Leading Through Turbulent Times

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across Canada in 2020, the arts sector was among the first to shut down and one of the last to recover. Concert halls fell silent, galleries closed their doors, festivals were cancelled, and thousands of artists suddenly lost not only their income but also the audiences, collaborators, and creative communities that sustained their work. While governments understandably focused on hospitals, businesses, and emergency response, another question quietly emerged: who would help rebuild the cultural life of our communities?

When Eunju Yi assumed the role of Executive Director of the London Arts Council in the aftermath of the pandemic, she inherited an arts sector still grappling with the consequences of years of disruption. Organizations were rebuilding, artists continued to face financial uncertainty, and new challenges from reconciliation to technological change were already reshaping the cultural landscape. For Yi, leadership during turbulent times is not simply about keeping an organization operating. It is about protecting an entire cultural ecosystem. Artists, community organizations, audiences, and creative partnerships all require support if a city’s cultural life is to recover and flourish. Yi’s leadership demonstrates that arts leadership is fundamentally community leadership: the stewardship of the relationships, opportunities, and institutions that allow creativity—and communities themselves—to endure through periods of continual change.

Rebuilding a Fragile Cultural Ecosystem

Yi repeatedly returns to one central concern: protecting the people who sustain Canada’s cultural life.

Canada needs to recognize the importance of arts more, particularly in terms of the role small arts service organizations like us have in supporting our art ecosystem. I just hope that the government can recognize that there are humans behind it. They are not just dealing with the smaller organizations, they are dealing with humans who also need to have stability, security, and compensation as well. I just hope the government can really appreciate and recognize that for us to continue to do the work, we need to be fairly compensated. It’s about the supporting of the community and it’s sharing diverse voices. There are diverse economic contributors out there. Hopefully that kind of change happens, so we can say that our members are fairly compensated.

The pandemic exposed how vulnerable Canada’s arts sector had become. Many organizations survived only by drawing on emergency funding, while artists faced years of lost income, cancelled performances, and interrupted careers. By the time Eunju Yi assumed leadership of the London Arts Council, the immediate crisis had passed, but recovery was far from complete. Cultural organizations continued to rebuild relationships with audiences, reconnect artists with opportunities, and restore confidence across the sector.

Yi understands the London Arts Council not simply as an organization that delivers programs but as part of a much larger cultural ecosystem. Throughout her interview, she repeatedly emphasizes supporting artists, connecting organizations, creating opportunities, and strengthening partnerships. Her philosophy begins with a simple conviction: “Art is not a luxury. It’s a basic human right.” If art is fundamental to healthy communities, then rebuilding the arts after the pandemic becomes about far more than reopening venues. It means restoring the relationships, networks, and creative capacity that allow communities to flourish.

Leadership as Stewardship

Rather than focusing on institutional survival alone, Yi describes leadership as creating the conditions in which others in the artist sector can succeed. She frequently speaks about connecting artists to opportunities, helping organizations collaborate, and ensuring that diverse voices remain part of London’s cultural life. Rather than viewing leadership as the management of a single organization, Yi understands leadership as stewardship of an interconnected cultural ecosystem. Success is measured not by the growth of the London Arts Council alone, but by whether artists, community organizations, audiences, and creative partnerships are able to flourish together.

This understanding reflects a broader shift in contemporary leadership theory away from hierarchical models of command and control. Helena Liu (2020) argues that leadership is fundamentally relational, emerging through the ways leaders reshape institutions and create opportunities for others. Yi embodies this perspective not by positioning herself at the centre of the arts community, but by working to ensure that artists, organizations, and community partners have the resources and relationships they need to thrive.

We will continue to do what we have to do. … You have to be open-minded. You have to critically analyze to understand the impact of our work and what kind of resources you will have to provide the community that you serve. And, how you can collaborate with a different sector and different partners to support London in general, and the artists, and artistic communities. … So many skills can be needed; there must be openness, and a strategic mind is always important. We will have to critically review things and what are opportunities and threats.

Turbulence Exposes Fault Lines

Periods of disruption rarely affect everyone equally. As communities recover, longstanding inequalities often become even more visible. Yi’s own experiences as an immigrant woman of colour have made her acutely aware of the assumptions that shape who is recognized as a leader and whose expertise is overlooked. She describes situations in which people directed questions about organizational matters, directions, and decisions to white colleagues rather than to her, despite her position as Executive Director. Rather than allowing these experiences to define her leadership, she came to understand them as reflections of broader structural biases rather than personal shortcomings.

