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Arts Management

MA in Arts Management

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The Master’s program in Arts Management offered in Los Angeles equips you with the tools to create, facilitate, and evaluate work in the visual and performing arts.

With applied skills in administration, finance, and programming, graduates of the Arts Management program emerge prepared for fulfilling careers in nonprofits and social enterprise, public agencies and foundations, arts collectives, and creative communities.

The MA in Arts Management program provides you unparalleled access to diverse leaders and institutions in LA’s thriving arts and cultural scene. Faculty from LA’s professional arts community complement the expertise of scholars from the School of Arts & Humanities, and the Museum Leadership Institute.

Program Highlights
  • Core courses provide a foundation in business and management skills essential to careers in the creative industries.
  • The personalized, seminar-style learning environment begins with coursework in art management dynamics, public policy, evaluation, marketing and communications, fundraising, and strategic planning. The core is fortified by elective courses and extracurricular programs that speak to your passions and career goals.
  • You also benefit from access to the full curriculum of the MA in Art Business.

Program At a Glance

UNITS
40 units

COMPLETION TIME
3 semesters

COURSES BEGIN
Fall | Spring

DEGREE AWARDED
MA in Arts Management

Featured Courses

ARMGT 300A
Intro to Arts Management Dynamics

Introduces students to careers supporting the creation, delivery, presentation, and preservation of the arts and culture across diverse social, cultural, and economic settings. Provides a broad overview of the discipline while immersing students in the arts ecosystem of Los Angeles, a global city. Includes critical reading and writing, group discussion, presentations, guest speakers, and site visits.

ARMGT 350
Theory & Practice of Institutional Leadership

Explores the theories, processes, and practices behind strategic planning and decision making in arts organizations, including management strategies, business plans, fundraising, human resources, facilities, and program development.

ARMGT 365A
Performing Arts Producing and Presenting

Prepares students to pursue careers in the performing arts today by exploring the various individual roles and organizational structures within the performing arts landscape including: 1) artist representation, administration, producing entities, and presenting models; 2) shifting paradigms between artists, performances spaces, and communities, and 3) the touring of work via formal and informal support systems.

ARMGT 410
Creative Industries Colloquium

Provides students with an introduction to the curriculum concentrations offered in the program that may be pursued in subsequent semesters. 

ARMGT 351
Arts & Cultural Policy

Provides an understanding of the importance of cultural policy and how it influences cultural production, consumption, and other forms of participation in the arts in the U.S., with an emphasis
on how cultural policy is developed and implemented at the local government level.

ARTBUS/ARMGT 377
Curatorial Practice

Learn the function and role of the contemporary curator through a year-long cycle of the hands-on planning, mounting, and managing of a contemporary art exhibition in Los Angeles.

View All Courses

Field Study

Field study travel introduces students to emerging and established art markets, and provides behind the scenes access to artists, art businesses, arts organizations, and leaders in the field. The trips are designed to accelerate the formation of international networks and ensure familiarity with the complexity of the international arts landscape.

View recent international itineraries:

Taiwan

Mexico City

Past global destinations include:

  • Singapore
  • Hong Kong
  • Shanghai
  • Beijing
  • Seoul
  • Tokyo
  • Mexico City

Past destinations within LA include:

  • Institute of Contemporary Art, LA
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, LA
  • The Broad
Capstone Sequences

Every CBMArts student completes a capstone sequence, which is the culmination of your degree, synthesizing everything that you have learned throughout the program. It is also designed as a bridge to your professional life, serving as a powerful demonstration of the skills you’ve developed at CGU as you enter or continue your work in the arts and cultural field. Each capstone sequence comprises both course work and a final project or deliverable that stems from your own intellectual and creative pursuits.

Students in the Art Business and Arts Management programs may complete their degree requirements through any sequence below. (At this time, interfield students are required to follow the Entrepreneurship Sequence.)

Practicum Sequence

Explore the arts and cultural field with partnering arts organizations such as museums, theaters, presenters, funders, and government agencies.

You might act as a consultant, providing valuable work related to the organization’s articulated needs and goals. Or you might act as a researcher and observer, offering data and insights about the organization’s place and operations within the larger arts ecosystem. Work closely with a specific representative of the partnering organization and CBMArts faculty and present your work and findings for feedback and assessment. Some organizations offer a stipend; others do not.

There are several different routes to identifying a partnering organization:

  • There may be a proposal through which the organization identifies and details a specific project they need done, or a faculty member might connect you to an organization in which you are particularly interested.
  • You may propose a project to an organization (which would need to be accepted).
  • In some cases, you can identify a relevant project within an organization with which you are already working so that your work can satisfy both academic and career objectives.
  • If you are participating in the Field Impact Fellowship program, it may be possible to craft a project that will satisfy both the Practicum Sequence and fulfill paid work hours.

Practicum Sequence Coursework:
Capstone Management (2 units)
Practicum (4 units)

Entrepreneurship Sequence

Research, design, plan, and pitch a new venture for the arts and cultural sector.

Your venture can stand independently of existing arts institutions and businesses, or it can propose innovations for existing organizations. New ventures can be for-profit firms or nonprofit initiatives, or something in between (such as public benefit corporations). Develop comprehensive and persuasive arguments for why your new venture will positively impact the sector and attract the necessary resources and support to get it off the ground.

The culmination of the Entrepreneurship Sequence entails a public-facing pitch showcase, during which students present their new ventures to panels of jurors who have been invited by the students themselves. These jurors, often professionals and leaders from both the arts and startup communities, provide feedback and serve as important contacts in helping turn the ventures into reality.

Entrepreneurship Sequence Coursework:
New Venture Creation (2 units)
Startup Studio (4 units)

Thesis Sequence

Complete your degree requirements with the successful execution of a conventional Master’s thesis.

This thesis will most likely stem from completed coursework that stimulated your curiosity. Master’s theses are primarily research-driven and must contribute new knowledge or understanding to the arts and cultural field. To meet this high standard, you must demonstrate a clear capacity to frame a research question and execute the writing required to make a substantive contribution.

To successfully complete the Thesis Sequence, you will identify a thesis advisor and gain approval for your proposal prior to your final semester of study (or the semester in which you intend to complete the thesis).

Thesis Sequence Coursework:
Independent Study (4-6 units)

Faculty & Research

  • Jonathan T.D. Neil profile image

    Jonathan T.D. Neil

    Director, Center for Business & Management of the Arts

    Research Interests

    Modern and contemporary art, Architectural history, International art market, Critical writing/theory, History of photography

    View profile ›
  • Kibum Kim profile image

    Kibum Kim

    Program Director, Art Business

    Research Interests

    Art Market Dynamics, Comparative Art Markets

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  • Laura Zucker profile image

    Laura Zucker

    Interim Head of Arts Management
    Associate Director, Center for Business & Management of the Arts

    Research Interests

    Arts management, Nonprofits

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  • Alma Ruiz profile image

    Alma Ruiz

    Senior Fellow, Center for Business & Management of the Arts

    Research Interests

    Contemporary Latin American Art, Exhibition Making & Managing​

    View profile ›
  • Melody Kanschat profile image

    Melody Kanschat

    Executive Director, Museum Leadership Institute

    View profile ›

Where You Can Find Our Alumni

Request information about the Arts Management program

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Jill Steggall

Assistant Director of Admissions
T: 909-607-7811
E: jill.steggall2@cgu.edu