Students gain a window into the inner workings of specific professional roles in a nonprofit
by working with an AES case study representative. When implementing coursework with real-world career opportunities, students gain insight into their future career goals through an opportunity that academic studies cannot always provide. Maria Oliveri, online student and 2024 graduate of UMass Amherst with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Art Management, discovered the career opportunities through her case study partnership with Beyond Walls.
Maria Oliveri was able to apply her AES coursework in a career-guiding experience through Beyond Walls, a nonprofit creative placemaking organization that activates public spaces to strengthen communities. Located in Lynn, MA, Beyond Walls has installed murals in Holyoke, Chicopee, Fall River, Lowell, Haverhill, Lynn, and others where each city’s installation is rooted in cultural programming. After selecting Beyond Walls as her first case study assignment in Arts Programming, Oliveri kept her connection with Beyond Walls across her two-year university experience with AES. Oliveri created multiple final projects in collaboration with Beyond Walls where she received thoughtful feedback on her work directly from the Chief Operating Officer himself. For Arts Programming, Oliveri made a comprehensive program plan for a community event at one of the Holyoke murals. Through this project, Oliveri utilized her studies with AES and Beyond Walls was able to gain a new perspective towards their nonprofit work. By forming a direct connection with COO Phillip Fagan that continued throughout all of her Arts Extension Service classes, Oliveri learned about the context of his work and the factors that go into decision making. One of the incredible aspects of case study work is the mutually beneficial relationship that blossoms between student and nonprofit.
“I think this experience will impact my future work in the arts because I have learned the true importance of collaboration”, reflects Oliveri on her work with Beyond Walls. “Nobody can do anything alone.” Her courses consisted of Introduction to Arts Management Grantwriting for the Arts, Arts Fundraising, Financial Management in the Arts, Arts Programming, Arts Marketing, and Creative Community Leadership, all of which provided her with the knowledge needed to excel in her case-study opportunity with Beyond Walls. Oliveri was able to apply a subject she recently learned into real-world experience, “I found that all the classes in the Arts Extension Service are intertwined so I could kind of go back to what I had learned in a different class and apply it to the class I was taking at that time.”
COO Philip Fagan reflects on the benefits of collaborating with Oliveri, “Working with an AES student allowed us to center on the operational and strategic facets of our organizational projects.” Fagan was able to reflect on how programs and operations meet strategic goals and identify places for improvement. Beyond Walls gained an outside perspective on their programming strategy alongside Oliveri. Fagan found this partnership to be a “powerful means of demonstrating the impact of Beyond Walls’ initiatives” where Oliveri’s work highlighted Beyond Walls’ positive changes brought to multiple communities. Maria Oliveri’s contributions revealed a broader possibility of the potential impact Beyond Walls could bring to a community – all important reflections to support future grant applications and funding appeals.
Overall, Fagan found that by having a case study student work with Beyond Walls, he was able to fulfill the nonprofit’s value on education and art. “Collaborating with an AES student also aligns with Beyond Walls strategic goals to combine art and education”, reflects Fagan. This case study allowed Beyond Walls to actively implement their educational goals and push their mission beyond programming by directly mentoring future art leaders.
“In the arts, we are trying to create great positive change in the right direction,” states Oliveri, “We need to collaborate with our community, members, and audience to make these great things happen.” Oliveri found an invaluable connection with Beyond Walls that embodied her potential future career work and materialized the knowledge she has gained through her AES coursework. By working with a case study representative, Oliveri gained a window into the inner workings of specific professional roles in a nonprofit. Fagan states, as a case study, “The reward of working with an AES student was in equipping a student, and possibly a future colleague, with the tools in administration, funding, and strategic planning.”
