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 (Beck-man, 2011). In this discipline, artists learn to extend the scope of their work by con-necting 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 conceptual-ization of arts entrepreneurship as a distinct discipline by establishing materials and teaching units that might introduce first-year undergraduates to the field of arts en-trepreneurship. 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 pro-posal aims to formulate an instructional program for arts entrepreneurs from the ground up.