Arts Management News

Festival management class puts students at the heart of cultural conservation and celebration in Washington, D.C.

Sarah Holland — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:00:36 +0000

Festival management class puts students at the heart of cultural conservation and celebration in Washington, D.C. Sarah Holland Tue, 07/23/2024 - 12:00

If you visit the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the last week of June, you’ll be greeted with the sights and sounds of a multicultural celebration at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Music and dance performances, cooking demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and education sessions: Every tent offers a view of the world from a different cultural perspective.

And for ��AV students in the cross-listed Folklore and Festival Management course, it’s the internship opportunity of a lifetime.

Supported by an Office of Student Creative Activities and Research Curriculum Impact Grant and led by Lisa Gilman, professor of folklore and English, Karalee Dawn MacKay, director of the arts management program, and Carole Rosenstein, professor of arts management, the course gives students hands-on, real-world experience in festival management.

Along with a term-length group project to plan their own festival, students also learn from guest speakers from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH), tour the CFCH offices, and complete applications for summer internships with the CFCH Folklife Festival.

Recently, the George Mason team established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Smithsonian Institution to formalize the partnership.

“The Folklife Festival is an international, national, and local event: a confluence you’re only going to get in Washington, D.C., where every neighborhood and community is a mix of international, national, and local,” explained Rosenstein. “Being able to leverage the connections of our George Mason faculty to national agencies and institutions all over the region gives our students unique opportunities that will set them up for success.”

“We want the folklore and arts management fields to mirror the populations we work with,” said Gilman. “Mason has this incredibly diverse student body, and through this course and our MOU we are creating real pathways for these students to work in the arts and culture sector.

“This course is only one piece of it,” she further explained. “There’s a lot of potential for collaboration around research and education in the future.”

Arts management and folklore studies are both necessary perspectives in producing this kind of large-scale cultural event. But, as Rosenstein noted, the two fields don’t often interact in an academic setting.

“It’s a unique opportunity for graduate students, in particular,” she said. “As an undergraduate, you know, you’re in classes with a variety of majors all the time. But for graduate students with more focused studies, it’s not often they get to share and learn across areas of expertise. And it’s great career practice, because arts management and folklore professionals will be working together at the same institutions in their careers.”

“We get into deep discussions about how each program would approach these same questions and challenges differently, as well as looking at how we have the same motivations and goals but are perhaps using different terminology or theories,” said MacKay. “It’s amazing to see how much they learn from one another.”

Because of the cross-disciplinary nature of the course, students and faculty engage with all parts of festival production at a much deeper level. Students might consider the theoretical concepts behind ethical and equitable folklore conservation and presentation one day, and the next they’re debating how many bathrooms will be needed for the predicted crowds.

“That’s one of the amazing things about this course and the focus on planning a festival,” said Rosenstein. “It gives them the opportunity to go all the way from high-level theory to what’s happening on the ground at any given minute of the event.”

Everything in the course comes back to building and sustaining relationships. From vendors to sponsors to performers to guests, students learn how proper festival management leads to long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships that support the access and preservation of artistic, creative, and cultural expression.

“This class opens up folklore and arts management students to so many different career possibilities in the arts and culture,” said MacKay.

“It’s an important reminder for students that there are all kinds of creative life and expression everywhere you look,” said Rosenstein. “It’s not just in big art museums or symphony orchestras: you can find it in every community.”

This summer, we spoke with three of the students who worked on the Folklife Festival.

Stephanie Aitken

Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Master’s student in English with a concentration in Folklore Studies

What are you most excited for about interning with the festival?

Seeing it all come together. We’ve learned so much about it in class, and we’ve heard from so many guests who are directly involved in curating or producing the festival. So seeing it all come together in front of my eyes will be an incredible experience.

I’m not from this area, and I’ve never heard of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival before. Now I’m doing an internship. And I don’t think I would have gotten the internship without this class because of the connections we made to all these people related to the festival.

How did this course and the internship prepare you for a career in folklore studies?

I feel like public-sector folklore has grown more and more, especially with a more modern awareness of being respectful of cultures, reciprocity when engaging with cultures, particularly those of marginalized groups. So preparing students with those skills and that perspective is really valuable, and the opportunities it provides makes George Mason’s folklore program unique.

