Great opportunity from Jennifer, one of my dear readers:
University of Wisconsin-Madison, the School of Business now offers a fully-funded MBA with a specialization in Arts Administration. It’s a full fellowship, with all tuition waived, health insurance covered, etc.
The Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of the nation’s first graduate programs in arts management, founded 40 years ago. Originally an MA in Business, the program is now an MBA in Arts Administration, part of the Wisconsin School of Business specialized MBA curriculum. Program alumni work in a variety of arts endeavors, from leading major organizations like the new AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, to launching start-up groups or consulting to artists in their communities. (BusinessWeek posted this profile of a recent grad.)
The Bolz Center program is supported by a generous endowment, which ensures that all admitted students receive full funding. All admitted students receive a Project Assistantship for both years of the program, providing a full waiver of tuition, excellent healthcare benefits, and a stipend of approximately $7500 per nine-month academic year. In exchange, students work 13 hours per week in a local cultural organization. The student’s only direct costs are university facility fees (about $600 per semester) and books. It is very nearly an MBA for free.
The program is led by Andrew Taylor, who writes the Artful Manager blog on ArtsJournal ( http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanager/ ) and is a frequent speaker at arts conferences around the world. If you’ve heard Andrew speak, or you’ve followed his blog, you’ve probably been exposed to his knack for appropriating knowledge from other fields and asking us to think about how those concepts might be applied in the arts.
Competitive applicants have at least 2 years of work experience, GMAT scores over 600 (avg is 660), and undergrad GPAs over 3.0. Some students have several years of work experience in cultural organizations, while others are career-changers seeking to convert their avocation into a full-time endeavor.
I had a great experience in the program and would be happy to talk with anyone who’s looking into options for graduate arts management training. The program is a good fit for people who are passionate about arts and culture, thoughtful and reflective about organizational practices, and looking to advance their careers and the field. It was a launchpad for my career, but more importantly, for my thinking.
You can find out more about the program here: http://www.bolzcenter.org/
Or get the feel of the overall Wisconsin MBA here: http://www.bus.wisc.edu/mba/
The application deadline is Feb 5, 2010. If the program sounds interesting and potentially relevant to your goals, readers can feel free to contact me, or reach out to program director Andrew Taylor at bolz@bus.wisc.edu.
Cheers,
Jennifer Post Tyler (MBA ‘07)
Overture Center for the Arts
jtyler@overturecenter.com
