With so many aspiring arts workers begging for a chance to work within the industry, Sexton explains honestly how she has managed such an impressive work history. “It’s been a combination of hard work, luck, and good mentorship,” Sexton says with a chuckle. “I was lucky to move to Melbourne and become part of a really open arts community that allowed me to take risks and meet a lot of people as well. I’ve always worked with people who are very dedicated and committed and I’ve been inspired by that. I always looked up to them and I guess they also pulled me in line when I needed it and pointed out things I was missing.”
Next Wave not only fosters emerging artists from an array of mediums, it also creates a space within which arts administrators and curators can get their foot in the door. With internships such a topical issue it’s a relief to find out that in Sexton’s case, an internship worked for her. “I did an internship with Next Wave five years ago so that really paid off,” she says. “We nurture our interns more than just using them for free work or having them fold mail-outs. If people are going to invest their time into an organisation, then the organisation has to match that with some really good processes and learning opportunities. We need to ensure there are always entry-level positions and as it stands, internships are the entry-level positions within the arts. You do have to make a series of lifestyle choices to be able to work for free though – I moved home and I had to make a lot of sacrifices and maybe that’s a privileged position that not everyone has.”
With Next Wave about to enter into its fourth decade of existence, Sexton explains what that means for the organisation and how they’re going to stay at the forefront of emerging and cutting-edge art. “It’s a little bit like turning 30 for real, which I am too,” she says. “You start to look at ‘What else?’. Now that we’re a bit grown up, ‘what else’ matters, and what are we missing? We feel that there are a lot of things we’ve achieved and we can be proud of – we’ve got a good working environment for our staff, we have a really culturally diverse range of artists – so what are we missing? What tricks are left?
“We do a lot of activities that, because we’re an experimental concept, well, a lot of the ways we figure things out is to just do them. I really believe in that and think it’s a great approach but we want to explore things further and make the things that have worked compulsory. If they’re merely experimental then other people can come into your organisation and not do them, so let’s make them policy and let’s embed them really deep.” Really, that is such an important part of any organisation. Next Wave is an entirely new beast in a way and yet the ethos that existed when it first began has somehow stayed strong. It’s more important than ever to keep the heart and soul of Next Wave alive as it faces new challenges, enters new times and embraces new leadership and staff.
Putting that aside for now, Next Wave are donning their party shoes for a celebration of their latest artists and their work. The organisation has teamed up with Darebin Arts’ Speakeasy to put on their combined Soiree and Social. “It’s about launching our artists,” Sexton explains. “We made a strong decision that we wanted our artists to be at the fore of our work and to make them into art stars as much as we could at the beginning of their careers. This is literally to showcase the artists we’ll be working with and showing people our curatorial process; why we chose these people and why we think they’re awesome. Next Wave is a very overlapping environment – artists are audiences who are also donors, sometimes. The Social is about reflecting that community and bringing everyone together and it’s February so, why not?”
BY KRISSI WEISS
