TPAC University
Explore the Arts. Build Your Future. Find Your Voice.
TPAC University is the education and career pathway initiative of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, designed to open the doors of the performing arts to students across Tulsa. Through hands-on learning, mentorship, and behind-the-scenes access, TPAC University invites participants to experience the arts not just as audience members — but as artists, collaborators, and future leaders in Tulsa’s cultural community.
The performing arts rely on a vibrant network of professionals: performers, directors, technicians, marketers, administrators, and community advocates. TPAC University helps students discover these roles and explore meaningful pathways into the arts, whether onstage or behind the scenes.
Learn by Doing
TPAC University is built on experiential learning. Participants gain real-world insight by working alongside industry professionals, collaborating with peers, and exploring the many disciplines that bring live performance to life.
By revealing how a major performing arts venue operates, from artistic planning to technical production, students learn that the arts are not only a form of creative expression, but also a dynamic and rewarding career field.
Careers in the Arts
Careers in the Arts is a cornerstone program within TPAC University that introduces students to the professional ecosystem behind live performance.
Participants go behind the curtain at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and connect directly with staff across the organization. Through structured sessions and conversations with working professionals, students learn how multiple departments collaborate to create unforgettable artistic experiences.
Students gain insight into fields such as:
Marketing and communications
Development and fundraising
Programming and artistic planning
Community engagement
Patron services and audience experience
Box office management
Engineering and facilities
Technical theatre and stage production
By seeing how these roles intersect, students discover how their own interests — creative, technical, or strategic — can translate into impactful careers in the arts.
Next Narrative Monologue Competition (NNMC)
The Next Narrative Monologue Competition (NNMC) is a nationally recognized theatre education program that centers contemporary Black voices and empowers high school students through performance.
Participants study and perform original monologues by leading Black playwrights while engaging with themes such as identity, justice, history, and culture.
The program includes coaching sessions, workshops, and a regional competition hosted at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Regional winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City, where they:
Train in professional acting workshops
Attend a Broadway performance
Perform at the historic Apollo Theater during the national festival
National winners receive scholarship awards and invaluable exposure to professional artists and the theatre industry.
PRISM
PRISM is a new TPAC University program designed to support LGBTQIA+ youth in Tulsa through the power of the performing arts.
PRISM creates a welcoming and affirming space where young people can explore creativity, identity, and community. Through workshops, gatherings, and mentorship from queer teaching artists and cultural leaders, participants build artistic skills while forming meaningful connections with peers.
Program opportunities include:
In-person community meetups
Virtual seminars and discussions
Arts-focused workshops
Storytelling and performance opportunities
PRISM encourages participants to share their stories with authenticity and confidence, using theatre and performance as tools for self-expression and empowerment.
TPAC Youth Advisory Board
The Tulsa Performing Arts Center’s Student Advisory Board is a group of 25 high school students selected through a competitive application process open to both traditional and non-traditional students in grades 9–12. The Board is intentionally composed to reflect the diversity of the community, including students from public school districts, private schools, homeschool programs, alternative schools, and concurrent community college programs.
Student Advisory Board members meet monthly, attend TPAC Trust meetings, and work alongside staff and the Board of Trustees. Throughout the year, they volunteer hundreds of hours supporting administrative and community engagement efforts while gaining insight into how a nonprofit arts organization operates.
Want to learn more about careers in the arts? Reach out!
Shaping the Future of the Arts in Tulsa
TPAC University reflects a simple but powerful vision: the future of the arts depends on the people who experience them, learn from them, and help shape them.
By connecting students with real opportunities in performance, leadership, and creative collaboration, TPAC University is helping build a more vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable arts community in Tulsa.
