Certificate merges arts, management

Before a symphony plays its first notes or a curtain unfurls at a theater, attendees must decide when to go, where to buy their tickets and where to find their seats.\nWhile this can feel like a chore for those attending the event, for arts administrators, those who bear the responsibility of actually running the show or exhibit, it's another day on the job.\nWith the new arts administration undergraduate certificate being offered for the first time in the spring 2007 semester, IU will soon be graduating more arts administrators to manage everything from art galleries to theaters. Offered through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and spearheaded by Charles Bonser, the school's founding dean and professor emeritus, the curriculum will join the 35-year-old Master of Arts in Arts Administration program at IU as its undergraduate counterpart.\nCourses in the program include law and public policy, finance and budgeting.\n"It will bring a whole new edge to the performing arts and the management thereof," said Susan Sandberg, program coordinator of the arts administration program.\nSandberg emphasized that a key factor in the success of the undergraduate and graduate programs is the support of alumni, who serve as helpful contacts for practicum and for finding internships and jobs in the field.\n"We definitely utilize our alumni base for undergraduate and graduate students," Sandberg said. "All of our alumni members are very generous in being mentors to our students."\nMatthew Auer, the director of undergraduate programs and a professor in SPEA, said students have been contacting the school about an undergraduate arts administration program for years.\n"Clearly, the keenest interest is from students already on campus and in programs such as theater arts, music, art history, museum studies, film studies, fine arts, musicology and folklore," Auer said in an e-mail.\nAuer said the most exciting part about extending the program to undergraduates is the faculty lined up to teach it, including Chris Hunt, who has managed professional artists including Pink Floyd.\n"Professor Hunt has an amazing 360-degree view of the arts from a manager's perspective, and he has seeming encyclopedic knowledge of every play, musical or opera ever written and produced," Auer said. "We are supremely lucky to have him teaching at SPEA."\nSandberg said most students planning to enroll in the program call music their first love, but they see arts management as an important supplement. \nOne of those students is Kevin Brookshire, a freshman majoring in public management who plans to work toward the arts administration certificate. A vocal major at his magnet high school for visual and performing arts, Brookshire wants to combine his love of music and leadership roles into a career.\n"I love the arts," he said. "I also have a love for leadership. Put the two together ... and you get an opportunity for administration and the arts."\nFreshman Suzanne Galblum, who has played violin for 11 years, said arts administration is a viable alternative to music performance.\n"Growing up, I knew I wanted to incorporate music in my career, but I didn't want to be a performance major," she said. "I want to learn as much as I can about business aspects and apply it to my knowledge of music."\nGalblum is also considering obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Arts Administration. Sandberg describes the degree, which should be offered next year, as a "flip" from the arts administration certificate.\n"The B.S. is for students who know they want a degree in arts management," she said. \nFor more information on the new undergraduate certificate in arts administration, contact Sandberg at 855-0282.