About AECI

Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation Minor

Manage your creative career

The contemporary creative professional space requires a broad scope of ability that extends beyond creative talent, and is inclusive of high level professional practices.

The Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation Minor is designed to best prepare students, beyond their discipline, for an entry into a creative career that they design.

The AECI minor will give students the foundational tools needed to be successful in creative self, team and project leadership. Students will achieve the articulation of a personal brand, and adopt frameworks for personal and organizational leadership, gain a foundational understanding of the principals of business entity formation, marketing and finance - each of which are key elements that allow the emergent creative to craft a self-guided career toward maximum opportunity. 

The program was designed by Aric Mayer MFA, MBA and Lucas G Senger BFA, MBA.

Your talent at work

Paden Koltiska, Theatre

Anna Hart, Art Studio

a rock band on a murky stage with moody lighting

Market value

“As a guitarist and performing artist, there were many unknown areas in regards to how to market myself as a professional with specific skill sets that are focused and clear and holds value in the market place. The AECI program provided a clear & sequential process that allowed me to get a grasp on who I wanted to be as a creative professional, the unique skills I possess, and how to properly market myself in a way that will highlight those skills to potential clients and employers. In addition, it has allowed me to make informed and strategic decisions when it comes to financing my own creative projects--such as touring and making albums--through budgeting and understanding of risk vs. reward, as well as understanding the current market we live in today.”

Frank Rowland
Music Major, AECI '17, Lead Guitarist, Tetrachromat
neon lit gallery crowded with people. sign on back wall reads "sensorium"

Professional development

“The AECI minor has been a fundamental component of my professional creative development. Through real life examples and conceptual business theory, the minor has provided invaluable lessons that have helped my social and professional confidence and has prepared me for my creative career.”

Jody Thompson
Art History Major, AECI '18, Gallerist

Justus Yearous, Music

“Since high school I aspired to become a professional musician and be able to do creative work for a living. For the longest time, however, getting to that point seemed almost impossible. Being apart of the AECI program helped me understand that not only is doing what you love for a living possible, but it is genuinely feasible! The program helped me turn my music into a legitimate source of income. AECI gave me the confidence to forge my own path in the ever-changing creative industry. Regardless of your artistic medium or entrepreneurial experience, the AECI program gives you all the foundational tools you need to turn your passion into a career.”

Justus Yearous, Music Major, AECI '17, AKA fantompower