Arts and Project Management - MA
Currently viewing course to start in 2025/26 Entry.
On our MA Arts and Project Management course you will learn how arts organisations, cultural spaces, festivals and visual and performing arts projects are produced and managed. The course is designed for those who wish to pursue a career in arts management to gain expertise in the requirements for managing, producing and promoting cultural events and arts projects....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time/Part Time
- Award MA
- Start date September 2025
- Fees View course fees
- Subject
- Location Margaret Street
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
On our MA Arts and Project Management course you will learn how arts organisations, cultural spaces, festivals and visual and performing arts projects are produced and managed. The course is designed for those who wish to pursue a career in arts management to gain expertise in the requirements for managing, producing and promoting cultural events and arts projects.
This stimulating course offers you a specialist education in arts and project management. You will develop your knowledge and understanding to be industry ready and effective in managing, delivering and marketing engaging arts and cultural experiences. This prepares you for life as a professional project manager, a PhD researcher, or to work in other related careers.
What's covered in this course?
This course will enable you to develop professional and practical experience, gaining advanced organisational, planning and marketing skills. Through a combination of live projects, seminars, and research modules you will learn about arts policies, the civic and social role of the arts and the delivery of public engagement and cultural value.
You will also have the opportunity to select an option module which will further enrich your learning by introducing you to different arts contexts and dialogues. These skills are instantly transferable to many career paths in the arts, producing flexible, responsive and imaginative cultural practitioners.
Alumni go on to work to be successful in attaining good positions in the Creative Industries and there is scope to work on live projects through our links with local organisations and practitioners in the Creative Industries.
You will be located at Birmingham School of Art (Margaret Street), a fine example of Venetian Gothic architecture and an impressive purpose built Grade I listed art school.
I am pleased to say that my time studying on the Arts and Project Management Course at BCU has been the most rewarding for my career ambitions. The modules provided me with very useful and practical tools that I use in my career. It has helped me realize the important elements and what to focus on during the project’s duration and evaluation.
Also, the modules are I believe are really relevant to the demands of industry, you can easily apply the skills learnt on the course to the real life needs of a project cycle. Therefore, the transition from university to working life has been easier for me as I have, in a way, been prepared. Besides the practical benefits, the course also nourished my academic and writing side if I ever decide to pursue higher education such as PhD. I am very grateful to Beth and all the other staff for my great experience at BCU.
Hannah Kahout
Why Choose Us?
- Birmingham School of Art is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for art-based learning and research. The School of Art is one of 10 schools in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. You’ll join a community of learners who are all creative thinkers and makers. This community exists both within and outside of the individual courses through School-wide activities such as Night School, Film Club, Knitting Club, the Angry Margaret Protest Choir and the public programme of events.
- MA Arts and Project Management has a growing international reputation with alumni worldwide, with strong professional profiles and working in a range of organisations.
- Professional exposure has led to employment with companies: Burberry, Cadbury, Channel 4, Fused, Games Faction, Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA and The Mill, Voluntary Arts, The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, National Ballet of China, NGO Culture Hub, Croatia.
- You will have the opportunity to interact with students from other Master’s courses in the School and the wider faculty/university. Our students and staff have access to the vast range of resources and opportunities that being part of Birmingham City University offers, from Students’ Union societies and clubs, to careers fairs and employability workshops.
- You will be supported by a highly professional staff team in a caring and supportive environment. You’ll also be supported by experienced staff, who are all nationally and internationally active makers, thinkers and researchers.
- Our relationship to the city and its range of communities, galleries and arts organisations is a defining and unique feature of the School. We maintain excellent connections with major city centre institutions such as Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (BMAG), Ikon, Eastside Projects, New Art Gallery Walsall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Selfridges, the Colmore Row Business District and the lively alternative arts scene including: The Lombard Method, Grand Union, Trove, Stryx and MSFAC.
OPEN DAY
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.
