The arts and cultural industries are key drivers of each nation's economy, contributing more than $730 billion annually in the United States alone. While the economic impact of the arts and cultural industries can be measured, their social impacts are often underestimated. Music, dance, visual art, and theatre are critical to how we perceive, interpret, and critique the world and people around us. The arts articulate our beliefs, politics, familial and community ties, and history.
Arts administrators are the bridge between creative practitioners and audiences and between arts institutions and supportive stakeholders. In today’s digitally driven, highly competitive, and increasingly global economy, traditional institutions for visual and performing arts face critical sustainability challenges. Leaders in the arts must adopt the creative thinking and problem-solving skills of an entrepreneur in order to envision new models for creative practice, audience engagement, and funding.
The interdisciplinary Master of Science in Arts Administration and Cultural Entrepreneurship (AACE) prepares arts leaders to both convey the human necessity of creative expression and apply creative thinking to manage resources, inspire audience engagement, and sustain financial support. The arts, and audience opportunities to experience them, are more dynamic and diverse than ever before, flourishing in major arts institutions as well as nonhierarchical organizations, from artist-run spaces and community organizations to annual festivals and pop-up exhibitions. It is time for a transformation in leadership training that matches the ingenuity of today’s most exciting experiments in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts. Arts leaders must also be equipped with the administrative, analytical, and technological skill sets necessary to excel within the complex, interdependent arts ecosystem.
The AACE curriculum is designed to meet the changing needs of arts leaders, from administrators in arts institutions to creative practitioners and entrepreneurs eager to make their art startup a reality. The program focuses on leadership innovation in a range of performance, visual arts, and cultural organizations. As an intellectual and practical course of study that merges the expertise of academics, creative professionals, administrators, and entrepreneurs, the program’s aim is to support sustainable creative practice.
- Concentrations and course offerings may vary by campus and/or by program modality. Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for the course availability each term at your campus or within your program modality.
- Certain options within the program may be required at certain campuses or for certain program modalities. Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for requirements at your campus or for your program modality.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Core Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| AACE 6000 | Arts and Culture Organizational Leadership | 3 |
| AACE 6010 | Planning for Arts and Cultural Organizations | 3 |
| AACE 6020 | Experiential Study in Arts Administration | 3 |
| AACE 6200 | Programming and Community Engagement for Cultural Entrepreneurs | 3 |
| AACE 6210 | Building Value Through Cultural Enterprise | 3 |
| AACE 6300 | Fundraising in the Arts | 3 |
Electives
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 3 |
| Information Technology for Arts and Cultural Organizations | |
| Advocacy and the Arts | |
| 3 |
| Innovative Approaches to Audience Engagement | |
| Managing Operations in Early Stage Ventures | |
| Business Planning for New Ventures | |
| Social Enterprise | |
| Global Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation | |
| Business Model Design and Innovation | |
| Emerging and Disruptive Technologies | |
| Lean Design and Development | |
| 6 |
| Information Technology for Arts and Cultural Organizations | |
| Advocacy and the Arts | |
| Innovative Approaches to Audience Engagement | |
| Design for Behavior and Experience | |
| Law of Information and Records | |
| Law and Strategy | |
| Regulation and Global Business Strategies | |
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
30 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required
