April 1, 2009

This past week, the Westphal College's graduate Arts Administration (AADM) and undergraduate Entertainment & Arts Management (EAM) programs welcomed dozens of arts administration educators from across the country and the world as Drexel hosted the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) annual conference. The AAAE's conference serves as a forum for university programs to share information and best practices as they train the future leaders and managers of arts and cultural organizations. Founded in 1975, the AAAE promotes the publication and dissemination of research on the many issues facing arts and cultural organizations including policy, funding, marketing, trends and audience development. More than ten Arts Administration and EAM students assisted faculty in running the conference and, in return, were allowed to attend conference sessions for free.

We welcomed Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer for the City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts, Cultural and the Creative Economy, and Peggy Amsterdam, President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, who led a plenary discussion moderated by Arts Administration Program Director and Performing Arts Department Head Cecelia Fitzgibbon. Dr. Ann Stone from the Wallace Foundation and Barbara Lippman and Neville Vakharia from the Pew Charitable Trusts were on a panel at the AAAE conference sharing their perspectives on field needs and applications related to research. For more information on the Association of Arts Administration Educators, click here.