Next Event: 24 November 2024
Entry Requirements
Essential requirements
Essential Requirements
BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art or Art and Design, or other Arts-based Degree course or related subject. The minimum academic qualification required is a 2:2 award. Those with equivalent prior professional or life experience will also be considered. |
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IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands or its equivalent. |
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £9,190 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement - see below*)
- £10,110 in 2025/26
- Part Time
- 2 years
- Show fees
- £1022 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 120 credits
- Year 2 - 60 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £18,600 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement - see below*)
- £20,460 in 2025/26
*Professional Placement option
The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.
This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 160 credits):
This module will introduce you to the central role of Marketing within an arts arena the importance of understanding and reaching audiences. The module will introduce you to: Strategic approaches in marketing for the arts considering these topics: understanding of the importance of the different unusual contexts to arts organisations, how to identify new markets and market awareness, contemporary brand awareness, marketing strategies, segmentation and market research. You will gain knowledge of marketing communication skills and marketing communication channels.
This module will enable you to develop planning skills and inform you about the practical processes of arts event and project planning. From identifying the initial project idea to the project evaluation this module is designed to equip you with the tools to enable you to successfully run a project in an arts context. This module will also enable you to examine concepts and topics in event and project management such as: identifying the cultural context of an event, selecting venues, audience development, developing strategic partnerships, integrating multiple sub-events, stakeholder management, event promotion, planning tools and techniques, managing ongoing project processes and evaluating events and projects. You will learn how to write a detailed event plan.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practical outcome with accompanying reflective, critical and contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be relevant to your programme and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development.
This module enables you to articulate in verbal and written (or negotiated equivalent) forms the breadth and depth of your knowledge and understanding of relevant theories and contexts in relationship to your arts based practice, placement, internship or other negotiated professional engagement.
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.
This module, Contemporary Philosophy & Aesthetics explores how Fine Art is made and understood conceptually. How thinking in Fine Art works. This may inform research into practice via the meeting of philosophy, visual culture and social contexts within Fine Art practices. We may look at exhibitions artists and cultural discourses. For example: texts, films, music, fashion and events. It sets the stage for developing your own critical knowledge of the complexities underlying modern and contemporary life and in so doing, building your concepts and language, in your own practices.
The purpose of this module is to introduce you to contemporary curatorial thinking. Throughout the module, you will encounter a range of concepts, themes, approaches and methodologies relevant to your discipline including the role of the curator and exhibition making; the museum and gallery as context and framework; the role of the artist-curator-artist, curating for new media and technologies and curating global exhibitions. You will be supported to develop skills in confidently articulating your knowledge in verbal and written forms.
This module attends to both historical and contemporary models of practice in relationship to the emergence of queer theory. We will explore a range of art practices and queer methods that critique or subvert dominant modes of representation and operation. Focus is given to the following areas: Introduction to queer theory, Art beyond representation, Queer Speech, Queer horror, Education and transgression, Queering the Archive; Care; Queer reading.
This module provides you with an insight into entrepreneurship and small business start-up within the arts and related sectors. Its focus is an exploration of the practicalities of starting-up a creative business. It also covers the nature of the creative industries as a whole as well as the significance of entrepreneurship within the arts and society as a whole.
The acts of photographing and researching are intrinsically linked. They are both activities concerned with expansion and contraction. If we imagine a photograph as a means to isolate a sphere of reality (with all of the caveats this statement demands) that are rendered, most often, in fractions of seconds. Then we could think in a similar way about research. An effort to know more and more about less and less.
This module will explore publishing as a dynamic contemporary art form, a vehicle for the dissemination of ideas and an exploration of radical formats for bringing your art to a wider public. You will be introduced to artist-made books, self-publishing, digital publishing and other non-gallery modes of sharing and communicating art.
The module will be based on a specific workshop process (e.g. for example in the print room this might be etching, screen-print or lithography etc.), technical method (e.g. for example this might be around casting techniques, film and video making, 3D modelling etc.) or material (e.g. for example this might be an investigation into the material properties of clay, stone, a textiles material, etc.). You will independently identify and investigate your chosen line of enquiry to enable you to engage in practical hands on experience of a fabrication/production process.
