The Art of Governance: A Creative’s Unexpected Discovery Space, Beyond Briefs and Billing
In line with our recent Autumn Conversations events, we’re sharing stories that reflect the theme of Design & Discovery.
In today’s article, Mark Easterbrook talks about the unexpected discovery space that has sparked new ideas, refined his craft, and even opened doors to unexpected opportunities and personal growth.
Creative people can’t help but fill their space – physically, emotionally and mentally. We stay in motion, making stuff and gathering ideas from all around us, bringing them into our lives. This “filling up” process is our way of being. It fuels us, grounds us, and offers us a way to explore who we are. It can be a lifeline, or a counterbalance. It’s our discovery space. For some it takes the form of hobbies or an art practice. For others it’s a money or name-making side hustle.
For me, my creative discovery space shows up in an unlikely form: governance. I volunteer on the boards of two charitable Trusts – Mixit, a youth arts project supporting migrant and refugee communities, and Going West, a platform for Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary voices.
Venturing outside the comfortable and familiar
Serving on these boards means a lot to me, they expand my creative horizons and connect me to communities beyond my commercial creative world. It’s kept me humble, made me confront the lack of funding in the arts and community projects in Aotearoa New Zealand, and helped me understand the privileges I enjoy and the inequities that exist around me.
It has also made me grow up. Governance can be bloody hard; it’s a kind of adulting that goes beyond what most people face in their personal life or managing clients and co-workers. It helps you discover your inner strengths and a new kind of resilience.
Discovering a plurality of voices and experiences
The most valuable part of this work? The people I meet. Through Mixit, I’ve heard first hand stories from migrants and refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand and shared in their love of connection, self expression, music, laughter. With Going West, I’ve got to know dozens of the finest storytelling minds in Aotearoa New Zealand. I’ve heard them read their work and hold an audience as willing captives, hanging on each line. Encountering different voices and perspectives changes me – and changes the way I approach my commercial projects and the stories I create.
Stepping up and stepping out
Joining the Going West board was my first experience of governance. I had no idea what was expected, no idea how to be a Trustee, no idea where it would go. It arrived at a stage of life where I’d challenged myself to say yes more often. I’m forever grateful that I did in this instance.
You might be reading this and thinking “why would I ever join an unpaid committee?”. I encourage you to keep an open mind. It’s been a kind of stepping up and stepping out for me; taking on some responsibility for shaping the kind of communities I want to live in, and stepping outside what’s familiar in a non-selfish way. It’s allowed me to discover a particular kind of deep, personal satisfaction that comes from service to others. And it lets me exercise different parts of my brain, giving the work brain a chance to recharge and reset.
Saying “yes” to joining a board changed my life. Governance isn’t just committee meetings and festival programme planning – it’s about shaping communities. It’s big picture design, with a loose brief, tight budget and often a vast imbalance between the vision and the resources to achieve it. For creatives who care about impact, it’s one of the most powerful – and rewarding– things you can do to move our world forward in a positive direction.
And who in our design community, no matter what title we wear by day, wouldn’t want to do that?
More from the Design & Discovery series:
