Arts Management
Arts management is a vital field for the future health of communities across the country. The Arts Management
Program at Salem fosters the idea that successfully coordinated events in music, theatre, dance, art, and the many
other avenues of expression bring people together in powerful ways.
Your Program
The Arts Management Program is among the oldest in the nation, and was one of the first undergraduate programs accepted for membership in the Association of Arts Administration Educators. Your program focuses on not-for-profit arts management, and there is even a course entitled Arts in the Community that further stresses the ways in which the arts can be used to improve the lives of communities everywhere.
Download a copy of the Program's Brochure
Your Experience
When you enroll in arts management, you will be among a group of motivated young women who—through fieldwork, group work, and individual presentations—find their own voice. You may travel to New York, Washington D.C., Boston, even Germany, to apply what you learn in real-world settings. And you will gain a deep understanding of the field you may one day manage through required courses in visual or performing arts, as well as involvement in theatre, dance, music, and studio arts events and activities both on and off campus.
Your Faculty
Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez is the Director of the Not-for-Profit Management Program. She is a teacher, researcher, consultant and public servant in the area of nonprofit management and leadership. If you would like to learn more about her visit the Featured Faculty tab.
If you would like to learn more about the program, please contact Dr. Rodriguez darlene.rodriguez@salem.edu.
Your Results
Above all, when you graduate with a degree in arts management you leave with an understanding that there’s more to a well-lived life than simply making money. You will be equipped for entry- or mid-level positions in large arts organizations, or senior positions in small organizations. Recent graduates have accepted such positions as marketing for a symphony orchestra, professional sports marketing, library science, and several are now marketing managers for not-for-profit organizations.
Arts Management Major
The arts management major is an interdisciplinary one that combines study in the arts and accounting with courses specific to the field of arts and not-for-profit management. Within the major, students must complete a core of four courses in either a visual arts or performing arts concentration. In addition, majors are required to complete 10.5 management courses. Arts management majors must take all of their arts management (ARMN) and not-for-profit management (NFPM) courses at Salem. Opportunities are available for majors to do internships in a variety of local, state and national arts organizations.
Arts Management Minor
The minor in arts management requires the completion of six courses.
Music Entrepreneurship Minor
The minor in Music Entrepreneurship is intended for students pursuing a B.A. or B.M. in music. A student may not minor in both Music Entrepreneurship and Arts Management nor may she major in Arts Management and minor in Music Entrepreneurship.
Visual Arts Entrepreneurship Minor
The minor in Visual Arts Entrepreneurship is intended for students pursuing a B.A. in art history or studio art. A student may not minor in both Arts Entrepreneurship and Arts Management nor may she major in Arts Management and minor in Visual Arts Entrepreneurship.The minor in visual arts entrepreneurship consists of four courses.
- Visit the Not-For-Profit Management page, a related program.
The arts management major is an interdisciplinary one that combines study in the arts with courses specific to the field of arts and not-for-profit management. Within the major, students must complete a core of four courses in either a visual arts or performing arts concentration. In addition, majors are required to complete eleven management courses. Arts management majors must take all of their arts management (ARMN) and not-for-profit management (NFPM) courses at Salem. Opportunities are available for majors to do internships in a variety of local, state, and national arts organizations.
- To aid students in their academic research, service-learning and internship experiences, as well as employment and graduate school prospects, students and alumnae have access to the Arts Management Library Research Guide.
Arts Management Courses (ARMN)
100. Introduction to Arts Management One course
An introduction to “arts delivery systems” with emphasis on not-for-profit arts organizations in the U.S. The student will be introduced to basic concepts and skills in the discipline and will be shown the array of professional opportunities requiring those skills. Management principles and practices in the performing and visual arts will be presented. (Students with experience in arts management may be allowed, with consent of the director, to substitute ARMN 200 for this requirement.)
110. Arts in the Community One course
A study of roles the arts can play in improving communities and the importance of those roles to the long-term viability of the arts industry. The student will learn principles and practices supporting effective community engagement and community arts projects. May be used to fulfill the service learning requirement of the Salem Signature.
120. The Artist as Entrepreneur One course
A study of entrepreneurial opportunities and options for individual artists. Students will be introduced to principles and practices of effective entrepreneurship, examples of creative approaches to career-building, and structural options through which arts enterprise can be organized.
200. Independent Study in Arts Management One-quarter to one course
Independent study under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Open to students with a 2.0 cumulative G.P.A. Independent study may take the form of readings, research, conference, project and/or field experience. Independent study may be taken for a total of four courses, no more than two in any term. Prerequisite: Permission of the Director. Fall and spring.
210. Museums and Galleries One course
A study of the operation of arts museums and galleries. Students will be introduced to topics such as museology and artist-gallery relationships (including contracts) as well as principles and practices of effective management of museums and galleries. Pre-requisite: ARMN 100 or ARMN 110 and sophomore standing as a studio art or art history major, or permission of the Arts Management Program Director.
215. Performing Arts Management One course
An examination of the performing arts industry and individual artists’ roles within it. The course will introduce the student to artist-management relationships, booking and contracts, performing arts unions, royalty and rights licensing practices, tour management, and box office management. Students will examine artist portfolios as a means of understanding the relationships among artists, managers, and presenters. Pre-requisite: ARMN 100 or ARMN 110 and sophomore standing as a music major or dance minor, or permission of the Arts Management Program Director.
270. Arts Management Internship One course
The arts management internship provides the arts management major with on-site experience in national, state and local arts organizations and the opportunity to perform a number of functions at various levels of the organization. Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors; maximum credit per term is one course; admission by application only.
280. Topics in Arts Management One course
In-depth study of an issue (or issues) of special current importance in the field of arts management. (Examples: Public Policy and the Arts; Money for the Arts; Marketing the Arts.) Prerequisite: ARMN 100 or permission of instructor.
290. Honors Independent Study in Arts Management One course
Advanced independent study under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Normally open to juniors and seniors with a 3.5 average in arts management, subject to the approval of the department chair. Honors Independent Study may be taken for a maximum of two courses.
390. Senior Seminar One-half course
Students will complete a portfolio documenting experience and/or competence in topics and skills essential to successful management of the arts organizations. This course will include preparation for and successful completion of a comprehensive exam. Students will participate in discussions of contemporary issues in the field and plan their senior projects. Fall.
395. Senior Project One-half course
Students will complete a significant project demonstrating preparedness for professional work in the discipline. The project may be production of an event, a practical plan or evaluation for an organization (e.g., a funding plan, a program evaluation, or an organizational assessment), or a major research paper on an aspect of not-for-profit management. Some elements of ARMN 390 may be continued in ARMN 395. Spring.
Internships
Salzburg (Austria) Easter Festival
Boosey and Hawkes (Berlin)
Metropolis Records (Pennsylvania)
Arts Council of Richmond (VA)
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Arts Council
Alliance Theatre (Atlanta)
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Faculty In The News
Natasha Gore
"We'll use this for gathering the collective stories within the LGBT community about families. We want to highlight diversity and give a voice to the stories of people who live here." -Natasha Gore
Read more: Celebrating nature and native traditions
Professor Natasha Gore spent an evening at Sawtooth learning how to dye fabric during the Sawtooth Community Evening.
Read more: Scene & Heard: Festival of Trees, Lamb Foundation Gala and the Sawtooth Community Evening
Claudia Schaefer
"We always intended to go and see the symphony. You get busy. You start doing other things. The concert comes and goes. It's nice to have something on the calendar to go with." -Claudia Schaefer
Read more: Symphony sales hitting high notes
Dr. Darlene Rodriguez
Where are you from?
From my mother’s loving womb, where I was raised in a multi-generational, bi-racial, bi-cultural, and bi-lingual home where desde la puerta para dentro* it was home in South America and desde la puerta para fuera* was home in North America. When it pertains to residence, most recently, I have resided seven years in Georgia and four years in North Carolina.What brought you to Salem/what were your reasons for choosing to teach at Salem?
I came to Salem College because I am called to teach and love it dearly. That love was instilled in me by a dear professor, mentor, and friend, Dr. E. Joseph Kaplan prior to his passing in October 1998.Kaplan was the teacher when I was an undergraduate student who helped to transform and forever change the trajectory of my professional life. Salem’s heart for passionate teaching harmonizes with my own sense of what higher education should be and I strive to leave a lasting legacy in the lives of others, just as Kaplan’s legacy lives on in me.
What kinds of global experiences have you had?
I am a sojourner who is constantly seeking to be homeward bound; I live in a constant state of being a foreigner. As for places I have visited, lived, and experienced, they include: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, People’s Republic of China, Spain, St. Croix, St. Maarten, Switzerland, Turkey, former United Soviet Socialist Republic, United States of America, and Venezuela. I have also been a domestic and foreign exchange student as well as an AmeriCorps*VISTA and a U.S. Peace Corps Masters International Fellow, which has facilitated some of the travels stated above.What are your areas of special interest within your discipline / research interests? Any books or articles that you've published?
Teaching interests: Community engagement, nonprofit management and leadership, philanthropy, and organizational effectiveness.Research interests: The confluence of cultural competence, immigration status, and nonprofits’ impact on ethnic communities.
What is your favorite course to teach?
Fundraising and philanthropyAny books or articles that you've published?
I have had several book reviews, book chapters, as well as peer-reviewed and practitioner-reviewed articles published. These have been as sole author, in collaboration with academic and professional colleagues, and with student research assistants who seek to learn a subject and enhance their skills.Currently, I am revising two chapters for inclusion in a book that seeks “to document the undocumented” current history of immigrants in each of the fifty states of the United States. I am also part of a research collaborative of nonprofit scholars who are working state-wide to do macro-level research on philanthropy and nonprofit effectiveness. I am humbled to announce, that my collaborators and I received the “Best Paper Award” for 2011 by our national professional organization (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action).
What kind of advice would you give to a student thinking about entering your discipline?
Live to learn; learn to live; live learning; learn living; most importantly, learn to give your life on behalf of others.
* Translations, in order of occurrence:
- From inside the front door (facing the home)
- From outside the front door (facing the world)
- Somebody amazing
What do you see as the strengths of a women's college?
Combining first-class education with the ability to connect in a nurturing environment with like-minded women who are going to love deeply, fight passionately, and give fully to a world in desperate need of the blessings they offer.What are the benefits for the students if they choose a major in your department at Salem?
I teach students how nonprofits can rewrite scripts, scripts like mine. I grew up hard. I was aquella chama, whose life was scripted to fail. Pero alguien increible* crossed my path and used nonprofits to write me a better script. Now, I remind students that thousands of life scripts are still being written and how individuals and nonprofits can redact, and sometimes, even rewrite them and change the course of one’s herstory!Do you have a favorite inspirational quote?
- “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”-St. Francis de Sales
- “Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”
-St. Francis de Sales
What are your favorite books that you would recommend to students?
- Camilla Stivers. Bureau Men, Settlement Women.- Robert Fulghum. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
- Eugene Peterson. The Message
The Arts Council of Winston-Salem
The Arts Council enriches the quality of life for people in Winston-Salem and neighboring communities by raising funds for the arts, advocating for the arts, sponsoring events in conjunction with other arts organizations, providing educational opportunities strengthening cultural resources, developing social capital, and aiding economic development.
Click here to visit their website.
The Community Arts Cafe
The Community Arts Café is an ‘arts community concept,’ intended to fill a void that is lacking within most communities; a full service arts facility and media outlet dedicated exclusively to the coverage and support of the local arts.
Click here to visit their website.
The Downtown Arts District of Winston-Salem
The Downtown Arts District Association (DADA) is a neighborhood organization of artist studios, residences and businesses that is dedicated to the promotion of arts and culture through education, entertainment, community interaction and trade.
Click here to visit their website.
High Point Arts Council
The Arts Council is an arts programming agency that offers free concerts and arts activities to the general population of High Point through Arts Splash (summer concert) and Day in the Park (fall festival). The Arts Council also offers arts educational opportunities, such as the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop, Children's & Youth Chorales, Youth Jazz Orchestra, and Celebration Band that are not offered by an affiliate.
Click here to visit their website.
The United Arts Council of Greensboro
We are dedicated to developing Greensboro as a cultural destination where public art and cultural offerings abound - Greensboro as a vibrant center for the Arts with a community rich in creative expression.
Click here to visit their website.
United Way of North Carolina
Have you ever wondered how to find help or a community service for yourself or someone in need? There are about 30,000 nonprofits in North Carolina. Finding the one you need can be difficult. Simply dial 2-1-1 from your home, office or cell phone, any time 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to learn about vital services in your community. This call is free, confidential and available in any language.
Click here to visit their website.
Winston-Salem Arts Council Vibrancy Index
The Winston-Salem Arts Vibrancy Index collectively presents all the arts and cultural events and shows support dollars at work while answering the question "What is there to do in Winston-Salem?"
Download a copy of the Vibrancy Index.
