Graduate Management Practicum and Summary Project

Learn more about Seattle University’s Master of Fine Arts Leadership practicum and summary project requirements.

  1. Academics
  2. All Programs
  3. Arts Leadership, MFA
  4. Practicum and Summary Project

Our Graduate Management Practicum offers diverse arts leadership opportunities. Choose from four options to build your portfolio and dedicate time each quarter to practical work. The program spans two years and culminates in a Summary Project that integrates academic and practical experience. Past projects cover a range of themes and are presented at a curated event.

Student presenting his art

David Rue (MFA '17) at his practicum at the Seattle Art Museum

Build a career in arts leadership with our hands-on practicum opportunities.

We offer four (4) practicum options to develop your portfolio:

  1. Organization: Work with an arts organization, vetted by the program or found by you.
  2. Interview: Interview 4-5 arts leaders in your field of interest, curated by the program or found by you.
  3. Project: Create a tangible project to further an arts leadership idea.
  4. Research: Study a chosen arts leadership need or issue.

You can choose to do the same practicum option each quarter or switch to suit your professional goals. Expect to spend 40-50 hours per quarter on practicum work.

The Graduate Management Practicum is offered every quarter of your two-year studies, beginning with the Introduction to Practicum course in your first quarter.

Practicum Partners

Arts Leadership students have worked with a wide range of organizations in their practicums, from major institutions to grassroots, experimental, and community-based groups.

If your organization is interested in partnering with one of our MFA Arts Leadership graduate students, please contact us.

Your final quarter is dedicated to your Summary Project, an applied research project that integrates your academic, practicum, and professional experience. With faculty guidance, you’ll inquire, cite, do the work, analyze data, and present your Summary Project.

You’ll spend 120-150 hours on your project, guided by faculty and advisors who are arts leaders.

Past Summary Project Titles:

  • Sharpest Knives: An Independently Produced Podcast about Arts Access; Artist Support; and Social, Racial, and Gender Equity
  • Moving Toward Justice: A Guide to Creating Effective Social Justice Dance Programming and Curricular Integration
  • Age is a Number, Not a Grade: Five Strategies for Untangling Ageism in the Arts Workplace
  • Death by Dinner: Art Consumption Explored through a Methodology of Food Performance
  • Shattering the Glass Curtain: Crafting Effective Mentoring Networks for the Creative and Professional Advancement of Women in the Theatre
  • Ritualizing Residency: How Artist Residencies Sustain Practice and Experimentation
  • Making Art in the Anthropocene: Artistic Citizenship for a Future Worth Living
  • Repertoires of Resistance: Co-Creation in a Radically Inclusive Youth (Arts) Space

Your Summary Project will showcase your arts leadership potential, with an intersectional focus on equity, empathy, and value. You’ll present your project to colleagues, faculty, alumni, and loved ones at a curated event.

For access to select Summary Project abstracts from alumni, contact us.

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the program or application, we’re here to help!

Ashley Miller

Senior Admissions Counselor

Ashley Miller Headshot