Arts Administration Major

Explore a broad overview of mid-to-late 20^th century and contemporary art through the lens of exhibition making. You will study a comprehensive proposal for a thematic group exhibition. Topics include the evolution of gallery and exhibition contexts, installation design, the rhetorical impact of artworks on each other, the role of the given physical site and layout on the works displayed, and the exhibition as a mode of interpretation and research. 

You will undertake focused, in-depth study through a seminar with applied learning of a practicum. Over the semester, you will work with other students to create an exhibition in one of the campus galleries. In the first half of the course, you will study the art you are tasked with exhibiting through assigned readings, independent research, field trips, and guest speakers.  

Explore the relationship between art making and entrepreneurship with an active focus on self-discovery. You will learn using a seminar format. Classes consist of group discussions, lectures, projects, independent work (readings/videos), guest speakers, and field trips. You will work with an online syllabus and website, including electronic versions of all readings/texts, links to artists, writers, theorists, galleries, business people, films, videos, case studies, and other online content; accounting and marketing software, e-commerce, social media, etc. 

Study topics related to arts and culture leadership and management. Course content focuses on practical skills necessary for careers as professional artists, curators, administrators, and leaders of arts and culture organizations. Explore administrative principles, program development, practical applications, and trends in the current arts and cultural environment. You will work with principles of nonprofit management and structures, concise business writing, grant writing, demographics research, fundraising, arts education, ethical practice in community-based arts programs, marketing, communications, and leadership styles. 

Experience stage management through this course, which is divided into pre-production, rehearsal period, tech/running, and maintenance of production segments. Explore the different venues of theater, from small storefront theater to large regional theaters. Although the emphasis is on management practices for theater venues, there is an element of the practical, day-to-day “nuts and bolts” in the stage management process.