For Jinna Sakkijha (’22 BA Arts Administration), UNCG was a natural selection: 

“It was a straight pipeline. I lived in Oak Ridge in Guilford County, and when I graduated high school, I wasn’t quite ready to leave the nest yet. I came to orientation thinking I would be a Psychology major. That lasted about twenty-four hours because of an encounter with a ‘mystery woman’ at a display table in the Elliott University Center.” 

Sakkijha has told her story to several people and hasn’t been able to track down who that person was, but she remembers that she made an impact: 

“I was supposed to be registering for my first semester of classes, and the woman asked me what I was studying. She told me I looked unhappy and asked if I was sure I wanted to be a psychology major. With my parents standing right behind me, I told her I grew up doing theatre, but it didn’t seem like a financially sustainable career decision, so I’d chosen to pursue psychology. 

The woman commented that it was interesting that I wanted to be involved in the Arts, because there was a new major being offered in Arts Administration. She described it as the business behind the arts, nonprofits, and governance. I decided then and there I was just going to switch my major over completely and became one of the two first-year students starting in the major that year.” 

Right after graduation, Sakkijha was hired as a Development Associate for the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington: 

“I applied for the job while I was still in my senior year. This was just past COVID-19 and we were still masking in classes, and some classes were still hybrid. It was wonky, and I was a little nervous about the future. CVPA’s Arts Administration program prepared me for applying for and getting this position at the Cameron Art Museum because it inspired me to pursue philanthropy. Fundraising is incredibly integral to any non-profit organization, especially in today’s economic climate. We need to build good foundational relationships with people to create avenues to keep these non-profits functioning—especially given the way that federal grant systems are starting to work.” 

 
From Development Associate, Sakkijha was promoted to Donor Engagement and Research Manager with responsibilities that include grant management and writing. She also does prospect research to help determine wealth capacity and analytics: 

 
“I had never thought about the behind-the-scenes organizational management of any arts organization, whether visual or performing arts until I got to UNCG. Which is funny because I grew up working in different theater communities and took classes at UNCSA’s summer theater intensive for a couple of years, and somebody must run those things. Now, I am hyper aware that these positions exist and how important they are making the arts happen.” 

According to Sakkijha, Arts Administration is not only important but also fulfilling: 

“In my development work, I get to see where the money goes and how that directly benefits people. Some of our programs work in partnership with other non-profit organizations that work with houseless folks, people working through addictions, and veterans’ programs. It’s just so exciting to see how the arts can touch all of these different community groups and how they can positively benefit their day-to-day lives and present them with opportunities for relief, but also just something fun to do.  

“I think the arts can be seen as historical markers. If you look back at art through the decades, you can see what a community or population was experiencing and how they wanted to represent that through their art and how their art helped keep them emotionally and socially afloat during hard times or just as a production of how awesome and happy everything was. Art reflects our world, and it’s wonderful to be a part of that.” 

Story by Terri W Relos 

Photo credit: Dayana Camposeco

Jinna Sakkijha’s faculty shoutouts: 

“I loved the way that Jackson Cooper (Lecturer in Fundraising in the Arts) shared his experience with us, and I like that the foundation of fundraising that he presented to us was mainly built on relationships with other people.  

”Studying under Hannah Grannemann (Director of Arts Administration) was awesome because it was with her insight I learned about nonprofits through mock client communications with donors and foundations. She also brought in amazing guest speakers come in to work with our classes.”

Arts Administration is celebrating ten years at CVPA! Celebrate with us during Homecoming 2025 on October 18th.