The Program : Overview

"What is honored in a country is cultivated there."
Plato, The Republic, Book VIII


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"...we must begin to create a new reality, one in which we are all entitled to empowerment, enlightenment, education, and experience in the arts, and one in which we are equally responsible for creating a world that makes that condition possible."

--Joan Jeffri, Journal of Arts Management and Law, XIX, 2, Summer 1989, 6.

The Arts Administration program reflects the conviction that the management of cultural institutions and arts organizations requires strategic planning, artistic creativity and social commitment. Arts managers capable of responding to the challenges and responsibilities of the arts must possess integrated management and financial skills, knowledge of the artistic process in which they are involved and sensitivity to the dynamics and educational needs of the communities they serve.

The program represents an alliance of four disciplines: arts, education, business and law. It is designed to help professionals meet the challenges of the next decade: these challenges include questions about the long-term health of arts organizations, their missions, governance and management, sources of income and tax regulations. Such issues as freedom of expression, First Amendment rights, censorship and government intervention in the arts have important implications for international, educational and cultural policy, and are integral to the Program. Today, arts administration training in the United States is a model in the field, addressing worldwide concerns.

There is nothing that speaks better about a program than its graduates. With close to three decades of experience training students from all over the world, the Program in Arts Administration at Teachers College, Columbia University is proud of its talented community of policy makers, funders, record moguls, museum directors, festival coordinators, gallery owners, marketing and development directors, heads of finance, education, and television and film producers.

The Program and its graduates have taken leadership roles around the world, with alumni setting stellar examples in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kosovo, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Taiwan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.

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