Chris Esswein

BA English and Economics ’24

What was your biggest takeaway from the course?

I did a dual degree in economics and English with the hope of going to law school. But there was this looming feeling that I was going to go to law school, end up working for a Big Law firm doing work that I hated, only to burn out and leave after a few years. But this class and the internship opened up a whole new world of opportunity to me. I care deeply about the ethics of representation and public folklore festival management. I could see job possibilities in law at the Smithsonian, or any number of other public or private arts programs. Even in the class, I felt like my practical way of thinking was embraced and encouraged: asking about permits, security, costs, etc. There’s a place for economics and law and the practical in the world of the arts, and maybe there’s nowhere that needs it more than those areas.

Noelani Talamoni

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Master’s student in English with a concentration in Folklore Studies

What are you most excited for about interning with the festival?

I’m Indigenous Hawaiian, and although I’m very aware of my culture and my background, I haven’t had the opportunity to really work with people in my community. And because the festival theme this year is Indigenous Voices of America, the internship gives me the opportunity to get closer to a part of my heritage that I hadn’t had before, and a chance to uplift my community. It’s also an opportunity to put my research and my classroom experience to use in a very real, tangible way.

What was the cross-disciplinary class experience like?

I feel like we [folklore students and arts management students] learned a lot from each other that we can take into our careers. In our mock festival in class, for example, the arts management students helped me understand these very important, practical aspects of planning, like sound checking for musicians and land use guidelines for where stalls can be placed. And I helped them think through who we were inviting, what communities were being highlighted, how to support unheard voices. Cooperation and camaraderie are a huge part of putting together a festival. In my internship, I’m seeing how experts from multiple fields and backgrounds can work together effectively.

Study the tales and traditions of the world in the folklore program

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Topics

Graduate Education

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

folklore

Summer Internship

Smithsonian

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Arts Management Program

English Department

Students

Arts Management News

This Mason student manages her talents on and off stage

Sarah Holland — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:49:39 +0000

This Mason student manages her talents on and off stage Sarah Holland Fri, 09/15/2023 - 10:49

��AV rising senior Alexandra “Ali” Coburn is an arts management major who loves working on and off the stage.

“Arts management was eye-opening for me [because] it’s so versatile, and it incorporates so well into my performing career,” said Coburn, who is originally from Houston, Texas.

Ali Coburn poses at Atlas Theater in Washington, D.C. where she works throughout the year. Photo by Ron Aira/��AV

Coburn studied voice at the Potomac Vocal Institute and did work with the Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center, where she made many lasting connections in the performing arts field. So, when she posted on Facebook about needing to complete volunteer hours for the Intro to Arts Management course, Erin Feng, the executive director of Capital City Symphony responded to her.

“[When] I started working for [the symphony], I told her that I would eventually have to do an internship as well. Just based off the work that I had done volunteering, she offered me an internship working mainly in development and operations,” said Coburn.

Coburn’s responsibilities include creating content for their social media pages, various writing assignments, and designing their quarterly newsletter. Coburn designed the company’s first newsletter in five years.

“It's been a little bit intimidating because I have never done anything like working in an office before. Most of my jobs have been teaching kids,” said Coburn, who is currently the musical director and director of Handbell Choirs at Browne Academy in Alexandria, where she works with students in kindergarten through eighth grade. She also gives voice and piano lessons.

“I've done a lot of teaching and performing, but never anything on the administrative side,” she said. “It’s a little nerve wracking being thrown into it, but I've really enjoyed everything I've been working on. This is definitely something I was meant to do.”

Although Coburn’s internship ended on August 31, she continues to work at Capital City Symphony as the executive director’s assistant.

“My goal in arts management, development, and fundraising is to create an atmosphere of younger audience members for opera, and just classical music in general. That’s why I enjoy working with Capital City Symphony,” said Coburn. “This internship taught me that happiness is where you choose to find it. It’s been a challenge to find my way, but now I get to work on stage and off.”

“It's a struggle sometimes to get people in the doors for classical music nowadays. I really admire that Capital City Symphony is multigenerational; it’s awesome that we are the first symphony that younger people are coming to. I love that I’m able to be part of a company that shows the DC community what true value classical music has for anyone willing to attend.”

Learn more about Arts Management at Mason

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This content appears in the Spring 2024 print edition of the Mason Spirit Magazine as part of "Career-Ready, Set, Go."

