Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Commons

Catalog description

This seminar surveys entrepreneurship within the art-industrial complex, emphasizing the roles of artists as innovators, the commons as laboratory, and cultural institutions as incubators. An inquiry-based course, our collective research works from the premise that entrepreneurship is the creation of social, cultural and financial value, which are inextricably linked under the umbrellas of capitalism and philanthropy. Students will investigate the infrastructures, policies, practices upon which the arts/culture ecosystem is built; engage in fieldwork that surveys the diverse entry points to the field; translate what they’ve learned into an actionable, individualized toolkit, empowering them to opt into (or out of) the art market economy with strategy and confidence. With a focus on personal and professional development, this course equips students with skills, tools and vocabularies vital to actualizing the impact they want to have through their creative practice, projects or ventures.