Description:

The BA program in arts management at Purchase College is designed for students seeking a foundation for further education and for careers in a wide range of creative industries, including dance and theatre companies; symphony orchestras and opera; galleries and museums; presenting and community arts centers; festival and concert venues; and record companies and artist management agencies.

Led by a diverse faculty of arts management educators and field professionals, the BA program prepares a new generation of engaged managers who value the arts and are committed to the creative process. Emphasis is placed on developing critical inquiry, creative thinking, and the business and communication skills necessary to support the arts and entertainment industry in a changing environment.

The major in arts management integrates:

  • practical business courses focused on building the core knowledge and skills vital to supporting a wide variety of arts-based initiatives
  • performing and visual arts history, theory, and practice-based courses
  • exploration of chronic and current factors affecting artists and arts entities
  • applied learning opportunities to pursue individual career interests and to gain practical insight and experience through internships, interaction with field professionals and organizations, and a yearlong case study in arts management
  • a broad-based education in the liberal arts and sciences

The program also offers a minor in arts management, which is open to students in all disciplines.

The tradition of artistic excellence and diversity at Purchase College, an accomplished faculty with wide-ranging experience, and the college’s proximity to the vast cultural resources in Westchester County and New York City are among the outstanding features enhancing the arts management program.

Requirements:

In addition to meeting  General Education requirements and other degree requirements, all arts management majors must meet the following requirements (47–48 credits).

Freshman and Sophomore Years (20 credits):

  1. AMG 1100/Fundamentals of Arts Management: 4 credits
  2. AMG 2200/Finance for the Arts  OR AMG3030/Finance for the Arts II OR
    ECO 2085/Arts and Entertainment in Economics: 4 credits
  3. AMG 2300/Communicating the Arts: 3 credits OR AMG3015/Leadership and Management Techniques, 3 credits
  4. LBS2017/Structured Inquiry Across the Disciplines*: 3 credits
  5. Elective courses in literary, performing, or visual arts history, theory, or practice: 6 credits (at least 3 credits to be completed in the freshman year and before registering for AMG 1100)

Junior and Senior Years (27-28 credits):

  1. AMG 3100/Funding the Arts:  OR AMG4115/Arts Funding and Capital Formation, 4 credits
  2. AMG 3170/Arts and Entertainment Law: 4 credits
  3. AMG 3520/Principles of Arts Marketing: 4 credits
  4. AMG 3995/Arts Management Internship: 4 credits
  5. AMG —/Arts management elective: 3–4 credits

    NOTE: AMG 3030/Finance for the Arts II may not be used to fulfill this requirement

  6. SPJ 4990/Senior Project I: 4 credits
  7. SPJ 4991/Senior Project II: 4 credits

Notes:

  1. Students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses required for the major, excluding the internship and senior project. Students who do not meet these standards must repeat the course(s) or complete acceptable substitutes (for example, ECO 2085 instead of AMG 2200), chosen in consultation with the program faculty.
  2. AMG 1100 is a prerequisite for required upper-level arts management courses.
  3. Students are strongly encouraged to take additional courses in the literary, performing, and visual arts and in arts management, beyond those required for the major.
  4. *Effective Fall 2024, students will take LBS2017/Structured Inquiry Across the Disciplines instead of Junior Seminar AMG3880.

Minor requirements:

The minor in arts management is designed for students in all disciplines who are interested in exploring the field of arts management and gaining the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to promote and support the arts.

Students interested in pursuing this minor must submit a completed Application for a Program of Minor Study to the Chair of the arts management program. Upon admission to the minor, the student will be assigned a minor advisor from the arts management faculty.

Academic Requirements for the Minor in Arts Management

Five courses, as follows:

  1. AMG 1100/Fundamentals of Arts Management
  2. AMG 2200/Finance for the Arts
  3. AMG 3100/Funding the Arts
  4. AMG 3170/Arts and Entertainment Law
  5. AMG 3520/Principals of Arts Marketing

Notes:

  1. Students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses required for the minor. Students who do not meet these standards must repeat the course(s) or complete acceptable substitutes, chosen in consultation with the program faculty.
  2. AMG 1100 is a prerequisite for required upper-level arts management courses.

Faculty

  • Assistant Professor of Practice in Arts Management
    • BA, Marymount Manhattan College
    • MFA, Columbia University
  • Assistant Professor of Practice in Arts Management
    • BM, Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford
    • MA, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Assistant Professor of Arts Management
    Lecturer in Entrepreneurship in the Arts, Minor Advisor for Law and Justice Studies
    • BA, Yale University
    • JD, New York University
  • Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Arts Management
    • BS, Northeastern University
    • MA, PhD, University of Westminster (England)
  • Assistant Professor of Practice in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship
    • BS, New York University
    • MNO, Case Western Reserve University
  • Lecturer in Arts Management
    • BA, Bryn Mawr College
    • MBA, Yale School of Management 

Contributing Faculty

  • Instructor, Entrepreneurship in the Arts
    • BA, College of William and Mary
    • MS, Drexel University
  • Assistant Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship in the Arts
    Department Chair, Entrepreneurship in the Arts
    • BS, MS, Drexel University

Courses