Arts Management

For information about the Arts Management Internship program, or to arrange for an internship, please contact the Assistant Director of Professional Development, Professor Nicole Springer.

Office Hours:

By appointment only: Appointment may be made by email to nspringe@gmu.edu. Please mention INTERNAL INTERNSHIP in the subject line of your message.

As a first step in the internship process, it is suggested that you familiarize yourself with the Internship Guide. Please download the Internship Guide 2012 here .

Internal Internships

The Master of Arts in Arts Management degree at Mason offers a unique combination of classroom learning and internship experiences.

A substantial portion of this program is dedicated to hands-on learning in sophisticated settings, providing students with the knowledge, skills, and judgment to advance to various levels of management and leadership in visual and performing arts institutions.

Students complete an internal internship with experts at our performing arts facilities and art and visual technology venues. This 2-credit experience leads to a 4-credit external internship with one of dozens of dynamic partners in the Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia region and beyond.

Performing Arts

Scheduling and Operations

Julie Thompson, Operations Manager

The intern will have an opportunity to experience the challenge and skills of scheduling and coordinating large scale performances on a time schedule. The student in this internship will learn the many facets of a presenting organization, which include:

• Contracts and scheduling
• Backstage production management
• Performance management
• Outreach assistance

 

Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising

Tom Reynolds, Director of External Affairs

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Interns will assist with progressive levels of public relations, marketing, and advertising conducted to promote and facilitate the reputation of the Center for the Arts. Interns will perform work related to:

• Press releases
• Marketing principles and hands-on construction of marketing brochures
• Target marketing
• Design of marketing materials for various outlets
• E-commerce marketing
• Media relationship management

Box Office and Ticketing

Tom Reynolds, Director of External Affairs

Interns will gain experience with such areas as:

• Customer relations
• Issues of large groups
• Administrative and organizational skills and coordination of various levels of ticketing and front of the house issues
• The relationship with ongoing theater and performing arts philanthropy

Front of the House Public Relations

Tom Reynolds, Director of External Affairs

Interns will be involved in the finer aspects of setting up a welcoming environment for performance patrons and learn to create the overall experience for the performing arts, which involves:

• Vending and concessions
• House management such as accessibility services
• Crowd management (emergency responsiveness)
• Related artistry
• Event coordination such as pre-performance speakers series and post-performance celebrations
• Parking and entrance/exit management

Philanthropy and Development

Deborah Paez, Assistant Director of Development

Students will work with the details of managing a large external network of arts participants such as:

• Events for the Friends of the Center for the Arts
• Relationship building and volunteer coordination
• Assisting with fund-raising events
• Technical details of creating and managing donor lists and spreadsheets
• Aspects of fundraising research
• Participation in grant writing
• Participation in design and implementation of development materials

Dance Assistant Production Manager

Elizabeth Price, Chair, School of Dance

The intern will assist in event coordination including:

• Auditions, concerts, mailings/marketing materials
• Support Friends of Dance scholarship fund-raising activities

The intern will facilitate our Guest Artist program involving:

• Arranging transportation
• Developing information materials
• Conducting university and area tours

Concert Coordination

Mark Camphouse, Faculty, School of Music

The student will assist in all administrative aspects concerning a music performance:

• Public relations
• Music librarian
• Special concert series events
• Rehearsal management
• Volunteer coordination

Visual Arts

Arts and Visual Technology

Scott Martin, Assistant Dean, CVPA

Students will work with faculty and staff to understand the managerial aspects of scheduling and managing visual productions in the eight galleries and art spaces at Mason’s Fairfax Campus and distributed campuses.

Gallery Program

Walter Kravitz, Gallery Director

Students will learn the specific functions of:

• Scheduling and producing an exhibition
• Promotional marketing
• Developing relationships with the artist
• Developing relationships with the press

Finance and Administration

Finance and Administration Internship

Andrew Bursten, Director of Finance and Administration

The Finance and Administration Department internship will introduce the intern to finance and administration/human resources functions within the College of Visual and Performing Arts. This includes the Center for the Arts presenting season, Art and Visual Technology, Dance, Music and Theater Departments, and the Master of Arts in Arts Management program.

Your work will give you real-world experience and work samples in the following areas:

Finance

• Budget development and spreadsheets
• Trend analysis
• Forecasting
• Accounts payable and receivable
• Box office and account reconciliation
• Data entry

Administration and Human Resources

• Hiring
• FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements
• Job descriptions and categorization
• Benefits
• Evaluation and motivation

This practical, on-the-job training will give you financial and human resources insights into various arts disciplines as well as experience working in a state and university environment.
Although the intern will primarily be working in the College of Visual and Performing Arts dean’s office and Center for the Arts finance/HR areas, opportunities will be provided to meet with other finance and HR professionals within College of Visual and Performing Arts and throughout the university. We will work with interns to develop primary areas of interest and assign projects that are appropriate for them.

In addition to working on overall effective communications, we will be using resources such as MS Excel, Intuit Quickbooks, Mason’s finance and HR system—SCT Banner, and Oracle Discoverer report writing features. Experience with the MS Office suite and facility with numbers and spreadsheets is helpful; discretion and confidentiality are required. Preference will be given to those students who have taken the Arts Management Finance class or have spreadsheet or finance experience.

Supervision
The Director of Finance and Administration for the College of Visual and Performing Arts, will supervise the intern, with significant input from Budget Manager. The intern also will work with the fiscal technician and departmental/program chairs, directors, and budget contacts.