We work for you.
Whether you’re looking for a summer job, a grant, or a chance to give back, we’re here to help! Use the links below to review the multitude of resources available to the College of Fine Arts community.
On-Campus and Off-Campus Jobs
Part-Time, Summer Jobs and Quickie Jobs
The Boston University Student Employment Office assists matriculating students in financing their education. A variety of services are available to accommodate students’ schedules and financial needs
Work Study Jobs
Work-Study is a federal financial aid program administered by Boston University. It is designed to promote access to employment to help students meet educational expenses. Recipients of Work-Study awards have access to part-time job opportunities while attending Boston University.
CFA Career Resources Hub
Welcome to the CFA Career Resources Hub!
This platform is designed to be your compass in navigating the vast landscape of opportunities within the world of fine arts.
Whatever your CFA program or artistic pursuit may be, this space is dedicated to empowering you with the tools, insights, and guidance essential to sculpting a fulfilling career in the arts.
Created by CFA faculty member Emily Worden (CFA FA520: Career Development in the Arts), these resources are tailored to meet the unique needs of fine arts students.
Unleash your artistic vision and forge a path that turns your passion into a purposeful and prosperous career.
Questions? Thoughts? Your suggestions are welcome. Please contact us at cfastu@bu.edu.
Recording: Financial Literacy & Freelancing Workshop hosted by Emily Worden, January 31, 2024. Passcode: c#0tT3Dp
Informational Interviews Workshop hosted by Emily Worden, April 10, 2024. Passcode: 940fc.TQ
Communicate Your Skills in Your Resume, Cover Letter, and LinkedIn
Imposter Syndrome: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Entrepreneurial Opportunities
BU Resources
BUild Lab
Our world needs more artists, more entrepreneurs, more creative solutions to societal problems. We need more innovators. Come down to BUild Lab to learn about the vast network of resources available to the BU community, including expert mentors, on-campus clubs, and maker-spaces. Find the resources to turn ideas into actions that make an impact.
Center for Career Development
Comprehensive career planning and advice for students and alumni of Boston University.
Local Resources
ArtSake
Massachusetts Cultural Council Opportunities Blog
Assets for Artists
Assets for Artists is a collaborative program providing a range of support services for creative entrepreneurs. It is administered by MASS MoCA, the Midas Collaborative, and Arthome, in cooperation with many local partners.
Boston Chapter:American Institute of Graphic Designers (AIGA)
HireCulture
Hire Culture is a free, searchable database of cultural employment opportunities throughout Massachusetts. A service of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
New England Film
National Resources
Americans for the Arts
The mission of Americans for the Arts is to serve, advance, and lead the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. Connecting ideas and leaders from the arts, communities, and business, working to ensure that every American has access to the arts.
Backstage
Backstage is a place where actors, singers, dancers, and all performers can connect with the greater performing arts community. Their services include career advice and casting information.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
Comprehensive listing of jobs in the tri-state area.
Community Organizations and Volunteering
Community Organizations
Arts and Business Council
The mission of the A&BC is to strengthen a vibrant arts community by providing quality direct legal and business services and ongoing educational programs to the creative community within Massachusetts. Programs include business training for artists and creative entrepreneurs, pro bono legal services through the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, nonprofit board service training and placement through Business on Board, microlending, fiscal agency, estate and legacy planning, human resources support, insurance programs, and corporate art lending partnerships.
Boston Center for the Arts
The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is a not-for-profit performing and visual arts campus that supports working artists to create, perform and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to community.
Boston Cultural Council
Boston Musicians’ Association
The Boston Musicians’ Association represents a community of over 1,600 professional musicians in the Boston metro area.
Volunteer Opportunities
BU Community Service Center
The Community Service Center (CSC) is Boston University’s welcoming space for direct service, education, and reflection initiated by students in solidarity with our neighbors and community partners.
Boston University Prison Education Program
BU’s Prison Education Program strives to provide the means whereby, through education, students can become informed, successful, and contributing citizens.
HireCulture Volunteer Opportunities
MASSCreative
MASSCreative works with creative leaders, working artists, arts educators and arts and cultural supporters to empower creative organizations and the public with a powerful voice to advocate for the resources and attention necessary to build vibrant, connected, and creative communities.
