The graduates of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) Arts Management course are industry ready, willing and able to enter into exciting and challenging new careers in the arts or entertainment industries.
Students regularly receive invitations for local work experience from the likes of WA Ballet, Perth Festival, Art Gallery Of WA, Perth International Jazz Festival, Perth Comedy Festival and Fringe World. . . To name a few!
Then, in the final year of the programme, students can partake in an internship in an arts organisation of their choice. That could be a local one, a national one, or even an international one. From there, many take on permanent positions.
“The Bachelor of Arts Management course gave me a really general understanding of how the arts and entertainment industry works and the ability to work in pretty much any part of it – anything from the marketing and production side of the industry through to the law, admin and finance side,” Arts Management graduate, Hyper Coordinator/Youth Cultural Project Officer at the City of Swan and Band Manager Simon ‘Skinny’ O’Leary says.
Simon O'Leary
“I feel like when I walked out of WAAPA, I could really have started in any organisation in any part of the industry.”
The programme is specifically industry-focused, designed to give students the knowledge and skills to be able to work within a diverse range of art forms and organisations.
“The networking opportunities with graduates who are leaders in their field and the intensive secondment programme put me in both large and small organisations and allowed me to meet people who are now my close colleagues,” Arts Management Graduate and Director of Marketing And Sales at Disney Productions James Robertson says.
“Since leaving WAAPA I have worked alongside many Arts Management graduates who are now the top marketers, producers, development professionals and managers of all areas in the arts industry and we always have a strong bond.”
“WAAPA’s Arts Management course really helped me to find my place within the arts industry,” adds Arts Management graduate and Blue Room Theatre Project Manager Harriet Roberts. “I have always craved an active role within the performing arts, but had no idea in what capacity this could be; I trusted the course to guide me in the right direction, and it did.
“For me, the course operated in a two-fold way through building my theoretical knowledge of the practicalities of arts administration in the lecture room, and in pushing me to volunteer and intern positions in the industry to gain practical experience. It was so beneficial to have the WAAPA name behind me when seeking these opportunities for development, opportunities which enabled me to expand my networks and connections in the local industry and ultimately lead to my current position at The Blue Room Theatre.”
Find out more about WAAPA's Arts Management course here.
