About the Arts Entrepreneurship Cluster

Total number of credits in this cluster: 9

Why should artists care about entrepreneurship?

Learning the business side of the arts will empower you to create an exciting and fulfilling career in the arts based on who you are and what interests you, utilizing your natural talents and gifts. The Arts Entrepreneurship program is designed to help you create the future you want by empowering you with entrepreneurial knowledge and skill to help you make a living as an artist, or as someone who connects audiences to artists and their work.

Goal of Arts Entrepreneurship

Use arts products and services to create, communicate, and deliver a variety of forms of value – such as aesthetic, social, and/or cultural – and capture value in the form of achieving an organizational mission and/or making a profit. Artists and designers can provide value to society through freelance, non-profit, for profit, leadership, and/or social entrepreneurship ventures.

Types of Arts Entrepreneurs

  • One who creates/produces art – composer, painter, performer, etc. (Lifestyle Entrepreneur)
  • One who supports the production of art – by developing a product or service that aids creators/producers in their task (Lifestyle or Growth Entrepreneur)
  • One who draws audiences to art and artists – by developing a product or service that connects audiences to art and artists (Lifestyle or Growth Entrepreneur)

The Arts Entrepreneurship Cluster actively engages arts entrepreneurs and alumni as guest speakers who serve as tangible examples of success, role models, and mentors for students in the program. Each spring semester, students have the opportunity to enter the Arts Business Idea Competition where they can gain valuable experience pitching their arts business concept to a panel of judges. The competition offers cash prizes for students to use as start-up funds for their venture and facilitates the expansion of their network by bringing them into contact with potential mentors and investors.

Preferred Sequence of Courses for the Cluster

The Arts Entrepreneurship cluster in the ENTI minor includes three courses worth a total of 9 credits. All students in the minor also take three core courses.

9 credit Arts Entrepreneurship Cluster
Core Courses #1 and #2 Credits Semester
MGMT/ENTR 215 Entrepreneurial Mindset 3 1-5
ENGR/ENTR 310 Entrepreneurial Leadership 3 3-6
Followed by...
Required Arts Cluster Courses Credits Semester
AA 323 Arts Enterprise Development 3 4-11
AA 424 Arts Entrepreneurship Capstone Research Project 3 4-11

*AA 323 and AA 424 must be taken in sequence: AA323 in Fall, AA 424 in Spring

Followed by...
Optional Arts Cluster Course Credits Semester
See list below 3  
Followed by...
Core Course #3 Credits Semester
MGMT/IST/ENGR 425 New Venture Creation 3 4-8

To meet the prerequisite requirement for MGMT/IST/ENGR 425, you must take:

  • (ECON 102 or ECON 104 or ECON 14 or MGMT 215; an ECON course is not required for the ENTI minor) and (CAS 100 or CAS 137T or EMSC 100S)

Choose one 3-credit course from the following list (dependent upon if/when offered):

It is possible to substitute other 3-credit courses not on this list, per Arts cluster director approval. Can be taken concurrently, do not need to be taken in sequence.

Student Testimonial Video

Alissa Pendorf - https://paperbirdcreative.com