Creative writing may not be the first artform that comes to mind when you think of arts management. But to Bret Lott, Director of the new MFA in Creative Writing program at the College, a partnership between aspiring writers and arts management is a natural fit.
“It makes total sense,” Lott says of the Arts Management emphasis offered within the creative writing MFA. “The majority of the skills learned in arts management are also elements of the writing craft.”
The MFA program was in development for over a decade before it finally got underway with its inaugural class in the fall of 2016. As plans for the MFA slowly came together, Lott worked alongside Scott Shanklin-Peterson, then the Director of the Arts Management Program, on ways to integrate the traditional creative writing curriculum with an arts management component. Shanklin-Peterson retired as Director in 2014, but her successor Dr. Karen Chandler helped Lott bring the arts management emphasis to fruition.
“We were trying to think of ways to offer what isn’t commonly offered in an MFA program,” says Lott, who served as a member of the National Council on the Arts from 2006 to 2012. “We came up with this hybrid concept which is, to my knowledge, the only program of its kind in the country.”
Those creative writing students who choose the Arts Management emphasis will take four graduate-level Arts Management courses over their two years in the MFA program, exploring concepts like fundraising, financial management, marketing/audience development, educational programming, and policy, often with a writing-intensive approach.
“Pretty much everything we’ve learned so far has a writing spin,” says Alex Eaker, one of three creative writing students who undertook the Arts Management route in the program’s first year. “Whether its grant writing or marketing or policy, there are so many opportunities to use our writing skills.”
Already those opportunities are taking shape. One year in, the creative writers have written case studies on local arts organizations like Redux Contemporary Art Center and the Dock Street Theatre, and have crafted a detailed assessment report for local nonprofit Jazz Artists of Charleston as part of a service learning project.
In addition to their time in the classroom, two of the creative writing students, Eaker and Nick Plasmati, have served as Graduate Assistants within the Arts Management Program’s office (pictured above). The two have certainly put their writing skills to good use. They’ve not only written and implemented a comprehensive marketing plan for the entire Arts Management Program, but have also designed and drafted the Program’s very first e-Newsletter.
“There are tons of writing careers in the arts world that MFA students don’t typically think of,” Eaker says. “This program has really opened up my eyes to that side of things.”
The prospect for non-academic writing careers was one of the reasons Lott and Shanklin-Peterson first began discussing a potential partnership. The traditional path for MFA graduates is to pursue a career in academia. But as those positions have become increasingly competitive, writers are beginning to explore other outlets. New opportunities are already becoming available. Several local arts organizations have approached Lott with grant writing internships, and he’s also heard from a CofC alum about developing an education outreach program in which MFA students would visit local schools and offer writing workshops.
“All the arts are of a whole,” Lott points out. “The hope is for our writers to become integrated into the local arts community, which in turn will help improve their writing.”