American University's Emerging Arts Leaders 2022 Symposium

Claudia Schmidt — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 15:58:58 +0000

American University's Emerging Arts Leaders 2022 Symposium Claudia Schmidt Wed, 03/30/2022 - 11:58

American University's Emerging Arts Leaders 2022 Symposium

American University's Emerging Arts Leaders (EALS) presents their 15th annual 2022 Symposium: Reopen & Revitalize. As the first in-person Symposium after two years of socially distanced conversation, rising and established leaders in the arts will gather together in a community of learning. The Symposium will be held on April 3, 2022 at the Katzen Arts Center at American University.

At the 15th Annual Emerging Arts Leaders Symposium, you can expect:

- An inspiring keynote speaker to frame the day’s focus

- Valuable and actionable panel conversations with experienced arts leaders, representing multiple arts disciplines and a range of issues facing the sector

-Networking opportunities to engage and develop new connections with arts professionals

- A digital EALS program, which will be updated regularly with schedule announcements and provide an opportunity for continued networking

- Careful adherence to American University’s COVID rules and regulations

After the conclusion of the Symposium (4:30PM), continue to connect with arts professionals over drinks, snacks, and a fundraiser during the Happy Hour & Fundraiser. This will be from 4:30-6:00 PM.

As we reopen our doors to shared space, we welcome you to join us as we consider innovative approaches to the revitalization of the arts. More information can be found at www.ealsatau.org/, where we will soon announce our established speakers and other exciting offerings.

Current Katzen Arts Center Health and Safety Guidelines:

All guests, regardless of age, attending events inside the venue must show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19, or a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the start of the performance, and a photo ID.

Attendee masking, while optional, is strongly encouraged for all events. Please be aware that speakers during EALS may choose to be unmasked.

Topics

Arts Management News

Arts Management Spring 2022 Internship Panel

Claudia Schmidt — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 19:37:26 +0000

Arts Management Spring 2022 Internship Panel Claudia Schmidt Wed, 02/09/2022 - 14:37

Arts Management Spring 2022 Internship Panel

AMGT Graduate Internship Coordinator Jennifer Rosenfeld and other special guests will speak on Wednesday, February 9th at 5:30pm about unique requirements to count internships for credit and how internships can propel your career objectives to the next level.

Taking place over Zoom, students will hear from past interns and internship site managers on how to make internships successful for a lasting career in the arts! More information about registration can be found in the student newsletter and Eventbrite page.

Ryan Braaten has served as Associate Director of Development for Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) since 2012, where he focuses on foundation and government grants, corporate partnerships, alumni programming, and CVPA’s signature benefit event ARTS by George! He is a proud alumnus (’09) of CVPA’s Arts Management program, and served as the president of CVPA’s Alumni Chapter Board of Directors from 2011-2014. He previously worked on the development teams of Arena Stage, WETA, and the Levine School of Music. He teaches Mason’s UNIV 150: Arts Living Learning Community and guest lectures in CVPA’s Arts Management courses.

Cate Bechtold, Director, Internships and Community Programs, works with the Vice President, Education and the Internships and Community Programs staff to program, coordinate, and implement Wolf Trap’s Internship and Apprenticeship Program, Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods, Field Trips, and Grants for High School Performing Arts Teachers. A recipient of ��AV’s (GMU) Career Connections Alumni Award, Mrs. Bechtold is a former member of GMU’s Employer Advisory Board, University of Richmond’s Career Services Advisory Council, and NACE’s Inclusion Committee. Prior to joining Wolf Trap as Program Assistant, Education Outreach in January 2010, Mrs. Bechtold interned in the Program and Production department at Wolf Trap. She earned a BA in Dance from ��AV in 2009.

Tiffany Richardson enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, administrator, teaching artist, and entrepreneur. She appears regularly in venues such as the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap, along with juvenile detention centers throughout the United States and diverse communities in Central America. Tiffany is a co-founder of Sound Impact — a collective of musicians dedicated to empowering youth through innovative music programs. As Director of Community Engagement with the National Philharmonic, she builds community initiatives that forge connections between the arts and equity, activism, technology, and wellness.

