The Master of Arts Administration (M.A.A.) degree is designed to prepare students for professional practice in the burgeoning field of arts administration; becoming engaged, reflective, and proactive stewards of arts and culture. The program prepares professionals to helm arts and cultural organizations (at the local, state, or national level), navigate unique challenges in the nonprofit sector, advocate for policies and resources that support arts organizations, and be effective leaders who have meaningful, sustainable impact in the organizations and communities they serve. The M.A.A. degree at OHIO provides an exciting opportunity for students or working professionals, who want to pursue leadership positions in the arts, to be at the forefront of diversifying the field.

The degree harnesses the interdisciplinary and creative power of the College of Fine Arts (CoFA) at Ohio University. Our innovative curricular approach reimagines the educational experience by merging arts administration knowledge with training in discipline-specific management. Foundational courses that emphasize arts leadership, governance, management, and development are taken alongside courses in a student’s specialized area. This interdisciplinary approach enables students to more immediately be immersed in an arts administration curriculum specific to their chosen area of arts interest, while maintaining rigor and comprehensiveness. The curriculum uniquely prepares students to meet the evolving needs of the field and situates the program to be a national leader.

The M.A.A. is a 30-credit hour degree that can be completed in one calendar year (August to August) with full-time study. The program can also be completed in two years for those preferring part-time study.

Students who apply for the program might include graduates of OHIO, as well as other institutions, who come from various fields of study, are working artists who seek leadership positions, and/or are current arts administration professionals intending to expand their current knowledge base and scope of skills.

All courses are currently offered in a face-to-face, immersive format. Students enrolled in the M.A.A. will be affiliated with the main campus of Ohio University in Athens. It is worth noting that this campus is located in Appalachia, a region filled with cultural and historical resources, and where the institution serves as an important regional partner for community engagement. The degree is housed in the College of Fine Arts (CoFA), where the college has a 75+ year record of championing and pioneering excellence in the arts. The college has numerous classroom and studio spaces that accommodate the needs of the program.

Dr. Christi Camper Moore serves as the head of the arts administration program with eight additional full-time CoFA faculty who also teach various discipline-specific courses in the program. The faculty has terminal degrees, extensive professional experience in the field, and work closely with students to develop essential skills in the field.

The required curriculum is focused on rigorous coursework, experiential learning, and exploration of synergies among creative forms. The effectiveness and efficiency of the M.A.A. program is also in its ability to be adaptive and responsive to emergent topics and issues in the field of study. Assignments are designed to provide an immediate application of arts administration, as well as discipline-specific, knowledge. Assignments include a variety of portfolios, projects (individual and group), and presentations. View thee full curriculum here

The field of arts administration prioritizes experience. Throughout the entirety of the M.A.A. program, practical experience is provided for students to apply the knowledge and skills they are gaining in the classroom. The Professional Internship in the Arts (FAR 5910) is the required, semester long, culminating experience of the M.A.A. degree and applies and synthesizes coursework. Specific internship placements are decided with each individual student to align with career goals, opportunities, and logistical considerations. The faculty advisor must approve all internship placements and, along with the designated site supervisor for the internship, will also serve as supervisory personnel. During the professional internship, students continue to explore programmatic learning objectives and focus on topics including: organizational culture, structure and governance; marketing and resource allocation; programming and education; mission, vision, law, and ethics; fundraising and grants management; and community engagement. Students enrolled in the Professional Internship meet together weekly as a cohort (either face-to-face or via video conferencing) to focus on various symposium issues of professional practice. The discussion component of this course is designed to be adaptive and responsive to emergent topics and issues that occur during the internship experience. As part of the course, and with instructor guidance and feedback, students also develop their final capstone projects or portfolios, which also have a required, final oral presentation component.

In addition to university admission requirements for graduate study at OHIO, students must submit the following:

1. Completed Application Form, and
2. Most recent transcript or DARS report indicating an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher. 

As part of the application process, students applying to the M.A.A .program will choose one specialization as their focused area of study. Students must also complete the stated admission requirements for the specialization to be considered for that area program. These admission requirements will be used to admit students in their elective area of study as part of admission to the program. View full admissions requirements here

CoFA aspires to be an internationally significant center of creative practice and scholarship by launching arts initiatives that reflect a diversity of ideas and cultures. We continue to be committed to innovation and engaging students from a broad spectrum of traditions and practices.

Collaborative conversations and projects are explored via students working in both the cohort learning teams and through partnerships with community stakeholders to deepen knowledge in the field, examine various models, and explore the broad landscape of current practices. For example, Athens County is home to a large number of non-profit arts organizations that welcome the support of students and interns from the M.A.A. program. Organizations such as Tantrum Professional Theater, Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio Valley Summer Theater, the Dairy Barn, Athens Photographic Project, Ohio University’s Performing Artist series, Stuart’s Opera House (Nelsonville), the Southeastern Ohio Arts Corridor, will provide mutually beneficial educational and/or internship opportunities. Columbus, Ohio is only 75 minutes from Athens and is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Columbus is seeing significant growth in the Arts sector and partnerships there have already begun to be developed. Given the goals of the program, and the required Professional Internship that serves as the final culminating experience of the program, there are numerous opportunities (in and out of the classroom) to integrate theory and practice and examine your place in the field through community engaged practices.

As the resources and landscape of the arts continue to change, the field of arts administration is becoming more critical in its role to manage that change. There is continued growth in the field with an increase in professional organizations, conferences, and publications that aim to be key resources for understanding the academic, cultural, and applied paths for professional arts administrators. The market for arts administration professionals continues to expand with full-time job opportunities that now include think tanks, various performance-based companies and education centers, and work that spans from local, grass roots arts advocacy to state and national cultural policy and research analysis.

The M.A.A. at OHIO recognizes the following:

1. Many artists are already engaged in administrative-based practices as part of their work even if they have not had formalized training in this capacity, and
2. Artists want to continue to make, practice, and embody their art form while pursuing other opportunities. 

The M.A.A. provides a curriculum that enables students to continue to be an artist (through discipline-specific arts courses) as they develop the essential skills to lead arts and cultural organizations as an administrator. The focus on artist-administrator acknowledges that the creative aspects of being an artist are often the primary, intuitive foundation on which effective leaders can grow/emerge.