SMU Now Accepting Applications for the Master of Management in International Arts Management

Scene from HEC Montreal’s video, Master of Management in International Arts Management: A Glimpse Inside the Program

HEC Montréal and Southern Methodist University’s Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship division, in collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management, are now accepting applications for the fourth cohort of their joint Master of Management in International Arts Management (MMIAM) program, which will run from August 2016 to July 2017. This unique graduate degree is the first to focus on issues specific to international arts management and to approach arts management from a global perspective.

The intensive 45-credit program is offered in English and includes one four-month session at each of the three partner universities (in Montreal, Dallas and Milan), in addition to a 10-day campus abroad at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. It prepares students to manage and lead international arts and cultural organizations. Within the program’s first three classes, 12 nationalities were represented; in each class, students came from no fewer than six countries.

To register or to obtain further information, go to www.mm-iam.com

“An international perspective on arts management is important because the best ideas can come from anywhere. There are international factors influencing the consumption and production of art that are international in scope. We are hoping to provide students with the benefit of an international influence on how they perceive fundraising, attracting capital, marketing, operations, production and general management, but with the ability to do it from different cultural vantage points,” says HEC Montréal Professor François Colbert, Holder of the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management and co-director of the program.

“Take, for instance, touring organizations. They have to understand not only that introducing their art to another country must be done in a way that is culturally sensitive, but also the nuts and bolts and the mechanics of what needs to be done differently from one culture to the next,” adds Professor Alex Turrini, Director, Master in Arts Management and Administration (MAMA), Bocconi University.

“Developing an international perspective, not only from someone’s home base through international gathering but also by physically going from market to market to see how the arts are valued in other cultures, has a tremendous impact on what the students decide to take back home to their own market. So whether students decide that ultimately they want to work internationally or in the community they have just come from, they will be able to benefit from a more global understanding not only of the arts but also of the factors that drive health in the arts,” says Professor Zannie Voss, chair of the Division of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship at the SMU Meadows School of the Arts and co-director of the MMIAM program.

Coursework focuses on international marketing of cultural industries, arts marketing, leadership in the context of cultural organizations, international law and the arts, cultural entrepreneurship and governance of cultural organizations, international consulting management in the arts, cultural economics and the international art market, fundraising in the arts, and new forms of innovation, as well as other areas of arts management. In-classroom coursework is further enhanced through visits to a range of arts organizations in each university’s surrounding region.

Each of the three partner universities is widely recognized for its existing programs in nonprofit as well as for-profit arts administration, with courses addressing the unique challenges of leading arts organizations.

Graduates of the first MMIAM class in 2014 have gone on to excel in a range of arts leadership positions internationally:

• Aude Gagnon-Raymond of Montreal is a senior analyst in strategy and business processes for the Touring Shows Division at Cirque du Soleil;
• Shayna Schlosberg of Bellaire, Texas, is associate general manager at the Alley Theatre in Houston;
• Marie Bobin of Topanga, California, is a program specialist with Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles;
• Tanya Miller of Los Angeles is community manager for the Dallas Museum of Art Friends Program;
• And Alvaro Martinez and Daniela Alzate, both of Bogotá, Colombia, are working respectively as advisor to the director of arts at the Ministry of Culture in Bogotá, and as support for the sponsorship, fundraising and social responsibility area at Bogotá’s Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo.

About HEC Montréal

HEC Montréal is an internationally renowned business school, with over 13,000 students. Every year it trains more than 8,000 executives and managers. The School holds many prestigious accreditations and offers some 50 programs of study at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is one of the most active business schools in Canada in terms of research, with approximately 50 research units, including 26 chairs (seven of which are Canada Research Chairs). With a faculty of 260, HEC Montréal offers programs in several languages and attracts students from 147 countries. Since its founding in 1907, the School has trained more than 78,000 students in all fields of management. hec.ca | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

About Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Art, Dallas

A nationally ranked private university with seven degree-granting schools, SMU is a distinguished center for teaching and research located in the heart of Dallas.  The Meadows School of the Arts, formally established at SMU in 1969 and named in honor of benefactor Algur H. Meadows, is one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States. The Meadows School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in advertising, art, art history, arts management and arts entrepreneurship, communication studies, creative computation, dance, film and media arts, journalism, music and theatre. The goal of the Meadows School of the Arts, as a comprehensive educational institution, is to prepare students to meet the demands of professional careers. The Meadows School is a leader in developing innovative outreach and community engagement programs, challenging its students to make a difference locally and globally by developing connections between art, entrepreneurship and change. The Meadows School of the Arts is also a convener for the arts in North Texas, serving as a catalyst for new collaborations and providing critical industry research. For more information, visit smu.edu/meadows.

About SDA Bocconi, Milan

Founded in 1902, SDA Bocconi is part of Università Bocconi, the first Italian university to grant a degree in economics. It has played a leading role over the last century in the social and economic modernization of Italy. SDA Bocconi has remained true to its founding principles: it is a research institution with democratic values and is open to the world, as well as being financially and politically independent. SDA Bocconi is strongly engaged in management programs leveraging on Italian excellence (i.e.: arts, fine food, fashion and design). Visit sdabocconi.it.

Universidad de los Andes School of Management (UASM)

The Universidad de los Andes at Bogotá, which ranked 2nd in Latin America in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2013-2014, has developed its own educational project in order to help students achieve the highest standards in their disciplines and to contribute to cultural and economic development of the country. The institutional mission of the School of Management of Universidad de los Andes (UASM) is to educate and train leaders through the appropriation and generation of knowledge for the innovative and sustainable development of organizations. UASM holds the three most important international accreditations: AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. The main objective of the International Campus abroad at Bogotá is to explore the specificities of managerial processes involved in the cultural life of Latin America. Three central topics will be discussed: how arts can create social value; managing and marketing art organizations and events; and the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the city. For more information, visit here.

Learn More

To register or to obtain further information, please log onto www.mm-iam.com. To learn more about the experiences of the first MMIAM graduating class, click here.