By Kathy Burstein
For years, South Florida’s community leaders have fought against the notion of “brain drain” – when bright, young professionals leave their hometowns for better opportunities.
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is the latest institution trying to keep talent in South Florida. They created MiamiArtsJobs.com, a job portal dedicated to helping find employees for Miami’s growing cultural institutions and showcasing great opportunities for people who want careers in all facets of the arts but aren’t sure where to go to find them.
“There seems to be this really interesting growth of need,” said Andrew Goldberg, vice president of marketing at the Arsht Center. “Being able to find [people] becomes the next part of the challenge.”
The site is free, both for community organizations that want to post jobs and for job-seekers looking for new opportunities. And these are not just jobs for actors and artists — MiamiArtsJobs.com listings include jobs in academia, communications and public relations, finance and accounting, sales and fundraising.
There are currently 44 jobs posted on the site. Goldberg expects those numbers to grow as more people learn about the site and more opportunities open up in the arts community.
Helping Miami build upon its recent cultural successes – the successful launch of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the popularity of events such as Art Basel and the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science planned for downtown Miami – inspired Goldberg and his team to create MiamiArtsJobs.com, to create a place for people to find jobs with those and other cultural institutions in South Florida. The Arsht Center created and customized the site, and is hosting it for free.
“We just think it’s the right thing on behalf of the cultural community,” Goldberg said. “We think it’s one that will help us stay strong.”
The site is endorsed by Miami-Dade County’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which links to MiamiArtsJobs.com from its website. “Miami has incredible talent within the local industry and there are ever-expanding, exciting and rewarding professional opportunities available in our community across the entire field,” said Michael Spring, Miami-Dade County Director of Cultural Affairs, in the news release launching MiamiArtsJobs.com. “As our arts and culture industry continues to grow, MiamiArtsJobs.com is an indispensable resource. We commend the Arsht Center for taking the lead in creating it.”
Despite its name, Goldberg said that jobs don’t have to be based in Miami – they’ll take postings from Broward and Monroe counties – and that they’ll also accept casting calls and other arts-related opportunities. “As long as it’s related to the arts, we really want the opportunity for people to see,” Goldberg said.
The site’s soft launch was at the end of March, and Goldberg said it’s steadily gaining momentum. A few weeks ago, he spoke to a job candidate who told him he heard about the opportunity on MiamiArtsJobs.com. “Which was really exciting to hear, knowing that it had only been open for a few months,” Goldberg said. “Our hope is that, in the long run… this is a site that will keep talent here in Miami.”
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