MBA in Arts Administration
Managers and administrative leaders of arts organizations provide a bridge between art, artists and audiences. They combine the tools of business—management, marketing, accounting, operations, negotiation—with the tools of community-building—fundraising, development, education, outreach, volunteerism, policy, partnership—to make thriving spaces for arts and culture.
Center of Expertise
Bolz Center for Arts Administration
The Bolz Center is in its fourth decade of preparing administrative leaders of arts and culture. Named in recognition of the generous support of Robert and John Bolz, and the Eugenie M. Bolz Family Foundation, the Bolz Center provides a unique combination of coursework, networking and hands-on experience to prepare graduates for the special challenges of working in arts and culture.
The Bolz Center plays an active role in defining and developing the national nonprofit arts and culture industry through leadership roundtables, publishing and special projects and the program director’s weblog, The Artful Manager.
Arts Administration
The field of “Arts Administration” places special emphasis on nonprofit or public organizations that make only a portion of their total revenues from earned income (such as ticket sales or gate fees) and rely on contributed income to cover the true costs of their work. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations foster a vast array of cultural experiences in small towns, big cities and through many media—from symphonies to jazz bands, theaters to sculpture gardens, museums to community arts centers, public radio to on-line ventures.
Madison’s new $200-million Overture Center for the Arts offers a unique learning opportunity for Bolz Center students. (photo: Zane Williams)
Program Expertise
The Wisconsin MBA in Arts Administration is one of North America’s oldest graduate business degree programs in arts and cultural management, and continues to set the standard for preparing business leaders for the field. The two-year intensive program balances professional practice with high-level business thinking. Extensive networking—through our national guest speaker series, alumni engagement and close interaction with MBA classmates—is also an essential program element.
An early catchphrase of the Arts Administration program remains true to our mission today: “The arts must survive as a business to thrive as art.” For those passionate about exploring that balance, this MBA program offers an ideal opportunity.
“The Bolz Center program provided the foundation for so many of the responsibilities I’ve handled over the years, from marketing and accounting to strategic planning. It’s always a thrill, when the curtain goes up, to see the high artistic caliber, personal growth and sheer joy of dancing on Ballet Hispanico’s stage. I’m very proud of my role in making that happen.”
Verdery Roosevelt
Executive Director
Ballet Hispanico
New York, N.Y.
Applied Learning
Arts Administration students gain real-world project management experience, industry insight and build their own professional network through:
- Part-time paid project assistantships with local and campus arts organizations, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Overture Center for the Arts, Memorial Union, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison Children’s Museum, University Opera and the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- Optional summer internships at organizations around the country. Recent placements have included the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institute and Americans for the Arts.
- Individual interaction with practitioners through the Bolz Center guest speaker series and the Center’s Alumni Advisory Board. Recent speakers have included top-level managers from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Walker Art Center, Ballet Hispanico of New York, Ohio Historical Society, National Arts Strategies in Washington, D.C., The Henry Ford Museum and many others.
Real Results
Bolz Center alumni manage hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cultural facilities and programming across the nation, applying their business knowledge every day of their professional lives. They make a real difference in their communities, sustaining and supporting the power of creative expression and cultural heritage.
Curriculum
The MBA degree in Arts Administration builds its foundation on the Wisconsin MBA’s core business curriculum, adding specialized seminars on arts administration and nonprofit management issues. Students focus on specific areas of interest through departments across campus and through their second-year thesis.
Selected Job Titles of Our Graduates
President and CEO, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Development Director, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
President and CEO, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Manager, Dance Programming,
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Vice President of Finance and Administration,
Mystic Seaport Museum
Chief Administrative Officer, The Guthrie Theater
Finance Director, Mark Morris Dance Group
Communications Specialist, National Endowment for the Arts
Director of Museum Services, Asian Art Museum
of San Francisco
Vice President for Marketing & Communications,
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Controller, McCarter Theatre, Princeton University
Contact
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Bolz Center for Arts Administration Andrew Taylor, Director |