Ellen Rizzuto is the Operations Manager of the ��AV Dewberry School of Music. She received a Master of Arts from ��AV in Arts Management (Dec. 2021), and previously graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance. During her time at Oberlin, Ellen worked as an Assistant Ensemble Manager and studied abroad in Lugano, Switzerland for six months at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. Ellen then interned with worldwide music travel agency Classical Movements, Inc. for several months before moving to Cape Cod, Massachusetts to work for the Cape Symphony as Associate Director of Operations, Personnel Manager, and Head Music Librarian.

Helen Frederick is recognized as a distinguished artist, curator, educator, coordinator of international projects, and as founder of Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, a center for contemporary printmaking, hand papermaking and the art of the book. Frederick, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, is Professor Emerita in the School of Art at ��AV. Her work has been exhibited in and is in the collections of major galleries including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She is organizational curator of the Kala Chapaul Trust, and directs Reading Road Studio, Silver Spring, MD.

Topics

Arts Management News

Museums and the Visual Arts: Responding to Covid

Claudia Schmidt — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 18:44:24 +0000

Museums and the Visual Arts: Responding to Covid Claudia Schmidt Wed, 02/09/2022 - 13:44

Museums and the Visual Arts: Responding to Covid

Save the date for the upcoming AMGT panel! Museums and the Visual Arts: Responding to Covid will take place on Monday, February 21st at 6:00pm.

Interested in hearing how museums are protecting their staff and their public? What does the art market look like as international fairs are cancelled or scaled down? What’s it like to start your job as Director of a nonprofit art space on the very day the world starts shutting down? Come listen to three amazing arts leaders talk about how their jobs have changed because of Covid, what practices are temporary and which ones are here to stay. Featuring Jaynelle Hazard (Executive Director, Tephra ICA, Caitlin Berry (Founder and Principle, Caitlin Berry Fine Art), and Shanita Brackett (Associate Director for Operations at NMAAHC).

This is a virtual event with registration available through Eventbrite, sent via GMU student email.

Claire Huschle: The founder and director of Scaffold, LLC, a project support firm for artists and arts organizations. Her diverse portfolio of projects and collaborations includes those with the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, Hamiltonian Artists, the Urban Soils Institute, and Insight Property Group, among others. Her work with individual artists includes identifying funding and residency opportunities, grant writing, and budgeting and business support.

Learn more about Claire Huschle!

Jaynelle Hazard: The Executive Director and Curator of Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) where she builds a critically engaged practice by introducing methods to advance scholarship; extend reach in interdisciplinary experimentation of contemporary art and ideas; and engage audiences of all backgrounds and identities.

Learn more about Jaynelle Hazard!

Caitlin Berry: A champion of creative culture. She has extensive expertise in Washington Color School, Mid-century African American, Post-War American, and Contemporary art. She is deeply connected to the Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland art communities and currently lives in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, VA. Photo by Sarah Marcella Creative.

Learn more about Caitlin Berry!

Shanita Brackett: Shanita Brackett is the Associate Director of Operations at the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution. As an executive leader, she is responsible for overseeing administrative and financial functions, including resources and program initiatives, to ensure a safe and continuous operation during the complexity of a global health pandemic for staff, affiliated staff, and visitors. Shanita also provides strategic planning and leadership for human resources, finance and procurement, information technology, business programs, facilities and building maintenance, safety, and emergency planning to ensure museum programs and resources align with the Smithsonian's 5-year strategic plan.

Learn more about Shanita Brackett!

Topics

Arts Management News

Art and poetry exhibition invites all voices

Colleen Rich — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 15:01:48 +0000

Art and poetry exhibition invites all voices Colleen Rich Mon, 11/22/2021 - 10:01

Mason alum and artist Joseph McCloskey-Caballero’s Creation in Ores (left) and Bailando Bacchanal (right) explore common actions taken to connect to the less mundane self in collaboration with theater major Alex Berrios, whose poems “Mirror Talks” and “Laugh Some More” accompany the work. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Sharing art with art lovers at the intersection of the literary and visual arts is something Jordan McRae thinks is truly innovative. He’s one of many artists featured in Conjuring Presence, an exhibition of visual art and poetry featuring ��AV students, faculty, and alumni at the Fenwick Gallery in Fenwick Library on the Fairfax Campus.

