Arts and Cultural Management
The mission of the 42-credit MS in Arts and Cultural Management (ACM) is to build on Pratt Institute’s international reputation for developing creative leaders. Our program aims to develop leaders who are able to use their creativity strategically to foster creative expression, build creative community, and shape a commerce of ideas and images in an increasingly challenged and mediated world. ACM prepares participants to lead and manage in an emerging cultural landscape that includes new challenges, new media, and new forms of cultural expression. Based in experiential learning, the program creates a collaborative learning community that sharpens critical thinking, deepens reflective practice, and develops strategic leadership skills.
Located at Pratt’s Manhattan campus, the program encourages participants to consider their role in society and their respective communities as cultural arbiters and educators. This approach yields arts and cultural leaders who are equipped with the necessary theoretical, analytical, and practical skills to respond creatively to the changing cultural, economic, and social environments in which they work. The two-year ACM program, created to bridge the creative disciplines with the strategic disciplines, provides a leadership education more focused than an MBA on the special needs of cultural leaders managing 21st-century creative enterprises across the boundaries of private, nonprofit, and government sectors. Our program objective is to develop reflective leaders who can collaborate to create sustainable strategic advantages using our Triple Bottom Line by Design plus Culture (TBLDandC) strategic framework. By expanding the coursework to include nonprofit management practices, public policy, and other contemporary issues, ACM stresses the importance of simultaneously developing business acumen and a sense of social responsibility. These goals are accomplished by:
- strengthening each participant’s ability to deal with a wide range of critical artistic, institutional, and business problems in practical and theoretical terms;
- increasing the individual’s ability to manage complex, cross-disciplinary, and competing problems and tensions that are inherent in arts and cultural business environments;
- utilizing technology and new media to advance strategic goals;
- providing practical skills for negotiating organizational and artistic conflicts;
- broadening outlooks on the social, economic, and political climate and the role of arts and cultural institutions in society;
- sharpening personal capacities for understanding and solving organizational and human relations problems;
- developing communications skills for the effective exchange of ideas and information;
- stretching the individual’s capacities to anticipate and effectively manage change fueled by external forces;
- developing the leadership capabilities of each participant; and
- sharing the ideas and experiences of a diverse group of promising arts and cultural managers.
The ACM program prepares participants for rapidly shifting cultural, economic, and social environments and political contexts. It provides the skills necessary to lead and manage in a changing world and an increasingly challenged ecosystem.
The ACM program provides participants with the opportunity to:
- join a creative learning community of professionals with diverse expertise;
- develop a strategic skill set that bridges public, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors;
- explore the role of art, culture, and meaning-making in shaping equity, economy, and ecology of place;
- create and expand professional networks worldwide.
- examine trends and global challenges;
- use technology to advance dialogue and engagement;
- refine communication, collaboration, and conflict-management skills; and
- lead the development of thriving cultures and creative economies.
Leadership coaching is a key component of the ACM program. It provides participants with an opportunity to reflect on their leadership style and identify strengths and stretch steps. Coaches work one-to-one and with participant teams and serve as catalysts for positive change and ongoing development related to career needs. Coaches enable and support participants. They assist in conducting assessments, enabling participants to develop specific personal and professional development action plans, and enabling teams to deepen their skill in managing conflict and encouraging innovation. Our goal is to help you design and develop a life as a leader and manager of creative enterprise.
Classes are offered on alternating weekends in Manhattan to accommodate working professionals and those who may wish to pursue full-time internships.
Chair
Mary McBride, PhD
Assistant to the Chair
Xue Bai
Office
Tel: 212.647.7560
acm@pratt.edu
www.pratt.edu/arts-cultural-management
Faculty
www.pratt.edu/graduate arts-cultural management/faculty
Historical overview of how the arts and cultural programs have been marketed in the U.S. Examines current trends and developments through case studies. Topics will include theories of marketing and the development of new strategies to reach new audiences. This course will examine how the changing demographics of our cities present challenges to traditional marketing methods. Lastly, students will learn how arts and cultural programs are marketed in other nations.
This course is a survey of the field of development as it applies primarily to nonprofit arts organizations, both large and small. It examines functions within organizations and provides advice, strategy, perspective and basic skill building. The course also offers current insights and potentially helpful contacts in the field.
This course provides a structured, integrated plan for managing organizational financial resources. Students examine the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship and its future in nonprofit cultural industries.
In this course, students gain an understanding of the historical and contemporary educational objectives of cultural institutions. Through readings, observations, writing and discussion, students consider issues such as education as a marketing tool; modes of presentation and display as communicators of educational goals; audience diversification; outreach and community involvement; and the critical relationship of individual artists to the museums that represent them. This course develops educational materials and approaches for exhibitions and events at selected institutions.
