Welcome to the O’Neill School Master of Arts in Arts Administration (MAAA) Blog Site. This site features content to connect you with the MAAA Program and the people who make it special. Explore student, faculty, and alumni spotlights as well as stories of impact.
About Us
The MAAA program is a management degree focused on giving students the skills to connect arts and audiences. The program is built on community which is emphasized as a core piece of the culture and curriculum. This sense of community is captured in our small cohort, local partnerships, extensive alumni network, and unique learning opportunities. As a program which educates through a mixture of soul and science, students gain both intangible relationship-building skills as well as hard skills in marketing, finance, and fundraising. This is achieved through a strong combination of theory and practice embodied in the faculty and programming.
Faculty produce cutting edge research in cultural affairs through innovative groups such as the Center for Cultural Affairs and Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Lab housed at the O’Neill School. Other faculty come from the practitioner space, serving as Executive Directors of performing arts organizations, museums, and granting organizations. Each perspective provides different angles to understand best management practices, current trends and challenges in arts and culture such that students can excel across sectors and artistic fields.
Practice is a core element of the MAAA program. Through internships and practicums, students work with a variety of organizations locally, nationally, and internationally to deepen their knowledge of arts administration. These experiences offer opportunities to translate theory in the classroom into the professional workplace. This is a space for exploration and experimentation, where graduates leave the program as well-rounded managers and leaders.
Uniquely positioned in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, students are surrounded by colleagues and faculty working on large scale public challenges such as climate change, energy justice, immigration, public health, international development, and much more. This creates a melting pot of interests which help students understand how the arts can support and advance important work at the intersection of creativity and community.
The MAAA Program prioritizes people and supporting each student in their personal journey as an arts administrator. By leveraging the resources of Indiana University, opportunities to explore new frontiers in connecting arts and audiences are endless. As the student spotlights showcase, this program fosters people-first leaders poised to lead for the greater good through arts and culture.