“My inspiration for creative writing––in particular, poetry–– has returned to me. It had been a while since I wrote creatively, let alone for something that would be publicly shown,” said McRae, a graduate student in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Arts Management Program. “I wanted to challenge myself to start writing again, and this exhibition was the perfect opportunity.”

“Conjuring Presence” features work from nine pairs of artists and poets that speaks to ideas of presence, absence, erasure, and creation. Curator and Mason alum Jessica Kallista, MFA Creative Writing ’02, asked each participant to consider the possibilities and manifestations of presence: “What does it mean to become mindful of the presence of others and the need to work against erasure? Who decides whether some people are or are not allowed to be present to occupy spaces in the arts and academia? How do we acknowledge the past, work for a just future, and still ground ourselves in the present?”

School of Theater faculty member and visual artist Deb Sivigny created the sculptures Caught, Aloft, and Pause (detail above) in collaboration with Mason alum and poet Holly Mason Badra, whose poem “An Aubade with Grain, Gold, and Feather” accompanies the work. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

The pairs responded with works including sculpture, textiles, poetry, video performances, and artificial intelligence (AI) “metahumans” that speak with the voices of many. Among the participants are current students and alumni from Mason’s School of Art, Creative Writing program, and Arts Management program, as well as faculty in poetry, game design, theater, and visual art.

“So much of the history of art exhibitions, and academia, is problematically notable for who is excluded,” said Kallista, who teaches in Mason’s School of Art. “I worked consciously as a curator of this exhibition to conjure the future we want to see, a future that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible to all.”

Kallista said that the exhibit is an intentional effort to pivot toward an inclusive future that invites, elevates, appreciates, and applauds previously excluded voices. “The exhibition is exciting, and the collaborations are phenomenal, demonstrating that diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are the secret so many of us have been shouting: We can do much more amazing work when all voices that believe in equity are invited to the table.”

Jax Ohashi, MFA sculpture major, was paired with poet and third-year MFA student Simonne Francis.

Mason MFA student and poet KS Keeney's poems “Midnight” and “Portrait of a Lover” accompanied videos by experimental multidisciplinary artist StrangeLens whose “Goatface La La Land” is pictured above. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

“The piece I made for this show, which fittingly takes place in a university library, resembles the form of a book,” Ohashi said. “The ties for the accordion pages reference the form of butterflies, a universal symbol of hope, travel, and change.”

Fenwick Gallery Manager Stephanie Grimm, art and art history librarian, said that this year’s works are engaging with AI and game-based technologies, like Mason alum Boris Willis and Vivek Narayanan’s Encounters, which features “metahumans” narrating a series of texts by the artists.

Angela Terry, an MFA graphic design student, produced an image, a school photo of herself in grade school. “I thought the innocence of youth would be a great offset of something hidden that should have a presence. The pink polka dots are there for decoration, to create a distraction. The white text stating, ‘i am here,’ conjures presence by letting the viewer know something is there,” Terry said.

McRae worked with Terry to develop a co-created project. In this project, Terry produced a visual arts piece, and McRae produced a poem.

“I wanted to center this poem on my meditation practice and how I came to meditation,” McRae said. “Radical Honesty aims to show my internal progression with my mindfulness journey. “

Many of the works can be viewed online through Mason Exhibitions, and the full exhibit can be seen in Fenwick Gallery through Dec. 11.

Topics

Students

University Libraries

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

creative writing

Arts Management News

School of Art

College of Visual and Performing Arts School of Theater

Wolf Trap Spring 2022 Internship Information Session

Claudia Schmidt — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 16:25:51 +0000

Wolf Trap Spring 2022 Internship Information Session Claudia Schmidt Tue, 11/09/2021 - 11:25

Wolf Trap Spring 2022 Internship Information Session

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is seeking Spring Interns to cover the following positions:

Annual Giving (fully remote)
Education
Graphic Design
Marketing
Opera Artistic Administration
Publications (fully remote)
Public Relations/Social Media (fully remote)
Rentals

On Tuesday, November 14th from 4:00-5:00pm, Wolf Trap will be hosting a virtual information session to provide further details about internship opportunities. Be sure to bookmark the link! Applications are currently open and being considered on a rolling basis. Deadline for submission is December 1. To learn more and to apply visit www.wolftrap.org/internships.

