Among the reasons to celebrate the launch of the AEEN is
the sense that there are finally enough arts
entrepreneurship educational programs in the world to need
a site to pull them together. This is significant because
in the past, arts entrepreneurship educators have had to
will a market, rather than respond to an apparent need.
Arts Entrepreneurship’s time has come and the AEEN is
responding to the growing market of educators who want to
understand the inherent power that entrepreneurship can
bring to the professional arts community.
If you are coming to this as an artist and are brand new to
arts entrepreneurship, you may be surprised to discover
that it took years for business entrepreneurship to develop
into a distinct discipline and be accepted into business
schools. Over twenty years have passed since a few
enlightened, albeit outspoken, business professors began to
champion the cause. Now there are hundreds of
entrepreneurship programs, a plethora of training
materials, and many talented educators that are dedicated
to teaching opportunity creation. Thankfully,
entrepreneurship education in business is now commonplace.
In contrast, Arts Entrepreneurship is only a few yards into
a mile. A small cadres of veteran business professors
including Dr. Joseph Roberts at Columbia College (Coleman
Foundation Professor) and Dr. Jerry Gustafson at Beloit
College (Coleman Foundation Chair) have worked diligently
for many years in the field, hoping to inspire an awakening
and subsequent movement in arts entrepreneurship. In 1998,
the Harold and Louis Price Foundation funded the creation
of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) at the
University of Colorado in Boulder. In 2001, a grant from
the Andrew W. Melon Foundation created the Institute for
Music Leadership (IML) at the Eastman School of Music.
However, even with such strong drivers in place, arts
entrepreneurship has been slow to gain traction in the main
stream of conventional liberal arts institutions.
Is this due to actual resistance, or is it just slow to
catch on? One has to wonder if the existing educational
system breeds biased graduates or if it is based on the
perception that business and "true art” don’t intersect.
Either way, why is there such disconnect in these mutually
beneficial disciplines?
I think part of the problem lies in an artists’ awareness
of what entrepreneurship is about. Artists see
entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates (Microsoft) or Sam Walton
(Wal-Mart) and fixate on a stereotyped persona of
entrepreneurs being driven by money or "big business.” They
fail to see that they share common traits with these
entrepreneurs such as passion, vision, and creativity.
Approached from the business perspective, artists struggle
to see the correlation between themselves, their art, and
entrepreneurship. Viewed through artistic eyes first and
business second, Wynton Marsalis (Trumpet) or Yo-Yo Ma
(Cello) are more relevant demonstrations of great artistry
AND entrepreneurship. Artistic types recognize the value of
creating opportunities through entrepreneurship faster if
it resonates with their artistic nature first.
From the start, educators need to highlight the association
between imagination and entrepreneurial thinking. This
starts with a definition of entrepreneurship that appeals
to an artistic temperament and demonstrates the benefits of
creating new opportunities. Artists understand creativity
and appreciate opportunities, so it is important they make
the connection between these via the entrepreneurial
process. Artists need to view entrepreneurship as another
way to beneficially utilize their creativity. Within the
community of musicians, dancers, and other arts producers,
it should be no secret that creating new prospects through
entrepreneurship bolsters personal income and ultimately
builds healthier markets.
If you are coming to this article artistically challenged
but with business savvy, you have a lot to offer as an
educator. Your skills and knowledge are what artists need.
Too often they focus the majority of their resources on
artistic craft, neglecting the other forces that are in
play. It’s in the awareness of these additional forces that
you can make an impact. Even a rudimentary understanding of
the entrepreneurial process can make a profound difference
in an artist’s life. Once they get past the misconception
that business is a burden and discover that
entrepreneurship is an energizing force, your contribution
to their training will have substantial meaning.
Too "warm and fuzzy" a statement for business speak?
Perhaps, but it’s time for arts producers to understand and
recognize their effect on economies. Fertilize more of the
trees, and the whole forest will become greener. Teach the
trumpet player how to build an audience, so she can teach
the violinist the same. Entrepreneurship can create
audiences, which grow into markets, which generate the
economic growth that ultimately improves lives.
The arts carry significant meaning with the general
population. My example; when was the last time you went on
vacation and took your family to a city to experience a
great infrastructure or manufacturing base? New York, Los
Angeles, Orlando, and a host of other cities would not hold
their appeal, if not for their entertainment and arts
value. The grand cities that attract and keep citizens are
those that have a well developed arts market. Having
factories and general service businesses are necessities,
but cities need a healthy manifestation of arts and culture
to achieve greatness.
Can one website accomplish all this? It can certainly help
by bringing more arts entrepreneurship resources together,
which is another step in the right direction. The time has
come for arts entrepreneurship and the AEEN will help keep
the spotlight on it for more than fifteen minutes.
Now, as I tell my students, "Go make it happen”.
Kevin Woelfel
Former Director, Entrepreneurship Center for Music
College of Music
University of Colorado at Boulder
