Emerging Artists: forge your career with AECI minor

three young adults stand on a corner with a modern glass building behind them

The Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation minor is intended to enhance the College of Fine and Performing Arts ("CFPA") majors, whose career paths place them working successfully as an artist or working successfully in an arts-oriented institution. The minor adds a bedrock experience in arts/creative career development.  The guiding theme of the minor is to help our students become architects of their own careers.

The minor is designed to emphasize the artist as individual (Person), the artist working in the cultural sphere (Practice) and the artist as a socially conscious change-maker (Public). The completion of the minor will:

  1. Enhance our graduates’ ability to successfully forge a career as emerging artists.
  2. Enhance our graduates’ potential for employment within the creative cultural space.
  3. Enhance our graduates’ understanding and abilities to leverage their education and experiences as creative producers in other social, economic and political realms.

 

The course of study meets two critical objectives of the College of Fine and Performing Arts mission:

  • Equip students with the intellectual tools necessary for success in the arts
  • Promote active arts leadership

Top image: HodWall Productions' Nick Hastings, Ben Hodson, and Martjin Wall stand outside The Blue Room - the germ of which came from Hodson's time in the AECI. Learn more about HodWall and The Blue Room.

The Arts Enterprise & Cultural Innovation program also enhances interdisciplinary opportunities within the CFPA for students and faculty.

Students enrolled in the minor will learn to:

  • Define and articulate the concepts of creative leadership. Including: Force, Influence, Collaboration, Exploitation and Facilitation.
  • Develop an understanding of the Newtonian and Quantum theories of leadership and the impact of these concepts on contemporary creative organizations.
  • Develop a primary understanding of Design Thinking principles and practice.
  • Develop specific Conflict, Negotiation and Change Management strategies and practices.
  • Develop a comprehensive understanding of the nuanced leadership of creative organizations, projects and individuals.

 

The minor is exclusively intended for majors in the departments of the College of Fine and Performing Arts: Art & Art History, Design, Music, and Theatre & Dance. Space is limited. The application deadline for Fall 2018 enrollment in the minor is May 31.

Course details, instructor bios, and application.