Experiential Requirements

MAAA internship experience

Complete your 280-hour internship with an organization that matches your career goals—locally, across the United States, or abroad. MAAA interns have gained experience in nonprofit arts and culture organizations and public agencies, working in areas of education, marketing, development, research and data analysis, and more. Students often choose to complete their internship in the summer between their second and third semesters, while others complete the internship in the spring following their final semester of the program.

 

 IU Auditorium

  • American Dance Festival
  • Americans for the Arts
  • Art Institute of Chicago
  • Aspen Summer Music Festival and School
  • Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
  • Brevard Summer Music Festival
  • Center for Cultural Affairs
  • Chicago Community Trust 
  • Chicago Lyric Opera
  • Cincinnati Opera
  • City of Bellevue
  • Country Music Hall of Fame
  • Detroit Symphony Orchestra
  • Eskenazi Museum of Art
  • Freight and Salvage
  • Glimmerglass
  • Heartland Film Festival
  • Indiana Arts Commission
  • Indiana Humanities
  • Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
  • Ingenuity
  • IU Auditorium
  • IU Center for Rural Engagement
  • IU Cinema
  • Jacobs Pillow
  • Lotus Education and Arts Foundation
  • Mercury Chamber Orchestra 
  • Midway Music Speaks
  • Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago
  • Music Academy of the West
  • Music for All
  • National Natural Museum of History and Science in Lisbon, Portugal
  • National Repertory Orchestra
  • Paul Taylor Dance Company
  • Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival 
  • Ravinia Festival
  • Reimagining Opera for Kids
  • Santa Fe Opera
  • Soundspace
  • Spoleto Festival
  • TAHI New Zealand Festival of Solo Performance
  • Tanglewood
  • Texas Music Festival
  • Third Coast Percussion 
  • Washington Concert Opera 
  • Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts
  • Women's Museum of California 
  • WonderLab Museum

Internship opportunities

Chicago? New York? South Korea? Wherever you’d like to go, the O’Neill Career Hub can help you find the internship that is right for you.

MAAA practicum component

Bloomington, Indiana recognizes the importance of the arts. It is home to a number of world-class performing arts centers, museums, arts festivals, and theatres, not to mention the renowned Jacobs School of Music. Take advantage of our rich arts community and learn from leaders in the field through practicum experiences.

Three, 50-hour projects

As a MAAA student, you will complete three, 50-hour practicum projects with a professional arts organization on campus or in the community. Apply for an existing practicum opportunity or reach out to an organization of your choice to develop your own project proposal. Practicums should encompass a specific project with an end product, such as a marketing research report, fundraising event, or audience survey. Practicum projects are not simply volunteer opportunities—they should provide meaningful, resume-building experiences.

 

Practicum component

The practicum component of the MAAA degree focuses on building your professional portfolio by adding variety and depth to your arts administration skill set. You may choose to complete hands-on managerial and administrative work, participate in cultural policy projects and research opportunities, or be exposed to new areas of arts administration through shadowing, trainings, workshops, etc.

You have the freedom to design and complete these projects and experiences at multiple organizations in various content areas of arts administration—development, event planning, marketing, curating, etc.—and to make choices that best fit your schedule and career goals. It is required that you complete and participate in at least 150 hours of project-based work or experiences prior to your graduation. All practicum work and experiences should be determined in collaboration with practicum instructor, Megan Starnes.

The practicum component will be considered complete when you have completed three credits of practicum work, submitted all corresponding paperwork, and attended mandatory class sessions throughout the first three semesters enrolled in the MAAA program.

Guidelines for international students:

International students of the MAAA program are required to apply for Curricular Practical Training (CPT) via electronic request to the Office of International Services (OIS) prior to completing off- campus practicum work. (Note: Off campus work will not be permitted during the first academic year.)

Practicum process: Hands-on projects

Instructions for completing hands-on, managerial and/or research projects (worth 1 credit each) are outlined below.

Find a practicum project: Available practica will be posted to Canvas or to the O’Neill Career HUB. A list of art partners follows on this page. You are free to contact them at any time. You are also welcome to contact organizations outside of this list.

Contact the arts partner/organization: Make contact with the arts partner and agree on a project timeline. You are responsible for professional communication and establishing a working relationship with the arts partner.

Submit a practicum proposal: Practicum projects are subject to approval and should not be started until authorization is given.

Submit your practicum proposal

Complete the practicum

You are responsible for tracking your hours; each project must involve approximately 50 hours of experience. You will not be asked to submit a timesheet, but keep in mind that projects must be substantive and add depth and variety to professional portfolio.

Submit your self-evaluation and email the supervisor evaluation to your supervisor. 

Professional development experiences

You may choose to complete your hours in a variety of ways. In addition to completing a defined project with an arts organization, students may also:

Serve as a contributing member on a nonprofit board

  • Attend arts leadership and management conferences
  • Participate as a grant panelist
  • Complete job shadowing experiences with an arts administrator
  • Participate in a three-week series on leadership, offered by The O’Neill School
  • Design and propose an experience that will benefit your future career as an arts manager

If you wish to complete experiences above in place of defined projects, you must meet and discuss with Megan Starnes. In addition, you will be required to reflect on the above experiences through either a) a reflection journal or b) blogging for the Career Hub’s Creative Arts Engagement blog in order to meet the required amount of practicum hours.

For further advising on the practicum component, make an appointment with Megan Starnes at merflynn@iu.edu

Performing Arts Centers 

African American Arts Institute* 

Buskirk-Chumley Theater 

IU Auditorium* 

Music

Amity Trio

Bloomington Early Music Festival 

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra 

Bridges: Musical Arts Youth Organization 

Elan Ensemble

Jacobs School of Music* 

JSOM Composition Department*

Latin American Music Center* 

Quarryland Men’s Chorus 

Reimagining Opera for Kids 

Theater 

Stages Bloomington

Constellation Stage & Screen

Jewish Theater of Bloomington

Museums and Galleries 

Bloomington Handmade Market 

Bloomington Open Studio Tour  

Campus Art

Eskenazi Museum of Art

The FAR Center for Contemporary Arts  

Gallery Walk Bloomington 

Grunwald Gallery 

Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture, and Design*  

Lilly Library

IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Monroe County History Center  

Traditional Arts Indiana

Wonderlab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology 

Wylie House

Government and Art Councils 

Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington  

Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District  

Indiana Arts Commission 

Indiana Humanities 

IU Arts and Humanities Council*  

IU Center for Rural Engagement* 

Strategic National Arts Alumni Project

Cultural Centers 

IU Office of International Services

IU Asian Culture Center

La Casa Latino Cultural Center*
Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center* 

Dance Companies 

Wild Orchid Aerial Fitness and Dance 

Windfall Dancers
IU Theater and Dance* 

Art Centers / General Arts Organizations and Individual Artists

Bloomington Creative Glass Center 

Bloomington Pride 

Brian Talbert Fine Art

The Comedy Attic 

Fourth Street Arts Festival 

IU College of Arts and Science* 

Lotus World Music and Arts Festival 

Pottery House Studio

Themester at Indiana University

Waldron Arts Center 

WFHB-FM 

WFIU – Public Radio

WTIU – Public Television

Film Organizations 

Black Film Center/Archive*  

IU Cinema

Pride Film Festival 

The Ryder 

Other Organizations 

Big Car (Indianapolis) 

Bloomington Montessori School

Indy Pulse 

Kinsey Institute

Monroe County United Ministries 

United Service Organizations 

Writing for a Change