Los Angeles, the creative capital of the world, is our laboratory.
The MA in Arts Management program provides valuable experience and career-launching connections for a wide range of career paths. Our ties to the vibrant and dynamic Southern California arts community offer practical research on real issues and close interaction with experienced faculty. You will have a first-hand opportunity to master the skills and knowledge to shape the future of arts organizations regionally, nationally, and globally.
Turn your passion into your profession. Arts institutions in the profit and nonprofit sectors are seeking capable managers with an understanding of the arts, culture, and business to head museums, theatre and dance companies, music and arts education organizations, and cultural centers, and who can advocate for the future of the arts. The Arts Management program blends the best of the Drucker School of Management and the School of Arts & Humanities to balance business courses with graduate-level courses in the study of culture, history, and the arts.
Program Highlights
You can explore all options, encompassing for-profit and nonprofit organizational structures in all disciplines.
Complete your degree in three semesters or customize the time it takes to fit your professional schedule.
The personalized, seminar-style learning environment includes coursework in arts organization dynamics, legal foundations, cultural policy, evaluation, marketing and communications, fundraising, and strategic planning.
Take three elective courses in any combination of your choosing, or create a concentration in one area, from a range of options.
Fellowships and federal work-study opportunities are available.
Program At a Glance
UNITS
40 units
ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME*
3 semesters
*This estimate assumes full-time registration and pursuit of the degree. Actual completion times will vary and may be higher, depending on full- or part-time course registration, units transferred, and time to complete other degree requirements.
COURSES BEGIN
Fall | Spring
DEGREE AWARDED
MA in Arts Management
Featured Courses
ARMGT 300
Arts Organization Dynamics
Introduces students to careers in arts administration and demystifies the various domains, genres, and scales of work advanced by arts management professionals. 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 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 321
Arts Marketing & Communications
Introduces key marketing concepts, theories, and practical applications through an analysis of relevant case studies, readings, lectures, and discussions, teaching students to think strategically and proactively about marketing problems.
ARTBUS/ARMGT 366
Anatomy of an Arts Event
Takes students through the anatomy of successful arts events, performances, and festivals and explores the context in which they take place. Discusses key marketing and positioning tactics to raise institutional visibility and strategic measures to attract significant revenue.
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.
Field Study
Field study travel provides behind-the-scenes access to artists, art businesses and 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.
Visiting the Pearl Lam Galleries at Gilman Barracks Contemporary Art Center, Singapore
Students trying on traditional Noh masks backstage at the Hosho Style Noh Theater in Tokyo, Japan
The Yoshio Taniguchi-designed Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum
Nighttime vista from the roof of the famous Marina Bay Sands in Singapore
Albert Lim and Linda Neo talking about their collection and introducing students to the work of Jane Lee in Singapore
Choi Jung-hwa's "Alchemy" (2014) at the Leeum Samsung Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
Capstone Sequences
Every Arts Management student completes a capstone sequence, which is the culmination of your degree, synthesizing everything that you have learned throughout the program. It is 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 Arts Management program may complete their degree requirements through any sequence below.
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 partnering organization and faculty, and present your work and findings for feedback and assessment. Some organizations offer a stipend; others do not.
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.
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.
You can also complete the Thesis Sequence by continuing your research that originated in the Research and Evaluation for the Arts course that is completed in the spring semester.
Concentrations & Electives
A highlight of the arts management program is the ability to take three elective courses in any combination of your choosing, or to create a concentration in one area, from a range of options:
Archival Studies
Art
Cultural Studies
Curation
Educational Studies
Evaluation
History
Human Resources
Information Systems and Technology
Leadership
Literary Studies
Museum Studies
Music
Organizational Science
Public Art
Politics and Policy
Presenting and Production
Transdisciplinary course
Faculty
The Center’s faculty are renowned experts in arts and culture management – both as academics and practitioners. Many courses are led by the arts professionals, creatives, and artists who are driving change in Los Angeles and beyond. Additional faculty are drawn from CGU’s Drucker School of Management, School of Arts & Humanities, and Museum Leadership Institute.
Laura Zucker
Director, Center for Business & Management of the Arts
