Making It In The Arts (MIITA) series, is an informational and networking initiative to connect current St. Olaf students—as well as alumni—with prominent graduates working in the field of arts management.
MIITA will consist of four relevant themes, each consisting of a facilitated conversation and networking reception on engaging topics that arts-oriented students might face during their careers.
Prominent alumni and friends of the college working in arts management, will be invited to share their experience in a facilitated conversation, Q & A with the audience, followed by an opportunity for students to talk with the invited guests in a more informal post-event networking session.
Making it in the Arts is a collaboration between the Piper Center for Vocation and Career, Fine Arts Departments, and Arts Management Faculty.
Registration is not required but strongly encouraged. Register in Handshake by following the links below.
Fall 2023 Programming
Minneapolis Arts Connections Trip
Saturday, September 30, 2022 | 9:00am – 6:00pm | Register Here!
Explore the world of arts management and administration directly where it happens! Attend the wildly energetic cooking competition performance of Cookin‘ at Children’s Theatre Company, explore and discover how an arts organization functions, and meet alumni working in arts management. This program allows you to investigate prospective careers in the arts while broadening your perspective on the endless career possibilities available to liberal arts graduates. Transportation provided!
Minnesota’s Arts & Culture Heritage Fund: The Story of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment
Monday, November 13, 2023 | 7:00pm – 8:30pm | Register Here!
In 2008, Minnesota’s voters passed the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution guaranteeing an additional 0.375% in sales tax revenue until 2034. Nearly 20% of the new funds are dedicated to the arts and cultural heritage fund. This was not only groundbreaking and historic for Minnesota and its citizens, but was a model for other states across the United States. Ken Martin, prior to his current role as chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, was one of the leaders deeply involved in helping make the Legacy Amendment a reality.
Ken will share his experience of this incredible journey that brought together legislators, advocates, over 300 nonprofit organizations, and countless grassroots efforts representing the citizens interested in land conservation, water conservation, parks and trails, and arts and culture. The Legacy Amendment is now 14 years old. Ken will share his thoughts as to what is next over the next 20 years of this historic effort.
Fall 2022 Making it in the Arts
Fall 2022 Programming
The Art of the Pivot: From Creative to Arts Administration
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 | 5:00 – 6:30pm | Virtual | View the Recording!
There comes a point in artists’ lives when they realize a career in their craft is no longer the track they want to pursue. New creative interests take hold, unexpected opportunities present themselves, and changes to life circumstances shift priorities. They may encounter questions like: Now what? What is my next step? How can I get a new job? Career moves are completely normal, and increasingly common, as we all navigate the twists and turns of being a professional.
In this conversation we discuss the different options for professionals to take when switching between arts administration and creative careers. Learn about the challenges and opportunities these career moves have provided professionals and alums who have both gone through these exact switches.
- Jay Kalagayan | Executive Director, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus
- Julia Porter ‘19 | Rights & Clearances | Music Licensing
Minneapolis Arts Connections Trip
Saturday, October 22, 2022 | 10:00am – 4:00pm | Register Here!
Explore the world of arts management and administration directly where it happens! Explore and discover how an arts organization functions, meet alumni working in arts management, and reflect on what roles are a fit for you. Students will visit arts venues and a non-profit arts event in Minneapolis. Transportation provided!
community-engaged arts panel event
Tuesday, November 1, 2022 | 5:30pm – 7:00pm | View the Recording!
The intersection of community, arts, and activism provides a space for artists to practice their craft while also educating community members. For many creative people, art is not just a means of self-expression, but a tool for making social change. Community-engaged art has a long and rich history, and its goal of advancing cultural life can differ markedly from career pathways based on professionalization within dominant culture industries. The opportunity to provide space for community members to learn and grow through the fine arts is something that many St. Olaf alumni have engaged throughout their careers. Our panelists will discuss their own career trajectories in community-engaged arts spaces, including topics related to outreach, the various pathways to becoming a teaching artist, and more!
- Alison Beech ’13 | Community Engagement Manager, Northern Clay Center
- Naura Anderson ’05 | Founding Director, Arts Threshold
Fall 2021 Making it in the Arts
Fall 2021 Programming
Breaking into the Biz: Working with Agents and Intermediaries
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | VIA ZOOM
- Jack Adams ’09 | River Road Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency
- Cole Pulice | Working Musical Artist in Oakland, CA and Minneapolis
You’ve been practicing your craft for years, and now you want to make the jump to the next level of your professional. It’s time to take the plunge and find an agent. But what exactly do you need to do to
get professional representation? And what can you expect an agent to do for you? What are the myths, and what is the reality?
In this conversation we discuss the role of agents and intermediaries with professionals who have worked on both sides of the table. Learn about the day-to-day life of working in a big agency, as well as
the needs of creative professionals who rely on agents to access the gigs that pay.
Building A Bigger Tent: Cultural Engagement and Community Outreach through the Arts
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 | 6:00-7:30 p.m | VIA ZOOM
- Dr. Carra Martinez | Fusebox Festival, Austin; Former Director of Community Engagement at the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis
- Dr. Jessica Lopez Lyman | Electric Machete Studios, Multi-Disciplinary Artist and Organizer in the Twin Cities
It has become something of a cliché to say that the arts need to broaden and diversify to survive in the 21st century. But what is the actual hard work that goes into expanding the audiences for the creative and performing arts? How do organizations and individual creatives build connections with communities who have been historically excluded? And what kinds of institutional structures enable or disable attempts to reach out or to reimagine the arts sector altogether?
