Arts Management Minor
Add management, marketing, finance, and fundraising skills for a career or creative practice in arts and culture.
Study arts management. Build practical skills. Strengthen your major.
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Program Type: Minor
Total Credit Hours: 18 Credits
Open to: MCLA undergraduates, except Arts Management majors
Why Add an Arts Management Minor?
The Arts Management Minor examines how cultural programs and organizations operate, with coursework in strategy, marketing, finance, and fundraising. Drawing on one of the few undergraduate Arts Management programs in the country, the minor adds practical management knowledge for students interested in creative work, cultural organizations, education, and nonprofit careers.
Internship Credit That Counts Toward the Minor
AMGT 540: Internship in Arts & Culture is an elective option, allowing eligible students to apply hands-on experience toward the minor. MCLA's internship program places students with cultural organizations such as the Clark Art Institute, MASS MoCA, and Shakespeare & Company in areas including development, marketing, public relations, and programming. AMGT 540: requires junior status and department approval.
An Entry Course That Also Meets a Core Requirement
AMGT 130: Introduction to Arts Management, a required course for the minor, carries the Core Creative Arts (CCA) attribute. Students may be able to use the course toward both the Creative Arts requirement and the Arts Management Minor.
Electives Built Around Your Interests
Choose five electives to develop knowledge in areas that fit your interests, including museums, performing arts, marketing, community arts, and artist entrepreneurship. AMGT 335: Museum Studies includes field trips to area museums and experience mounting a display, while AMGT 355: Artist Entrepreneurship develops practical business tools for individual artists.
Arts Management Minor Requirements
The Arts Management Minor requires 18 credits. Students complete one required course and choose five electives.
Required course:
- AMGT 130: Introduction to Arts Management, 3 credits
Choose five electives from the following courses:
- AMGT 245: Arts and Culture Marketing
- AMGT 255: Financial Management in Arts and Culture
- AMGT 305: Writing for Arts and Culture
- AMGT 330: Grants and Fundraising
- AMGT 335: Museum Studies
- AMGT 340: Performing Arts Management
- AMGT 345: Community Arts and Education
- AMGT 355: Artist Entrepreneurship
- AMGT 365: Arts and Culture Research
- AMGT 375: Arts and Culture Leadership
- AMGT 385: Legal Issues in Arts and Culture
- AMGT 430: Topics in Arts Management
- AMGT 445: Community Engagement in Arts & Culture
- AMGT 540: Internship in Arts & Culture
Prerequisites, department approval, and course availability may vary.
How to Add the Arts Management Minor
Enrolled MCLA students can add the Arts Management Minor by meeting with their academic advisor and the Arts Management department to plan the required courses and electives.
Who Can Add the Arts Management Minor?
The Arts Management Minor is available to students who want to add arts and culture management skills to another academic program. Arts Management B.A. majors cannot also complete the Arts Management Minor because of overlapping program requirements.
Art
Art students can add business and management skills that support exhibiting, promoting,
funding, and managing their creative work. Arts Management coursework adds practical
knowledge in areas such as marketing, finance, fundraising, and artist entrepreneurship.
Music, Industry and Production
Music students can add deeper study of management, marketing, finance, and fundraising
for arts and culture organizations. Because AMGT 130: Introduction to Arts Management
is part of the Music, Industry and Production B.A., students should consult an advisor
about how existing coursework may apply toward the minor.
History
History students interested in museums, historic sites, and other public-facing cultural
organizations can add management and fundraising knowledge through the Arts Management
Minor. MCLA also offers a separate Public History Minor combining History and Arts
Management coursework.
Business Administration
Business Administration students can apply their existing understanding of organizations
and business practices specifically to the cultural sector, with Arts Management coursework
covering areas such as arts marketing, nonprofit finance, fundraising, and leadership.
Theatre and Communication
Theatre students can study the management of performance artists and organizations
through courses such as AMGT 340: Performing Arts Management. Communication students
can develop skills relevant to cultural organizations through electives in arts marketing
and professional writing.
Skills You Will Develop
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FAQs
A: Yes. AMGT 540 Internship in Arts & Culture is an approved elective for the minor.
The course provides practical experience in areas such as marketing, development,
community engagement, education, and program administration. Junior status and department
approval are required.
A: The Arts Management Minor focuses on how arts and culture organizations operate,
with coursework in areas such as strategy, finance, fundraising, and marketing. The
21-credit Public History Minor combines History and Arts Management coursework with
a focus on presenting and interpreting history for public audiences.
A: The two minors have overlapping course options, but courses used to complete the
Public History Minor cannot also count toward the Arts Management Minor. If you are
interested in completing both, work with your academic advisor to determine how to
meet the requirements for each.
A: Yes. The minor adds business and management knowledge that can support a professional
creative practice. You can study marketing, financial management, fundraising, and
artist entrepreneurship, including practical tools for managing and promoting your
work.
A: MCLA Gallery 51 offers students opportunities to gain hands-on experience in exhibition planning and gallery operations and is staffed primarily by student workers. Contact the Arts Management program or Gallery 51 to learn about current student employment opportunities.
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