professional membership

Featured Member

Carnegie Mellon University

On October 6, Carnegie Mellon University’s Master of Arts Management Program hosted a daylong Symposium on Arts Management and Innovation to kick off the celebrations of their 25th Anniversary.  Kathryn Heidemann, CMU’s Director of the Master of Arts Management (MAM) program, wanted to create a professional development opportunity for alumni as well as the local community. 

The symposium welcomed over 150 attendees comprised of CMU alumni and Pittsburgh area arts administrators, and featured Doug McLennan, Founder and Editor of ArtsJournal, as a keynote. Two professional development sessions took place each hour, with sessions led by CMU MAM alumni who are currently working in the field. The sessions focused on community and audience engagement, social media, and fundraising, with each conversation centered on the theme of change and innovation in the field. The day ended with an evening boat celebration highlighting performances by alumni. CMU celebrates the fact that their graduates have both stayed in the arts administration field and found success in other sectors as well.

With the timing of the event coinciding with National Arts and Humanities Month, there was a unique opportunity to list the symposium as a Creative Conversation and tap into the national grassroots effort of promoting arts and culture in communities across the country.  When asked how to replicate a similar event again or in another community, Heidemann suggested “celebrate your milestones. The MAM program’s 25th Anniversary was the leverage for this event. Think about other initiatives that you’re doing anyway, such as a speaker series, and find a way to make it a bit extra special or rebrand it. Then share your successes and lessons learned.” 

Another recommendation is to partner with a local emerging leaders network. Heidemann worked closely with the Pittsburgh Emerging Arts Leaders Network (PEAL) to help get word out about the symposium. This created a strong synergy between the student community and the local emerging leaders’ community. In return, MAM regularly promotes PEAL’s events to students, and one MAM student will always serve as a liaison on the steering committee of PEAL in an ex-officio basis. 

CMU will continue to celebrate their 25th anniversary throughout the 2012 – 2013 year, with events culminating at the 2013 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention (June 14 – 16 in Pittsburgh, PA). The Emerging Leaders Preconference will take place June 13 and 14 at Carnegie Mellon University in partnership with the Master of Arts Management program and the College of Fine Arts. Watch www.artsusa.org/convention for more details. Registration opens in January.