managed publicity materials
- Community Outreach, 12%
Initiated and organized community outreach programs and fundraisers.
- Non-Profit Organization, 8%
Chartered and established a non-profit organization focused on the education of the arts to K-12 students.
- Press Releases, 6%
Design press releases, follow up with local media, initiate collaboration with other local theater and art groups.
- Public Speaking, 6%
Participated in public speaking, voice over, personal appearances, spokesperson positions, critical thinking, and problem solving.
- Costume Design, 4%
Hired Director, Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Costume Designer, and Stage Manager.
"artistic vision," "community outreach," and "non-profit organization" are among the most common skills that artistic directors use at work. You can find even more artistic director responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an artistic director to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "art directors must be able to come up with interesting and innovative ideas to develop advertising campaigns, set designs, or layout options." Artistic directors often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "instituted the creative kids after- school arts program, creative native juried art competition, and re-established the garfield shakespeare company. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling artistic director duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "art directors must be able to listen to and speak with staff and clients to ensure that they understand employees’ ideas and clients’ desires for advertisements, publications, or movie sets." According to an artistic director resume, here's how artistic directors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "write curatorial statements, press releases, and social/media communications. "
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for artistic directors to perform their duties. For an example of how artistic director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "art directors must be able to organize, direct, and motivate other artists." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an artistic director: "acted as consultant with singles group leadership team to launch singles ministry. ".
Time-management skills. For certain artistic director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of an artistic director rely on this skill, as "balancing competing priorities and multiple projects while meeting strict deadlines is critical for art directors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what artistic directors do: "assigned, tracked and met deadlines for over 400 creative projects annually for multiple internal and external clients. "
The three companies that hire the most artistic directors are:
- The Salvation Army2 artistic directors jobs
- Boston Public Schools2 artistic directors jobs
- Brighton Central School District1 artistic directors jobs
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Compare different artistic directors
Artistic director vs. Art consultant
A Senior Designer/Art Director is responsible for the execution and on-time delivery of high-quality creative materials. They determine how best to represent a concept visually and which photographs, art, or other design elements to use.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an artistic director are more likely to require skills like "artistic vision," "community outreach," "non-profit organization," and "public speaking." On the other hand, a job as an art consultant requires skills like "art gallery," "fine arts," "contemporary art," and "art collections." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Art consultants tend to make the most money working in the internet industry, where they earn an average salary of $68,646. In contrast, artistic directors make the biggest average salary, $74,305, in the professional industry.On average, art consultants reach similar levels of education than artistic directors. Art consultants are 4.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Artistic director vs. Senior designer/art director
A senior creative director spearheads the visual aspects of a company's marketing and advertising departments. They manage creative teams and lead the efforts from conceptualizing to executing projects and campaigns. As a senior creative director, their responsibilities typically include setting goals and budgets, establishing guidelines, coordinating departments, delegating tasks to managers, researching new business opportunities, liaising with internal and external parties, and developing strategies to optimize procedures. Furthermore, they must serve as a mentor to junior directors and staff, promoting and enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real artistic director resumes. While artistic director responsibilities can utilize skills like "artistic vision," "community outreach," "non-profit organization," and "press releases," senior designer/art directors use skills like "creative concepts," "web banners," "art direction," and "sketch."
On average, senior designer/art directors earn a higher salary than artistic directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, senior designer/art directors earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $113,063. Whereas artistic directors have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $74,305.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior designer/art directors tend to reach lower levels of education than artistic directors. In fact, they're 14.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Artistic director vs. Co-director
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from artistic director resumes include skills like "artistic vision," "r," "costume design," and "ticket sales," whereas a co-director is more likely to list skills in "oversight," "curriculum development," "mental health," and "child care. "
Co-directors make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $83,655. On the other hand, artistic directors are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $74,305.co-directors typically earn similar educational levels compared to artistic directors. Specifically, they're 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Artistic director vs. Senior creative director
Types of artistic director
Updated January 8, 2025