The module examines art as a social practice, its relationship with our present time and links to historical works and contexts. You will be introduced to key examples and debates within Social Practice with focus given to the following areas: Activism, Antagonism, Participation, Collaboration, Community, Environmentalism, Relational Aesthetics, Socially Engaged Practice, Dialogical Art & Institutional Critique.
This module provides a grounding in arts and transcultural communication, using artistic practices and discursive frameworks to highlight and examine issues related to communication. Communication, but also translation and interpretation intended from a linguistic, visual, cultural, artistic and curatorial perspective, are crucial when working internationally (and locally) with different communities. This module is for those students who aim at working and researching in a transcultural global environment more critically and effectively.
This module creates a trans-disciplinary space in order to explore art’s capacity to change the way we perceive our relationship to ecologies, whether they are environmental, social or psychological. Situated in the emerging field of the environmental humanities, the module will consider the history and theory of artworks associated with earth art, environmental art, and eco art from the 1960s to the present day. You will be introduced to a range of case studies and encouraged to unearth different strategies and methodologies in the environmental arts, from projects that pursue concrete political objectives to artworks that adopt eco-poetic approaches.
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create a research-informed interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff.
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Professional Placement
In order to qualify for the award of MA Arts and Project Management with Professional Placement, a student must successfully complete all of the Level 7 modules listed above as well as the following Level 6 module:
This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree.
The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
Download course specification
Download nowCourse structure
As an MA Arts and Project Management student you will be supported by both the staff team and also have access to visiting professionals working in the creative industries.
Learning strategies include:
- Independent learning
- One to one tutorial support
- Group tutorials
- Taught staff led seminars
- Student led seminars
- School of Art Public Talks Series
- Lectures and conferences
- Library research/resources
- Field trips (where appropriate)
Classroom activities and projects
The programme begins with an evening induction event culminating in a meet and greet with drinks and nibbles. You will join our Pecha Kucha sessions where you will be invited to present your work. This is a fun and light-hearted way of introducing you to each other.
You will be involved in group tutorials and student-led seminars that invite you to present your research for the group to consider and critically evaluate. The intention here is to share your ideas with other people who become ‘critical friends’ to help you think through your work in new ways. This is part of the developmental and evaluative stage in term 2 two for full-time students and terms three and four for part-time students.
The course benefits from established working relationships with national organisations with students often being able to work on live projects or in placements alongside the taught content in the modules. Recent students were able to work on live projects such as the Longbridge Light Festival and students in the school as a whole worked on a project showcasing the School of Art and regional talent at Selfridges.
Through our placements we create strong links across education, industry and retail which enable and benefit students through exciting opportunities to flourish and share their research and work with our external communities at a national level alongside cultural leaders.
Students on the MA Arts and Project Management course will learn through practice based learning. Lectures will involve an engaging mix of theory, debate and group exercises that wherever possible are connected to live projects.
The course benefits from the sharing of knowledge from real life experience, a diversity of case studies and students working on live projects, integrated working within local and national networks, gaining practical tools and insider knowledge from industry experts.
Employability
Enhancing employability skills
As you study this course you will develop a set of transferrable skills such as creative problem solving, communication and presentation skills, adaptability and flexibility, independence and teamwork, and good time management.
Specific modules have been designed to address employability, for example; Managing Arts Events and Projects, Technical Methods, Workshop Practice and Learning, Small Arts Business Set Up, and Creative Publishing and Public Dissemination.
Placements
Placements are one of the possible ways of fulfilling your Research in Practice module and numerous students across the ABM Programme have chosen this route. There is scope for placements with a number of organisations in the city and beyond, however it is your responsibility to plan and organise your placement with the organisation you wish to work with.