In this conversation we invite two guests who have made engagement and outreach a focal point of their creative and professional careers. Working in multiple cities, across multiple arts, and within organizations large and small, we discuss what it means to be part of building an arts sector that asserts new cultural values and creative horizons.
Minneapolis Arts Connections Trip
Saturday, October 23, 2021 | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Registration will open soon!
Explore the world of arts management and administration directly where it happens! Explore and discover how an arts organization functions, meet alumni working in arts management, and reflect on what roles are a fit for you. Students will visit arts venues in Minneapolis.
Fall 2020/Spring 2021 Making it in the Arts
Making It In a Down Economy
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | Via Zoom
How do creative people hustle when it’s hard to find work? How do they seek out ways to pay the rent while also progressing with their artistic aspirations? Our first MIITA conversation brings together two Chicago performers who built solo careers from the ground up, while also pursuing missions in education and advocacy. Coming from the fields of music and theatre, we discuss the challenges of working independently during times of economic hardship. How do artists find day jobs, while also deepening their involvement in the local creative scene? How do they self-market and create their own opportunities? And, amid all this, how do artists develop a work/life balance and habits of self-care?
Distinguished Guests:
- Paul Whitehouse (Chicago-based actor and theatre educator)
- Bassel Almadani (musician with Bassel and the Supernaturals
Making Structural Change in and through the Arts: Anti-Racist Activism and Advocacy
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | Via Zoom
Listen to the Recording (Access Passcode: N*smey9V)
Our second MIITA conversation opens a dialogue about the ways professional artists build careers dedicated to bringing about social change. How does one develop a creative philosophy that locates racial, gender, and sexual oppression as central facets of their making? How do they seek out (or even invent) organizations to help them advance their cause? How do they collaborate, or solicit community involvement? Today, arts organizations throughout the country are struggling to reimagine their social role—especially as the Black Lives Matter movement amplifies longstanding calls for diversity, equity, and anti-racism in the creative sector. In this complicated moment, our speakers are forging careers working at the intersection of visual and performing arts, community development, and civic advocacy. We will discuss what it means to build a professional career while also negotiating the tensions that arise when that work has political, ethical, and material stakes in the fight for social justice.
Distinguished Guests:
- Tia Simone-Gardner | Juxtaposition Arts
- Jose Richard Aviles ’13 | Urban planner, social worker, and internationally touring performance artist
Where do we go from here? Making a Post-COVID Art World
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | Via Zoom
Within weeks, the sudden onset of COVID-19 hobbled the entire entertainment industry, shuttering workplaces, closing down production, and forcing artists to imagine alternative approaches to their craft. How have creative professionals adapted to sudden changes to their entire field? What practices have helped them ride out the storm, and to what extent have they been forced to pivot from business as usual? Working in TV & Film, and music composition, our speakers discuss how creative professionals try to stay motivated and productive during times of sudden change, but also how they continue to look forward and imagine the creative landscape in its newly changed form. What will the arts world look like post-COVID? How will it need to change to address these new circumstances? And what do you do when circumstances beyond your control force you to take a detour from a rigorous professional life?
Distinguished Guests:
- Abbie Betinis ’01 | Composer/Publisher
- Shelly Gossman ’99 | Writer, Saturday Night Live
Making a Career from the Ground Up
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | Via Zoom
Whatever your professional path in the arts, the only certainty is change. How do creative professionals make moves between different arts organizations, different job descriptions, or even different cities? How do they begin to climb the institutional ladder? What kinds of opportunities and drawbacks are there to being part of a major institution, and how do you learn where exactly your own skillset fits in? Our speakers discuss what it means to establish a career within the complex non-profit world, and shed light on the daily “behind-the-scenes” work it takes to acquire the resources to bring elaborate creative projects to light. While many institutions place a firm division between “Creative” and “Administrative” positions, our speakers discuss the art of bringing these sides together to build professional-quality creative experiences.
Distinguished Guests:
- Sarah Rasmussen ’01 | Artistic Director, McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NJ)
- Vicki Anton ’14 | Assistant Director of Development, University of Chicago Library
Whose Responsibility is it?: Race and Diversity in the Arts
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 | 6:00pm – 7:30pm CST | Via Zoom
- Dyeemah Simmons, Whitney Museum of American Art- New York, NY
- Diane Sikes, Women & Their Work – Austin, Texas
- Mary Anne Quiroz, Indigenous Roots – St. Paul, MN
“How to Build a Startup Ensemble”: Professional Planning for Avid Music Makers
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Via Zoom
Among the many strengths of the St. Olaf musical community is the ability for student musicians to band together and create their own small groups outside of the college’s main ensembles. One particular past instance of this at St. Olaf gave rise to Cantus, one of two current full-time professional male vocal ensembles nationwide.
Distinguished Guests:
- Erick Lichte ’98
- Michael Hanawalt ’00
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