This course prepares students for the challenge of participatory management by building skills and providing opportunities to practice both leadership and team building. It explores motivation, decision making, diversity of skills and cultural backgrounds in the training and development of a committed work team.
The shifting demographics of our cities, evolving tastes and reduced resources make it necessary for arts/cultural organizations to rethink their programming as well as their institutions' structure. The need for innovation and change can also be linked both to technological developments and to an emerging understanding of the limits to growth. These factors combine to create a need to manage our human and material resources more effectively. The course emphasizes the need for a strategic perspective at every level of the organization.
This course focuses on effective writing and speaking for professional success. Participants gain competencies in persuasive writing and public presentation through an array of detailed business case studies.
This course examines approaches to developing, evaluating, and managing advertising and promotion strategies. The course structure follows that of an advertising campaign. Planning in terms of targeting and promotions is discussed, followed by plan implementation.
The Northwood Arts Center (NAC) simulation recreates a typical day in a nonprofit arts organization. Acting as senior management of the NAC, students will address a variety of issues such as artistic programming, board relations and development, capital improvements, outreach through education and community relations. The Crandall Museum, the New Horizons Theater and the NAC all offer support for the services and staff. Participants manage the NAC as they see fit for half a day. The remainder of the day is devoted to feedback on participants' managerial styles and effectiveness as leaders, exploring how they incorporated skills and knowledge acquired in coursework prior to the run of the simulation.
This course is an overview of theories of organizational and group dynamics. It presents situations to help students develop diagnostic and process capabilities for structuring effective and efficient organizations. Of particular interest is the external control of organizations, offering insight into the role of the board of directors, government, funding sources, the audience, critics, peer reviews, etc.
Negotiation and dispute resolution skills are developed through a mix of lecture and interactive role playing exercises in small teams.
This course focuses on the role and economic definition of the nonprofit arts and cultural organization in society. Site visits to arts and cultural organizations in the greater New York area, and interviews with nonprofit managers build the skeletal framework for highlighting key infrastructure issues.
This course provides a practical overview of the legal issues affecting the operation of nonprofit organizations in the United States. It provides the basics of how to establish and organize a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization. The course explores copyright issues, reproduction rights and the development of legal issues involved with new communications technologies.
This historical overview of the interplay between the arts, culture and public policies looks beyond economic public policies that affect the arts and culture to examine how policies, or lack thereof, play a role in the production and consumption of art and cultural programs. The course also examines how artists shape attitudes, opinions, and awareness of social issues.
The course examines the historical development of multiculturalism and the social context from which it grew. It demonstrates how many organizations have responded to the call for greater diversity, not only in what they produce and present, but also in their employment practices, governance, and role in their respective communities. Using guest speakers and case studies, the course will also examine trends in other parts of the world and the resulting arts/cultural practices.
Since the mid-1960s, the practice of making art for and in the public realm has grown in stature and importance. In the United States and most industrialized nations, public art programs are managed by a variety of not-for-profit and public sector agencies. This course examines the development of this field and looks at the management structures that have been institutionalized to respond to the desire for community inclusion in the decision-making process. It explores the relationship between artists, communities and society-at-large within the urban environment.
Operating in several different public environments, managers of nonprofit organizations must deal with varied constituencies. This course offers a guide to methods and techniques for handling public relations, advocacy, crisis management and other external relations issues.
Financial literacy is the goal of this course. Considering the limited resources available to most arts/cultural administrators, it is imperative that they are equipped with the analytical skills necessary to stretch their contributed and earned dollars to the maximum while protecting the integrity of the organizations programming and/or services. Participants will become familiar with all aspects of nonprofit accounting theories and practices. Great attention and detail will be focused on building budgets - both institutional and project.
This course prepares students for Thesis I and Thesis II. Emphasis is on refining methods for gathering and analyzing information for preparing a case study, proposal or business plan.
With advances in computer operating and communication systems, the workplace has been redefined. Managers must be familiar with the technological tools that enable them to optimize their hardware and software. This course provides the framework for assessing the needs of an organization and equips the manager to articulate those needs in a computer-literate way.
The capstone requirement is designed to encourage and require the integration of all course work and the creation of a contribution to the field of Arts & Cultural management. This course begins the advisement process to enable student teams to begin their research for integrative Capstone.
In this course, students are provided with a \"tool box\" of techniques to help them evaluate alternatives and make informed managerial decisions through the use of decision trees, basic game theory, and break-even analysis.
Shaping the 21st Century: DesignnIntegrative Capstone - Discover and Define is the first course of a two-part capstone sequence and serves as the culminating experience in Arts and Cultural Management.
Shaping the 21st Century: Design Integrative Capstone - Design and Deliver is the second course of a two-part capstone sequence and serves as the culminating experience in Design Management.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.