Arts Administration

Arts Administration combines art or music with communications, marketing or business studies to prepare students for a wide variety of rewarding careers in the world of arts, design and culture.

Students screen printing in an art class

Arts and culture are big business—and growing all the time

Our students combine their passion for the arts with business and communications skills that are in high demand. They put these to work at internships in museums, galleries, performing arts organizations, design firms and art studios. This winning combination opens doors to exciting careers in places like Boston, New York, London and Hong Kong.

Students have the unique opportunity to enroll in AADM 236: The New York Institute, an intensive month-long study course held in Manhattan that introduces them to the New York art world.

You'll meet leaders in the field throughout your studies so you can discover the areas that interest you most in this highly personalized program.

Students are required to take 52 semester hours, including 32 in the Department of Art and Music and 20 in one of the three professional tracks listed below.

Arts administration students can customize their major in two ways; they may choose between the Visual Arts and Music tracks, and they may choose a pre-professional track in Business, Public Relations and Marketing or Digital Communications.

Arts Administration Core Courses (required for all majors):

AADM 143	Boston Arts in Action	4
AADM 390	Seminar: Arts in the Community	8

Visual Arts Track:

Two out of the four studio courses listed below (students cannot choose both ART/COMM 138 and ART/COMM 139):

ART 111	Draw What You See	4
ART 112	Color Studio	4
ART 138	The Poetry of Photography	4
ART 139	Color Photography CSI	4

Three art history courses:

ART 141	Introduction to Art History: Egypt to the Renaissance	4
ART 142	Introduction to Art History: Baroque to the 20th Century	4
	One elective in art history

Music Track:

MUS 120	Introduction to Music: The Middle Ages to Early Romanticism	4
MUS 121	Making Music Modern	4
	Three electives in music history, theory, or performance

Business Track:

Core:

BUS 100	Introduction to Business and Management	4
ACCT 110	Financial Accounting	4
BUS 250	Principles of Marketing	4

Electives (choose 2):

BUS 221	Project Management	4
BUS 224	Social Action Leaders	4
BUS 234	Organizational Communication & Behavior	4
BUS 291	Diversity, Equity & Inclusion	4

Public Relations and Marketing Track:

Core:

BUS 250	Principles of Marketing	4
COMM 186	Introduction to Public Relations and Intergrated Marketing Communications	4
COMM 281	Content Creation and Strategy	4

Electives (choose 2):

ACCT 110	Financial Accounting	4
BUS 230	Why We Buy	4
BUS 231	Brand Management	4
BUS 234	Organizational Communication & Behavior	4
BUS 291	Diversity, Equity & Inclusion	4
BUS 335	Marketing Research	4
COMM 265	Editing Copy and Proof	4
COMM 286	Intro to Advertising Practice and Branding	4
COMM 323	Digital Cultures: Communication and Social Media	4

Digital Communications Track:

Core:

CS 112	Introduction to Computer Science	4
COMM 210	Introduction to Graphic Design: Principles and Practice	4
COMM 244	Web I: Design for the World Wide Web	4

Electives (choose 2):

ART 139	Color Photography CSI	4
ART 232	Advanced Digital Workshop	4
COMM 323	Digital Cultures: Communication and Social Media	4
COMM 333	Web II: Responsive Design	4
CS 113	Gui and Event-Driven Programming	4
CS 321	Web-Centric Programming	4
CS 333	Database Management Systems	4
LIS 432	Concepts in Cultural Heritage Informatics	3
LIS 446	Art Documentation	3
LIS 435	Music Librarianship	3

ART 139: cannot be double-counted as a studio class for the major

LIS 432, LIS 446, LIS 435: consent of the instructor

A minor in arts administration requires

AADM 143	Boston Arts in Action	4

Plus:

One other AADM course
Two art history or two music history courses

And one course from the following:

ACCT 110	Financial Accounting	4
BUS 100	Introduction to Business and Management	4
COMM 122	Media Writing and Editing	4
COMM 186	Introduction to Public Relations and Intergrated Marketing Communications	4

Internships are a key component of the arts administration program. There are a myriad of opportunities to build your skills, résumé and mentoring relationships with arts organizations in Boston and beyond.

Our students have recently found internship positions with world-class organizations like Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Boston Ballet.

So you know that Simmons is a great place to be, you've learned about our programs, maybe even come for a visit...now you're ready to apply! Let's get started.

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