Future tycoons

Entrepreneurs are like plumbers; always in demand. And in the future the arts will be managed by enterprising entrepreneurial tycoons. That's the idea anyway. Why? Well it's the element of risk that sets them apart.
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Entrepreneurs are like plumbers; always in demand.

They tend to stand out in a crowd but what they do isn’t always so obvious. For example, what makes an entrepreneur different to anyone else who operates a business? More importantly how are they benefitting the arts?

There are two things that define an entrepreneur. An element of risk and acting as an intermediary.

Entrepreneur n. 1 A person who undertakes an enterprise or business, with the chance of profit or loss. 2 a contractor acting as an intermediary.
(taken from the Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary)

In some ways every practising artist is an entrepreneur. We all operate within a field of risk and act as the intermediary between our artistic expression and the audience.

However, for our purposes it’s helpful to define arts entrepreneurs as people who run enterprises that introduce “new ways of producing, developing, marketing or selling creative industry products or services.”

This is the definition used by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) for it’s funding program supporting “creative entrepreneurs.”

If you haven’t heard of NESTA then you’re probably not an arts entrepreneur. NESTA’s mission is to make Britain a world leader in finding new and better ways of doing everything by supporting local “talent, innovation and creativity.”

NESTA is a government funded initiative running several programs centred on innovation. One of these programs is called Creative Pioneers. It is run exclusively to support individuals running arts-related businesses during the early stages of their careers.

The focus on people embarking on their careers is important. It’s a lot easier to be entrepreneurial when you are established (and have a bit of cash behind you). NESTA aims breathing new life into the arts community by supporting the new blood just starting out.

The NESTA website features dozens of case studies about artists and enterprises it has supported. Not all of these are strictly arts entrepreneurs but the ones that are provide plenty food for thought, for both budding entrepreneurs and practising artists.

For example, “multi-disciplinary art and design practice”, Troika, received £35,000 to develop new forms of electronic communication devices that could also be used in advertising.

Jewellery designer Hannah Martin got the same amount to develop a range of jewellery and accessories that will appeal to men.

Likewise Creative Pioneers enabled jewellery designer Sarah Raffel to set up Brazen Studios, which aims to help emerging designers kick start their careers by letting them rent out a cheap workspace with all the necessary equipment.

As well as the Creative Pioneers program NESTA also operates Starter for 6 in Scotland. This program “business skills training for budding entrepreneurs, working across science, technology and the creative sectors.”

What is noticeable about NESTA’s case studies is that enterprises often feature an arts/creative component plus an ‘other’ element, whether it be branding, social issues, or high-street retail.

The benefit of supporting innovators in the sector has long been recognised by Arts Council England. Two years ago Carol Metcalf and Hilary Turner, who run Musa Fine Art, were awarded Best Cultural and Creative business at the North East Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards 2005. Their goal was to exhibit contemporary artist’s work in unusual spots around Tyneside. The duo even knocked up a “mobile gallery” which they paraded around Debenhams in Middlesborough!

It’s not just government-funded bodies that are putting their faith in arts entrepreneurship.

According to the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship “Entrepreneurship education is a fast growing area of curriculum development and extra-curricula activity in higher education across the globe.”

Arts Entrepreneurship courses are vocational. But rather than equip students with the skills to get a job, it’s all about empowering them to create a job for themselves.

Does this mean there will soon be a new breed of “middlemen” out to exploit starving artists? It could mean that. After all education alone can’t teach someone good intent.

But looking at some of the enterprises arts entrepreneurs are engaged in, it seems the more of them there are around the better.

Professor Bill Reeder, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University (USA), says those involved in arts management have to be passionate about the arts if they are going to manage the industry effectively. He says “a genuinely deep artistic grounding – that is nurtured through many years of devotion – can make a big difference.”

That’s hardly rocket science but it’s probably something every artist agrees with. Non-practising artists making a living out of managing or organising artists should have a passion equal to that of the practioner.

If the above examples are anything to go by UK artists look to be in good hands.

Craig Scutt
About the Author
Craig Scutt is a freelance author, journalist, and writer.