Placements can last for a few weeks or for a longer period of time. They provide you with a great opportunity to gain insight into how an organisation works and your reflection on their activities can be useful to them as you develop your research. You will also find that this is a great way to meet and network with people in the creative industries. Our members of staff are able to guide and support you through this process.
Graduate stories – Alex's story
Alex Laight graduated from this MA with a Commendation.
Links to industry
With our partners, New Arts West Midlands and Eastside Projects, our students are actively linked with up-to-date local and regional opportunities. We maintain excellent connections with major institutions such as Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Selfridges, Birmingham City Council, the Lunar Society, the Longbridge Light Festival, Birmingham Hippodrome to name a few. We are also members of the Colmore Row Business District.
The School works with Savills, Capsticks, Associated Architects and Deutsche Bank who sponsors of an annual award (£10,000) to support artists’ career development. Numerous graduates have achieved excellent profiles as professional artists in the sector.
Graduate jobs
Students go to do a range of jobs, recent graduates have gone on roles such as Exhibitions Co-ordinator, Performance Events Manager, Curator and Communications Officers at organisations all over the world. Here is a list of potential career opportunities for graduates of this course:
- Arts producers
- Creative producers
- Arts Project Manager
- Events Manager
- Arts Marketer
- Marketing and Communications Officers
- Lead Social Media Co-Ordinator
- Arts Officers
- Performance Event Manager
- Arts Communication Roles
- Partnerships Coordinator
- Arts Administrators
- Festival Manager Creative Director
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Details of the entry requirements for our courses
- Some of the good reasons why you should study here
- How to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Information relevant to applicants from your country
- Where to find financial support for your studies.
Our international students
This course is ideal for students coming from Asia, from countries such as China, Africa, Korea and Taiwan, as many new arts organisations and networks grow in these regions. The course will equip you to become cultural pioneers as well-informed and dynamic arts professionals.
International students who have a serious interest in studying with us but who perhaps cannot meet the direct entry requirements, academic or English, or who have been out of education for some time, can enter Birmingham City University International College (BCUIC) and begin their degree studies.
BCUIC is part of the global Navitas Group, an internationally recognised education provider, and the partnership allows students to access the University’s facilities and services and move seamlessly through to achieving a Bachelor’s degree from Birmingham City University.
Popular home countries
Our students come from around the world but our arts and project management course is most popular with international students from:
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
We are constantly investing in our estate and are currently in the process of spending over £400 million on new learning facilities.
Birmingham School of Art (an impressive purpose built Grade 1 listed example of Venetian Gothic architecture) was the first major renovation project undertaken by the university (£5.5m refurbishment). The School provides an incredible resource for the production of art and its associated fields of study. The building has a range of facilities available including studios, workshops, specialist art and design library, bookable spaces and lecture/seminar rooms.
Our staff
Beth Derbyshire
Course Leader: MA Art and Project Management
Beth is a practising artist who has been working largely in the public realm for over 25 years. Her practice explores the diverse nature of human presence and expression within social and historical registers. Themes have been: silence in society, conflict and collective memory, nationality and identity. Recent works have investigated...
More about BethMona Casey
Course Leader: MA Fine Art
Mona Casey is MA Fine Art Course Director and International Lead. She is also module leader for the MA programme Models and Methods of Curatorial Practice. Mona was born in Ireland and currently lives in the UK, where she works as a curator, artist and researcher.
More about MonaDr Sian Vaughan
Reader in Research Practice
Dr Sian Vaughan is Reader in Research Practice with expertise in doctoral education and creative research methods. She is Director of Research for RAAD – research in art, architecture, and design (REF UoA32) where she provides strategic leadership, coordination, and care for a growing community of researchers.
More about SianDr Martyn Brown
Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies and Coordinating Director of Post Graduate Framework Degrees
Martyn Brown has a varied background in addition to over 25 years lecturing in higher education. He is a qualified engineer and an experienced musician. His current main role is as Post Graduate Research lead in the Graduate School of Management. He is also a member of the Graduate School of Management Leadership subject group.
More about Martyn