On December 2nd, 2024 Keshia Palm (the outgoing Artistic Producer of Paprika), Amanda Lin and Julia Dickson (the new Artistic Producer and General Manager) met with me on zoom to discuss their leadership transition. As I learned more about them as individuals, artists, and arts workers, a portrait of a changing Paprika was being painted. If you've been following, the organization recently announced that they were reducing the scale of their operations "in order to increase pay and support for everyone at Paprika". In the weeks that followed our chat, I've reflected deeply on what we can learn from Paprika— especially around the ideas of pausing and pacing.
I've often understood capital T "Transformation" in arts organizations to mean the infrequent but seismic tumult of tectonic plates— unearthing long patterns and installing new structures for the foreseeable future. However, the leaders of Paprika showed me their own version of change that looks more like an ocean tide going in and out, shorter cycles that ebb and flow with regularity. Keshia described a historical leadership changeover rhythm of 2-3 years, with some board members wanting to increase the length of the average term moving forward. I was struck by how different this is than the slower turnover of artistic directors that spend a decade (or more) in their position, and how despite efforts to extend these terms, it seems the current pace of leadership changeover does contribute to Paprika's youthful energy and exploratory character.
Keshia and Julia shared with me that this is true. In some ways, leader changeover reflects the way Paprika's programming focuses on intensely training their artists and participants. Julia phrases the sentiment as: "Can you learn as much [in your time here] and then go on to do bigger and better things?"Also true however, is that the regularity leads to the repetition of cycles without much room for change or redirection. During an especially challenging transition period in 2020, both General Manager and Artistic Producer roles had to be vacated and onboarded simultaneously due to unavoidable circumstances. Consequently, Julia and Keshia experienced a very hands-on training period. Rather than shadowing or watching a full festival period, Keshia "ended up doing the thing, […] all hands on deck" as the circumstance required. Entering her position in tandem with provincial COVID-19 lockdowns, Julia recalled thinking at that moment: "leadership is just holding things together, wrapping it with a bandage and hoping nothing crumbles. The structures of arts non-profits often tell the same story: very little time or money available for smooth transitions of leadership, and folks on either side of the hand-off doing the best they can with what they’ve got.
Knowing that the tide of change was only 2-3 years out from their onboarding, Keshia and Julia began to plot the next changeover early on. In thinking through what the organization needed moving forward, they were simultaneously confronted with a workload that often strained the limited hours their positions were assigned. Even from before her official start with Paprika, Amanda remembered her concern that the hours both leaders were working was potentially out of balance with their compensation.Their arrival coincided with the completion of Paprika's last strategic plan (2018-2021), and Keshia and Julia had the foresight to apply to the Toronto Arts Council's Open Door Grant. Open Door "supports ideas with the potential to create transformative change for arts organizations and collectives and/or the arts sector". With the strain on current staff, industry-wide exhaustion, and the rising cost of living in Toronto it was clear— Paprika could not continue on as usual. A change needed to be made.
None of us are strangers to the seduction of rhythm's predictability. Fitting snugly into structures, cycles, or shapes that have been formed before we arrived and will likely persist after we leave feels safe, and also the "s" word that funders love so much: "stable". And yet, what if this shape is equally comforting and crumbling? In a blog post about the change, current Artistic Producer Amanda Lin notes "The topic of staff burnout and turnover is coming up a lot at arts organizations, and more and more folks are exiting the industry because they simply can’t afford to continue, financially and emotionally." I wonder: what does it take to move this from a side-conversation to the urgent forefront? What does it mean to stop the ocean tide, even swim against it?
As Keshia and Julia entered into a strategic planning process, it felt like for the first time, they were able to get in a room with the board and talk about Paprika's values without the urgency of attending to current programming. Stewarded by the folks at Currents Group the leaders met with the board, drafted sometimes as many as 6 different operating budget versions, and began engaging in community consultations. All this sculpted a period of rich re-imagining of the shape and structure of Paprika.
Keshia, Julia, and Amanda all agreed that one of the most crucial elements of the process was the community consultations with Paprika's artists and their community. When it was clear that a cut had to be made, Keshia and Julia lamented at how to decide what crucial programming would be compromised. Thankfully, Keshia said "[the consultation process] released us as leaders." Rather than bear the burden of this decision alone, community consultations allowed for a pluralistic approach, inviting in other voices to join Keshia and Julia, contributing to the discussion and guiding the final decision. Reducing programming that has become beloved and expected is tricky, and Paprika's decision to keep all their programs at reduced frequency speaks to their commitment to the communities they engage with, from emerging and aspiring producers, designers, to the artists of their Indigenous Arts Program. With detectable pride, Amanda told me "the [programming] change was made with so much love and care for the people, and you don't get to say that often".
They landed on a biannual model. Amanda's blog post explains "Instead of running six annual programs, Paprika will be running three programs per year on a two-year rotation." The post outlines all the programming costs will experience a much-needed increase and contribute to better experiences for everyone involved. I'm most interested in the increase in the Artistic Producer salary, which Keshia & Julia were determined to make "one people would actually apply to". Though arts leadership titles offer some career advancement, at smaller organizations they can often fall near or below what is considered Toronto's living wage of $67,280 a year. What message are we sending our future Artistic Directors and Artistic Producers in explicitly telling them that this important and exhaustive work isn't valuable enough to sustain a life in this city?
Among the many things this leadership transition at Paprika is teaching us is the power of pausing and pacing. Rather than passively go with the flow of the tide they entered, Keshia and Julia had the courage to stop the whole ship. Rather than feel pressured to continue as usual, the two appropriately read the moment they were in— not just the economic state of the arts in Toronto but also coming out of pandemic-related lockdowns that left other organizations shuttered. This foresight and insight was affirmed not just by the approval of Paprika's board, but also in the succession of bright new leader Amanda. In believing that their organization deserved the kind of candidate that valued fair labour practices in the arts, they got one. I look forward to seeing the next chapter flourish under Amanda’s new vision and care.
Not all reception has been positive though. With the majority of funders supporting Paprika's change, a few just don't get it. Sometimes the values don't align. Companies and individuals outside of the arts sector might see declining numbers of participants per year and only form negative interpretations of that information, even if this change increases the compensation, resources and support Paprika artists receive. However, this problem is not Paprika's alone— "there are many other arts organizations going through the same muck" remarks Julia. If most organizations are struggling with changing social context combined with outdated structures, how can we join our voices with Paprikas to tell a truer, fuller story? How can a collective outcry show our funders and sector what is really needed to care for artists and their work?
My hope is that the Paprika's transformation inspires other brave leaders wanting to pause and change pace. The truth is, the realities of making art have changed. The structures past organizations were built on are often incompatible with the moment we find ourselves in. Keshia, Julia, and Amanda have found a way to respect the legacy of Paprika while challenging it to be better to its people. As we all take up the task of challenging the structures in front of us, may we do it with the same priorities of Paprika: genuine "love and care for the people", as Amanda put it.
