Broaden Your Opportunities in Arts Leadership
This 100% online program prepares individuals interested in contributing to the creative industries as innovative leaders. Through in-depth preparation, these arts leaders learn how to inspire their organizations and their stakeholders, sustain financial support, manage resources, and create innovative strategies that sustain organizations. The optimal student joins the program already possessing administrative experience in non-profit arts organizations and seeks to enhance their effectiveness as an arts administration professional and propel their career to a new level.
Program Fast Facts
- 100% online courses
- 12 courses comprised of 36 credit hours
- Nationally-regarded faculty in their respective subjects
- Applied learning through fieldwork experience and a capstone project
- All students must have one year of professional or volunteer arts administration experience to apply
Click Here for Video Transcript
Thank you for your passion for the arts, and your interest in the MA program in arts administration program at Winthrop University. My name is Robert Wildman, and I’ve been the Director of the program since 2018.
Ours is a 36 credit program, it is fully online and 100% asynchronous. That’s an adjustment for some people, but the beauty is that you can do your work on your own schedule – you don’t have to quit your day job and can schedule your school work around your life’s other activities. We build a sense of cohort among our students through online interactions, discussion boards and other projects. You may be surprised at how well you will get to know your classmates, even in an online program. And we have faculty members and students from around the country which enables you to build and expand your professional network. Our program’s reach now extends beyond the Carolinas to include students and faculty members from as far away as California and New York, Oregon, Ohio, Wisconsin and South Dakota.
The ideal student has a passion for the arts and is eager to help the arts not only survive but prosper in these challenging times when organizations are reinventing themselves. Many of our students are already working in the field of arts administration and are looking to propel their career to the next level. We’ve had a lot of teachers, some looking for a career transition and others looking to incorporate skills like advocacy and fundraising into their current work. Some are shortly out of college, looking for early career opportunities. Some are approaching retirement really, and thinking about second careers.
Our graduates are qualified to work not only in the non-profit arts sector, some have also worked in commercial art galleries and on Broadway. Many work in arts organizations that produce or present work, in management roles, doing marketing, fundraising, programming, or education, while others work for arts councils or funding agencies or service organizations or schools.
Thank you for considering our program. If you want to contact me directly, please do so and let’s set up a time to talk. I look forward to hearing from you!
Why Choose Winthrop's Master of Arts in Arts Administration Program?
- Supportive: Access to a program director and a range of faculty members from both practitioner and academic backgrounds to mentor you throughout the program.
- Professional: Create a professional development plan focused on leveraging what you have learned to expand and enrich your career advancement opportunities upon graduation.
- Practical: Complete a culminating capstone project with support from your faculty, the program director and your dedicated capstone advisor.
- Current: Learn from faculty who currently work in arts administration with specialized expertise in areas such as marketing, law, fundraising, advocacy and leadership.
- Convenient: Coursework is completed 100% online and designed to fit into the busy schedules of working professionals.
Program Learning Outcomes
In this online arts administration master’s program, you will:
- Learn key concepts in audience development, marketing, fundraising and financial management and legal principles pertaining to nonprofit arts.
- Prepare to lead in community engagement in the arts through arts advocacy and arts policy development.
- Explore topics in equity, diversity and inclusion, ethics, technology and leadership practices as they relate to nonprofit arts administration.
- Successfully complete a capstone project as a culminating experience.
Ranked 6th among Southern Public Universities in the South and 18th among Regional Public and Private Institutions by U.S. News & World Report.
For more information on the programs learning outcomes visit our curriculum page.
The Tools to Advance in Arts Administration
Arts administration remains a dynamic, competitive field with many opportunities for talented leaders. Your master’s in arts administration from Winthrop will qualify you for leadership roles in industries that may include:
- Arts and cultural center management
- Arts councils/commissions
- Arts services programs
- Communications
- Cultural tourism
- Education
- Heritage and preservation
- Marketing
- Museums
- Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations
- Performing and visual arts
- Public art
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
The MAAA program sends out a recurring newsletter where you can receive updates on student news, alumni highlights, and events to help you stay connected to the Winthrop art administration community. Sign up to join the MAAA community today!
Find Out More Now!
Be prepared with the professional skills, creative capabilities, and foundation in ethical leadership you need for success in nonprofit arts environments. For more information about our Arts Administration program, contact Program Director Robert Wildman at wildmanr@winthrop.edu, or Winthrop Graduate School Recruiter Hunter Huggins (MA in Arts Administration '22) at hugginsh@winthrop.edu.
For admissions, speak with an enrollment counselor toll-free at 833-257-1704 or request more information today.