Work Wisdom: Masami Kawazato ’00

At Macalester, Masami Kawazato ’00 was pretty sure she wanted a career in the arts. She assumed it would be in music. The clarinet player had managed the student symphony for three years for her work-study job. Conversations with her clarinet instructor, Shelley Hanson, director of Macalester’s Wind Symphony, had helped her to see that while a full-time musician position might not be possible, there were other ways to work in the field.

When Kawazato graduated with a degree in history and minors in music and French, however, she had no job offers. She took a job in a gift shop, and she built her career in the arts from there. Today, as program director at the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council in St. Paul, Kawazato directs grant programs that improve arts access for communities through support to artists and organizations. She works closely with artists who are applying for grants, making a special effort to, as she says, “answer questions in a clear, accessible way,” as a former boss did for her at the start of her own career. Here she shares more about her career journey, and what she’s learned along the way.

Find A Way In

After graduation, I found a listing to work at a satellite location for the Walker Art Center shop at the Galleria mall in Edina, Minn. That was my first nonprofit arts job. I worked in the shop part time, and eventually I co-managed it. Later, there was an opening for a membership and development position within the Walker. I started my nonprofit arts administration career there doing fundraising, and I stayed for a decade.

Seek Clarity

When I started at the Walker, I didn’t know anything about nonprofits. The membership and development job that opened up was all about general operations fundraising. My boss at the time told me I should apply. I read the job description, and I literally did not understand what it was asking for because I didn’t know what general operations meant. I told my boss. He very kindly walked me through the job description line by line—this is what this means and this is probably what you will be doing. And I thought, “Oh, I could do that.”

Be Direct

After I left the Walker, I worked for myself for a couple years. I had volunteered for the Minnesota Regional Arts Council in the past. One day, I emailed MRAC and wrote: “Heard you are understaffed. I am underemployed. Can we work something out?” They took me on as a contractor to help with the grant program. During that time, one of the program directors retired, and I applied for that job. I didn’t necessarily plan for it to be a career in the beginning, but it does track with nonprofits arts administration.

Don’t Overstay

I’m Japanese, and in Japan longevity with the workplace is a thing. My dad worked for the same company for thirty-plus years. It’s fairly unusual for folks to move jobs on the regular like it is here, so I had that cultural context. I believed for a long time that merit leads to promotion and recognition. I no longer believe that. Some people know when to leave without being told. It took me a long time to develop that awareness and those skills.

Center Yourself

It’s totally OK to leave jobs. You don’t have to feel bad about it. Does your employer do enough to make you want to stay there? Does it feel good to go to work? Do you feel stressed about work? All of these things go together. At the beginning of my career, I didn’t understand the balance of it all and I wished I had centered myself. Taking care of my health, taking more vacation days—I wish I had started doing all of those things a lot earlier.

Say Yes to the Person

In grantmaking, I meet a lot of different people, and not everybody ends up getting a grant. For an individual artist, that can feel like a no about themselves. I try to make it really clear: I’m not saying no to you, the person; I’m just saying no to this idea at this particular time. Say yes to the person, and no to the idea.

Keep the Cycle Going

When you are networking or doing informational interviews, be thoughtful about people’s time. If you say thirty minutes, keep it at thirty. Be clear about what you want to talk about so that they are not surprised or unprepared. Always thank them at the end and always ask them, Who else should I talk with? And keep that cycle going.