The New York Times article Transforming Art Into a More Lucrative Career Choice covers several trends driving the growth of successful artist-entrepreneurs.
One of the trends covered is art schools increasingly adding business courses to their curriculum. An example is the Ringling College of Art and Design, which has both majors and minors in "the business of art and design." Great quote from Ringling Dean Larry Thompson:
"I am committed to destroying the myth of the starving artist."
Another example is an Artistic Entrepreneurship class developed at the University of North Carolina.
We've been researching artist entrepreneurs with a focus on identifying common business success factors that entrepreneurial artists share. The NY Times article includes a reference to this research.
Over the next couple of months we will be posting on our research findings.
I believe that aspiring entrepreneurs should consider taking an art course to help them exercise their creativity.
If an artist is able to automate their business, they will be able to spend more time focusing on their artwork and presenting it to their clients.
As one non-artist, I often ask my artistic friends about their techniques, and believe me, many artists can monetize and share tips with their knowledge. The experience is what artists can monetize -- as well as the creative pieces themselves.
Thanks for the article. :-)
~Joe
Posted by: Joseph Manna | December 02, 2008 at 09:59 AM
The article reflects the changing face of the small artist who truly lives off the income of their art.Many today have electronic websites/blogs/SS feeds that produce their idenity around the world.
We host many of these artists and we find their imagination is endless to their art and business savy
Posted by: Bill Malkasian | December 03, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Steve-
This post inspired me to put something similar on my blog: http://thriveal.com/2008/12/25/the-starving-artist/
Our CPA firm is serving more and more creatives and we find them excellent at business management. I love it!
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer, CPA
Posted by: Thriveal | December 25, 2008 at 10:26 AM