Topics

Arts Management News

Veterans Day 2021 Activities

Claudia Schmidt — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 20:19:46 +0000

Veterans Day 2021 Activities Claudia Schmidt Tue, 11/02/2021 - 16:19

Veterans Day 2021 Activities

In honor of Veterans Day 2021, GMU is hosting several events with a special invitation for veterans, service members, and their families to join and reflect on shared experiences. The War and Treaty, a husband and wife duo by Michael and Tanya Trotter, will be performing at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. The Trotters are a military family who base their music on real-life experiences, including PTSD after the Iraq War and its impacts in day-to-day life. Event details are below:

Community Conversation with The War & Treaty - Michael Trotter and Tanya Trotter
Tuesday, November 9, 6:00pm
Virtual Event

The War and Treaty
Sunday, November 14th at 7:00pm
Hylton Performing Arts Center

Mason has a host of resources available to veterans in the Mason community, including the Veterans Office. Within the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Dr. Niyati Dhokai is Director of the Veterans and the Arts Initiative Program at Mason, based at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. Upcoming Veterans and the Arts Initiative can be found on the Hylton's Website.

Dr. Dhokai was recently featured on the Embracing Arlington Arts podcast discussing her research and how effective music therapy is for Veterans returning from active duty, battling PTSD and other injuries, and how their families and children benefit from these sessions. Listen to the podcast and learn more about the impact of music therapy for veterans!

Topics

Arts Management News

The House is Open: Exploring the Challenges of Reopening Broadway, Non-Profits, Regional Theatres, and National Tours

Claudia Schmidt — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 19:18:06 +0000

The House is Open: Exploring the Challenges of Reopening Broadway, Non-Profits, Regional Theatres, and National Tours Claudia Schmidt Tue, 10/26/2021 - 15:18

The House is Open: Exploring the Challenges of Reopening Broadway, Non-Profits, Regional Theatres, and National Tours

Calling all current AMGT graduate and minor students, AMGT Alumni, and School of Theater students! Join us on Monday, November 8th from 6:00pm-7:30pm EST for, "The House is Open: Exploring the Challenges of Reopening Broadway, Non-Profits, Regional Theatres, and National Tours," a virtual panel hosted by Dr. Karalee Dawn Mackay and leading theater professionals. Email the Arts Management Program for registration information!

Have you wondered what happened in the the theatre industry when everything stopped and the curtain came down in March of 2020? Are you curious about how the various elements of the industry relaunched their productions in September 2021? Join us for a behind the scenes conversation with five theatre professionals (publicists, marketing and tour executives, company managers, and backstage technicians) and find out how they are navigating these complicated times.

Meet the Panelists:

ANDREW DAMER is the senior agency executive at Allied Global Marketing, leading integrated marketing, PR, social media, and brand strategy for a broad range of culture and live entertainment clients, including dozens of touring Broadway shows over the past 15+ years. His team currently represents the North American tours of Mean Girls, Hadestown, Ain’t Too Proud, Beetlejuice, The Book of Mormon, and RENT, among others. He also managed the San Francisco production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the NYC exhibition of Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones. Andrew works with cultural and arts organizations across the country from museums and attractions to opera companies and performing arts centers, as well as negotiating content partnerships for Marquee TV, a streaming platform for the arts. Prior to Allied, Andrew launched the Client Services division at the agency AKA NYC, leading campaigns for a number of Broadway and touring events. He also served as the Marketing Director for Broadway In Chicago, presenting live entertainment at five downtown venues. Andrew has served as an instructor for Northwestern University and as adjunct faculty for ��AV. He holds a B.A. from Emerson College (Boston) and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago. Andrew is an avid sailor and downhill skier, enthusiastic baker and cook, adventurous traveler, and classically trained pianist.

JULIANA HANNETT began her career as a stage manager, but found her calling as a theatrical press agent in 2001. She has had the pleasure of working on many Broadway productions over the years in an agency setting with Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Barlow-Hartman/The Hartman Group, Philip Rinaldi PR, Disney Theatrical Productions, and Rubenstein. Notable campaigns include The Lion King (20th Anniversary campaign); Oh, Hello on Broadway; Larry David’s Fish in the Dark; Billy Elliot; Memphis; Beauty and the Beast; A View from the Bridge; The Crucible; Skylight; Elf; and Annie Baker’s The Flick among many others. In 2018, Juliana became a Vice President at Rubenstein, representing a variety of entertainment clients, including the Broadway productions of The Cher Show, Derren Brown: Secret, A Christmas Carol and Girl from the North Country, a new musical featuring the catalog of Bob Dylan that was the last show to open on Broadway prior to the beginning of quarantine in March, 2020. Due to the circumstances of Covid-19, Juliana has recently struck out on her own and started Juliana Rose Consulting, where she continues to work with entertainment clients as well as clients in various other industries.