These experiences have also shaped the way she approaches organizational change. Recovery, in her view, cannot simply recreate the systems that existed before the pandemic. Instead, rebuilding offers an opportunity to create more inclusive institutions that actively reduce barriers for artists and communities that have historically been marginalized.

For a lot of female artists and musicians, when they are touring the setups are not necessarily a safe environment for them. They often have to figure things out and push their way about doing it, just so they can have equal or equitable opportunities. Band opportunities mostly support the dominant male musicians or male bands. So there are many industry agencies and people who are working behind the scenes, really trying to address those issues by actively and intentionally hiring more female musicians and to try to provide them more opportunities. And provide settings that actually work for them so that they don’t feel gender violence or some kind of subtext while they are touring. There is a lot of education that is going on, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done too.

Rebuilding Trust

One of the clearest examples of this philosophy is the London Arts Council’s work with Indigenous artists and communities. Yi is clear that trust must be earned through long-term relationships, shared decision-making, and meaningful action.

We have this Indigenous London arts service area now created, which was started with the Indigenous London Arts website first. We created a dedicated space for Indigenous community members and artists. At the same time, we recognize that our organization operates within systems and structures shaped by colonial histories.

We tried to create a place, starting with a virtual space, where they can see the clear direction of it. It was created and led by the Indigenous staff members with the Indigenous designer. Then that concept became a service area.

Under her leadership, the Council has invested in Indigenous-led programming, developed dedicated spaces for Indigenous artists, and worked to recognize Indigenous sovereignty within its organizational structures. This work reflects Yi’s belief that rebuilding after crisis is not simply about restoring what existed before, but about creating stronger, more equitable institutions for the future.

Preparing for the Next Wave of Change

Recovery from one crisis rarely marks the end of uncertainty. Turbulent periods create rare moments when institutions can choose either to rebuild the familiar or to rethink the assumptions that made them vulnerable in the first place. For Yi, recovery therefore becomes an opportunity to build a more inclusive arts sector rather than simply restoring the one that existed before the pandemic.

Even as the arts sector continued rebuilding after COVID-19, new challenges emerged through rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. Once again, Yi approached disruption not with resistance but with curiosity and strategic thinking.

As AI became a growing topic within the arts sector, many artists expressed uncertainty about its impact on their work and future opportunities. I had an opportunity to participate in an AI-focused forum. Through the forum, insights were gained from academic, artistic, and industry perspectives, including the recognition that AI is increasingly influencing grant and application processes.

AI can offer meaningful benefits, particularly by helping artists, including those for whom English is a second language, communicate their ideas more effectively in competitive funding environments. At the same time, it is important that artistic vision, creativity, and decision-making remain rooted in the artist’s own work. In response to these opportunities and challenges, we established AI guidelines to support the ethical and responsible use of AI while preserving the integrity of artistic practice and maintaining a focus on human creativity and expression.

Recognizing both the opportunities and risks presented by AI, the London Arts Council developed guidance to help artists navigate emerging technologies while protecting the integrity of artistic practice. Rather than framing innovation and creativity as competing values, Yi argues that new technologies should expand opportunities without replacing the human imagination that lies at the heart of artistic expression.

Her response illustrates an important lesson about leadership in turbulent times: resilience is not a destination reached once recovery is complete. It is an ongoing capacity to adapt while remaining grounded in enduring values.

Protecting What Matters

When Eunju Yi became Executive Director, she inherited an arts sector that was recovering from one of the greatest disruptions in its history while simultaneously confronting new social, technological, and financial uncertainties. Her leadership demonstrates that turbulent times rarely end neatly. Contemporary leadership rarely consists of solving one crisis before returning to stability. More often, leaders are required to rebuild from one disruption while preparing for the next.

Throughout her work, Yi has consistently focused on protecting something larger than a single organization. By supporting artists, strengthening partnerships, advancing reconciliation, embracing innovation thoughtfully, and expanding opportunities for diverse communities, she has helped preserve the cultural foundations upon which resilient communities depend. In doing so, she reminds us that protecting culture is not simply about safeguarding the arts. It is about sustaining the creativity, relationships, and shared sense of belonging that enable communities to face uncertainty with hope.