Jasmine Roberson ’23 grew up in the world of performing arts, dedicating 14 years to studying dance, including tap and ballet. What she enjoyed most about the experience wasn’t necessarily the performance, but the sisterhood that came along with dancing beside other girls her age and getting to learn from Black instructors.
While dancing was her passion, education was her priority—and building language and storytelling skills were her goals. Roberson majored in English at the University of Illinois Chicago with the hope of using her talents to amplify the work of other artists. “I knew I didn’t want to be a performer or artist myself,” she says, “but I wanted to get into the administration side of arts institutions.
After graduating, she took a year off before joining the Stony Island Arts Bank as a gallery associate for the Anthony Gallery residency exhibitions. That entry-level experience made her realize how much more she wanted to learn. “I wanted to go back to school so I could rise up within the world of art and become a curator who puts exhibits together,” she says. “To do that, I needed more working knowledge. I found Northwestern’s MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises program, and it was a great fit.” Early in the program, she remembers hearing that opportunities to learn would come not only from her professors, but also from her peers—and she says that’s been true. “I’ve met all these people who have different types of arts backgrounds. Some people have more experience, while others are still emerging in their careers. You really get to see how diverse this industry is when you’re surrounded by people with diverse arts administration backgrounds, such as film, TV, theater, and nonprofit work.”
She says the program not only helped her build leadership skills for administration roles, but also gave her a clearer understanding of the inner workings of creative enterprises. For example, in Professor Pablo Boczkowsi’s Organizational Processes in Creative Enterprises course, she evaluated and analyzed organizations through three different lenses— strategic design, political, and cultural—to develop a more complete understanding of creative-enterprise challenges and how to address them. “I really love Cultural Nonprofit Organizations, too,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot of relevant language that people use in the workforce,” she describes. “I enjoyed learning the role boards of directors play in the governance of organizations.”
And when it comes to applying what she’s learned in the real world, Roberson says that Professor Noshir Contractor’s Leveraging Networks in Creative Enterprises class is at the top of the list. It helped her discover how to leverage her relationships not only in the workplace, but also in her personal life. The opportunity to work as part of a team to create a comprehensive marketing plan for a creative enterprise—from providing consulting insights to putting together a marketing package—was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “That real-life consulting experience blew my mind,” she says. “The executive director was actually a guest speaker, so we got to hear background information on the company straight from her.” After wrapping up her coursework this year, Roberson says her goal is to become the lead exhibition curator at a major arts institution in Chicago. “I’m from Chicago, I went to school in Chicago, and it’s important to me that I continue to work in Chicago,” she says. “I’m ready to make an impact on Chicago’s arts community.
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