Entrepreneurial Pathways in Art: An Introductory Course for Undergraduate Students in Arts Entrepreneurship

Abstract

[Arts entrepreneurship is an emerging discipline in post-secondary education which aims to help student artists design the future of their own work (Beckman, 2011). In this discipline, artists learn to extend the scope of their work by connecting the creative product with value streams such as cultural funds and new business ventures. While pedagogical strategies are defined in literature (Beckman, 2007; Essig, 2013; Hong et al., 2012), the work here seeks to extend the conceptualization of arts entrepreneurship as a distinct discipline by establishing materials and teaching units that might introduce first-year undergraduates to the field of arts entrepreneurship. The work here reflects findings about both the pedagogical aims of arts entrepreneurship as well as instructional strategies focused on the entrepreneurial process. Rather than a curriculum borrowed from other domains, the course proposal aims to formulate an instructional program for arts entrepreneurs from the ground up. KEYWORDS: arts entrepreneurship, pedagogy, course design, instruction.]