Music For Food
Music for Food is a concert series to help relieve food insecurity in the Greater Boston area, with a group of Boston-based musicians and guest artists.
Shelter Music Boston
Shelter Music Boston presents monthly chamber music concerts in Greater Boston homeless shelters, delivering live classical music as a social service.
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards
BU Resources
Boston University Arts Initiative
The mission of the BU Arts Initiative is to ensure the integral role of the arts in the educational experience of every BU student. They support faculty, student, and staff projects, making sure the arts are deeply embedded within the cultural and intellectual fabric of the University.
Music Library Fellowship Listings
This guide is a list of funding resources for musicians including such topics as fellowships, competitions and grants. Resources are broken down into two categories: those at Boston University and those outside the University. Please direct all inquiries to musiclib@bu.edu.
Local Resources
Boston Cultural Council
Massachusetts Cultural Council
The MCC is a State agency that funds the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences.
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Massachusetts Grantwatch
New England Foundation for the Arts
NEFA’s mission is to build connections among artists, arts organizations, and funders, powering the arts to energize communities in New England, the nation, and the world.
National Resources
Artadia
Artadia is a national non-profit organization that supports visual artists with unrestricted, merit-based awards and fosters connections to a network of opportunities.
Artist Help Network
A launching pad to help fine artists mine resources on career development and challenges, including organizations, publications, links, and service providers.
Creative Capital
Creative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel and career development services. Their approach—inspired by venture-capital principles—helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build sustainable practices. Creative Capital provides each funded project with up to $50,000 in direct funding and career development services valued at $45,000, for a total commitment of up to $95,000 per project.
Fractured Atlas Fiscal Sponsorship
Fractured Atlas empowers artists, arts organizations, and other cultural sector stakeholders by eliminating practical barriers to artistic expression, so as to foster a more agile and resilient cultural ecosystem.
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.
WomenArts
WomenArts is a worldwide community of artists and allies that works for empowerment, opportunity, and visibility for women artists. We provide a variety of free online networking, fundraising and advocacy services, and we organize Support Women Artists Now Day (SWAN Day), an annual international holiday celebrating women’s creativity in all its forms.
Internships
Artist Help Network
A launching pad to help fine artists mine resources on career development and challenges, including organizations, publications, links, and service providers.
BU Center for Career Development
HireCulture
Funding for the Innovation in the Arts
BU Build Lab Innovation Pathway
The Innovation Pathway (IP) is a self-paced program that fosters and supports all forms of innovation created by current Boston University students from any school and college, as well as BU alumni within one year of graduation. The enthusiastic team members of Innovate@BU encourage CFA students to explore their artistic endeavors through participation in this groundbreaking program!
The IP Program is a good fit for you if…
- You’re already working on and building a venture idea and ready to move from thinking to doing.
- Through at least 15 customer discovery interviews (20+ minute, in-depth conversations with potential customers asking open-ended questions), market research, and planning, you have evidence that your idea has potential.
- You’re working on an idea that is supported by a sustainable and scalable business model (e.g. for-profit or nonprofit). We welcome all types of ideas, technology or non-technology based.
Committed to further developing your idea, to get it to a place where you’re ready to launch? Find a hard copy of the application here.
If your idea is too early for the Innovation Pathway, please register for the Idea Incubator program here.
Resources available to you through this program include:
- Up to $3,000 in progress funding
- Curated and self-paced learning content and resources: access to the Innovation Pathway handbook, a curated guide to launching new venture ideas.
- Community and peer-to-peer learning. You will be part of a community of 250+ teams of Terriers who can share feedback, advice, and tips with you.
- Co-working and meeting space. Innovation Pathway teams can pre-book conference rooms at the BUild Lab.
- Priority access to RSVP capped programs. Idea Incubation Nights, Idea Incubation Cohort Learning Program, Speed Mentoring Nights
- Innovation coaches, mentors, and office hours.
- Matched with an Innovation Coach invested in the growth of your idea and team members as individuals.
- Access to office hours with staff and industry experts on a weekly basis.
- More advanced teams will have access to the mentoring network, BU alumni with industry expertise.
Tell Us About Your Career Opportunity!
In CFA’s Beyond the Classroom Series, music, theatre, and visual arts students at BU share their work experiences. These Terriers express how the resources at BU prepared them for success beyond the classroom.