Masters Degree in Arts Administration and Policy

Masters Degree in Arts Administration and Policy
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Introduction

Suppose you are highly interested in a career in the arts, but you aren’t interested in classroom teaching, teaching in a museum setting, or pursuing making a living as a working artist. What might your other options be? If you are interested in politics and policy, are community oriented, and want to pursue a career in which you would like to promote the arts and make a difference, a graduate degree in Arts Administration and Policy is worth considering.

This article provides the reader with an overview of what to expect in an Art Administration and Policy masters degree program, including the type of courses offered and the career options available to those with an Arts Administration and Policy degree.

Arts Administration and Policy Program Overview

Some Arts Administration and Policy programs are housed within an art education department, especially if the department is large. However, other Arts Adminstration and Policy programs can be found in business schools, education departments, and other departments in the humanities. Arts Administration master’s programs generally take one to two years to complete if the student attends full time.

Students enrolled in an Arts Administration and Policy program might expect to take courses covering topics such as audience development, organizational psychology, marketing and promotion, curating and exhibition management, arts and cultural policy, finance and accounting, legal issues, writing for arts administrators, and global perspectives. Students are also often expected to complete a hands-on internship at a nonprofit organization, art museum, or similar setting.

Careers for Arts Administration and Policy Graduates

Inidividuals who earn a masters degree in Arts Administration and Policy have a range of options open to them. Some graduates may opt to work for a not for profit arts organization in the capacity of an Executive Director, Director of Development, Artistic Director, fundraiser, or grantwriter. Others may opt to work for a state, local, or the federal government. In the U.S., federal agencies that hire arts administration graduates include the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Most states in the U.S. also have a state-level arts council that dispenses grant monies to nonprofit organizations statewide.

This post is part of the series: Graduate degree options for art educators

This series presents graduate program options for those interested in the broad field of Art Education.

  1. Getting a Master’s Degree in Art Education
  2. Getting a master’s degree in Arts Administration and Policy
  3. Masters Degrees in Museum Education