In first grade, when people asked Autumn Rose ’25 what she wanted to be when she grew up, she had one response: singing and performing (except for a few months when she wanted to be an astronaut).
“I enjoyed performing so much,” says Rose. “I distinctly remember making a project about it to present to my class. I even loved going to the movies and seeing people perform.”
While she may have been young, she understood entertainment’s ability to impact, empower, and inspire.
As she got older, she decided it was time to be more serious about her career, so she considered paths like psychiatry, law, and civil engineering. But nothing felt quite right.
“When it was time to start applying for college, I knew I loved the arts,” she explains. “But I also knew I needed to find something that could serve as a foundation for many types of careers in case I changed my mind about what I wanted to do.”
She decided to major in communication studies at Northwestern, with minors in Spanish and film media studies. She loved the idea of watching TV, listening to music, or creating her own work in a different language as a way to connect with the arts.
For example, during her senior year, she developed a zine in Spanish as part of a group project. “The zine was very interactive and focused on disabilities in Spain,” she explains. “My group decided to approach the zine by talking about disabilities associated with the five senses.”
To simulate sight impairment, Rose used her pages to display backwards, upside down, and spiralized text to represent different reading challenges. She also discussed the impacts of eye diseases.
The work her team did on the zine was so powerful that their professor displayed it as part of a campus exhibit in the Ditmarr Memorial Gallery last spring, where they had a chance to talk about the project.
To continue exploring the creative arts, Rose decided to head to graduate school after receiving her bachelor’s degree. While she considered other programs, such as arts administration, she kept coming back to Northwestern’s MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE). She was familiar with the program and faculty and felt like it would be a natural transition.
“Many people are focused on the arts as a career path,” Rose points out, “but there are basic principles you need to know in terms of business operations and economics in order to make those careers possible and sustain yourself. I knew that’s what the MSLCE program could do for me.”
Already, she says, the program is addressing her love for the creative arts while teaching her the business skills she needs. In many ways, she feels like the courses are designed to work together; she’s able to apply what she learns in one course to what she’s discussing in another.
For instance, Culture and Globalization, taught by Professor Claudio Benzecry, is helping her understand the intersection of globalization and cultural production, how one impacts the other, and the interdependency of creative arts cultures.
“I can mix what I’m learning in Culture and Globalization with a class like Brand Management in the Digital Age, taught by Associate Professor TJ Billard, to help me understand not only cultural industries and regions but also how information from one place can be applied in another to cultivate new ways to practice and perform art,” Rose describes. “What kinds of things are important for specific audiences to see, hear, and know when it comes to managing brands within certain industries and regions?”
Rose’s focus is on cultural arts and heritage, and she’s confident that the insights she’s gaining in class will prepare her for the community outreach and public affairs positions she plans to pursue with cultural arts institutions in the future.
Once she launches her career, her goal is to shape programming based on the needs and desires of local communities and populations. She also wants to help remove the financial and accessibility barriers that prevent certain groups, such as young students and retirees with fixed incomes, from experiencing art in their own backyards.
“MSLCE is an innovative and interesting way for me to feed this passion,” Rose describes. “Art belongs to the people, and I feel very strongly about making sure marginalized and vulnerable populations have equitable and easy access to it.”
4 Factors that Set MSLCE Apart
While Autumn Rose ’25 considered many master’s programs, she chose the MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE) program for these reasons.
- The length of the program. “The quarter system is so fast, and the MSLCE program is one year. It allows me to learn what I need to quickly so I can get out info the workforce faster.”
- The opportunity to study alongside students with global points of view. “MSLCE is such a globalized program. The perspectives that other students bring to the table from different countries help me better understand how cultural industries work.”
- Courses that align with her passion. “Because I’m really interested in cultural spaces, there were specific courses I wanted to take. MSLCE offered courses on how to create better business models, make art more accessible, and transfer skills across different creative industries.”
- Opportunities to learn beyond the classroom. “There are so many things to take advantage of. The graduate mixer was valuable to make connections and meet other driven and creative people. I got to attend Industry Days at the Chicago International Film Festival and hear from emerging artists and people who make the film industry thrive. Being in Chicago, you also have the chance to explore the city through the lens of whatever you’re learning in school.”
Read more on our blog and follow Northwestern’s MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises program on Instagram and LinkedIn.