DEREK HEALY has been the house electrician at the Richard Rodgers Theater, home of HAMILTON, for the past six years. Prior to that he was the assistant house electrician for four years at the Marriott Marquis Theater. He has worked on such Broadway productions as If/Then, Jekyll and Hyde, Evita, Follies, The Farnsworth Invention, and Tarzan to name a few. Derek also worked for Vari*Lite New York as a field service technician. He received his BFA in Technical Theater from The University of Connecticut and is a proud I.A.T.S.E Local No. One member since 2003.

MIGUEL ORTIZ (Company Manager) Graduated from Otterbein University with a BFA in Music Theatre.  He has worked on Broadway and National Tours since 2002.  Shows include The Lion King, The Color Purple, 9 to 5 the Musical, The Addams Family, Wicked, Motown: The Musical, A Bronx Tale, Summer, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  He currently resides in New York City and manages David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway.

ANGELA ROWLES is proud be to be leading the first all-female executive team in TROIKA Entertainment’s 35-year history after serving 3 years as Chief Operating and Financial Officer. As a veteran of the touring musical theatre industry, her work has taken her all over the world serving as Dance Captain, Stage Manager, Resident Director, Company Manager, General Manager, and Executive Producer. Angela has managed over 60 large scale touring Broadway Musicals, served as Managing Director of Washington D.C.’s historic National Theatre, Vice President of Business Development for NETworks Presentations, and produced tours with such partners as Disney, DreamWorks, and Blue Man Productions.  Her partnerships with The Really Useful Group, Broadway Asia, and Broadway Entertainment Group have allowed her to pursue her passion of sharing American musical theatre with emerging international markets. Angela holds a BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and an MBA with an emphasis on Executive Leadership from the University of Maryland. Angela volunteers her time as a board member for Washington DC’s Embassy Series, uniting people through musical diplomacy, and as a member of the Howard County Fine Arts Advisory Council.

This event is only open to Arts Management alumni, faculty, minors, and graduate students as well as Mason's School of Theater. Please contact the Arts Management Program or check your Mason email to register.

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Arts Management News

Mason Part-Time Job Fair Fall 2021!

Eric Thornton — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 14:52:53 +0000

Mason Part-Time Job Fair Fall 2021! Eric Thornton Fri, 08/20/2021 - 10:52

RSVP now for Mason’s Part-Time Job Fair!

Here are three (3) more reasons to attend the in-person Part-Time Job Fair on August 25:

Connect with on-campus employers hiring for the school year
Make new friends and connections in the local community
Build valuable experience and skills for your resume

If you want to work on campus, these Mason offices that will be at the fair have multiple openings from fitness instructors to customer service to program advisers and more!

Mason Recreation
Student Centers
College of Education and Human Development
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
See the full list of employers

RSVP now via Handshake!

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Arts Management News

Arts Management News

Festival management class puts students at the heart of cultural conservation and celebration in Washington, D.C.

Stephanie Aitken

Master’s student in English with a concentration in Folklore Studies

What are you most excited for about interning with the festival?

How did this course and the internship prepare you for a career in folklore studies?

Chris Esswein

BA English and Economics ’24

What was your biggest takeaway from the course?

Noelani Talamoni

Master’s student in English with a concentration in Folklore Studies

What are you most excited for about interning with the festival?

What was the cross-disciplinary class experience like?

Study the tales and traditions of the world in the folklore program

Position yourself for a successful career through arts management

See where else George Mason internships can take you

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This Mason student manages her talents on and off stage

Learn more about Arts Management at Mason

Internship Series

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Art and poetry exhibition invites all voices

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Veterans Day 2021 Activities

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The House is Open: Exploring the Challenges of Reopening Broadway, Non-Profits, Regional Theatres, and National Tours

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Meet the Panelists:

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Mason Part-Time Job Fair Fall 2021!

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