How To Become An Associate Artistic Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is an associate artistic director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Zackary Simonini

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an associate artistic director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.9 an hour? That's $55,959 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 4,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an associate artistic director?

Zackary Simonini

Technical Director (Full Time Staff), Adjunct Professor of Theatre (part time faculty), Carthage College

2. Technology always advances faster than most theatre budgets can keep up. This forces us to 'learn on the fly' sometimes. Dedicate some time to keeping up with the newest technology, at least be aware of it. IF you have time and resources, set aside some of your efforts to grow technological skills that are more and more in demand in theatres and other event industries. These skills involve creating projections/effects in qLab or comparable programs. Furthermore wireless technology continues to become available in ways that can mitigate the need for hard wire cabling. Visit the message boards, learn the troubleshooting guides and familiarize yourself with the 'new solutions'. Other skills that continue to be more and more relevant is the use of LED lights and moving lights. These instruments are different from the incandescent fixtures I initially learned on but spending time to learn how to program moving lights is immensely useful and marketable to many industries. Finally even if your theatre/space does not rely on microphone/speaker enhancement of actors/instruments LEARN what you can about the physics of sound and how to interact with the technology associated with live sound mixing.

ScoreAssociate Artistic DirectorUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,959

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 7.14%

Black or African American 4.37%

Hispanic or Latino 14.44%

Unknown 5.56%

White 67.86%

Gender

female 47.83%

male 52.17%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an associate artistic director

Explore associate artistic director education requirements

Most common associate artistic director degrees

Bachelor's

78.4 %

Master's

12.5 %

High School Diploma

4.5 %

Start to develop specific associate artistic director skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	100.00%

Complete relevant associate artistic director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New associate artistic directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an associate artistic director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real associate artistic director resumes.

Research associate artistic director duties and responsibilities

Manage and develop the art & photography school programs along with maintaining the retail art gallery.
Develop and present PowerPoint presentations for incoming families, displays for public informational opportunities and publish church and parent newsletters.
Complete layouts and copywriting for wine and liquor tasting notes, labels and ads.
Collaborate with executive staff to develop content and produce photographic editorials.

Apply for associate artistic director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an associate artistic director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams