Artist as MBA: Oxymoron or Solution?
Did you know that, according to researchers at the National Endowment for the Arts, American artists are 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed than the general population? There are 2 million full-time artists in the USA and 700,000 are running businesses. In some European countries 55-60 percent of artists are self-employed. Despite being highly educated (artists are twice as likely to possess a college degree) artists earn 20 percent less than professionals.
Many creative and educated members of society are earning incomes that are not commensurate with their talent or education. This is a phenomenon our faculty is working hard to better understand. We believe entrepreneurship education could play a significant role in eliminating artist income inequality, which the the NEA refers to as a "pervasive problem".
Kenney College recently announced the creation of a Self-employed Artist MBA Fellowship to explore the issue in greater detail. A cohort of 10 self-employed artists will pursue an MBA and apply the business theory learned directly to their ventures. Classes begin August 15th, 2011 and applications are currently being accepted. Instruction and course content will be tailored to a very targeted demographic: self-employed artists. The performance of MBA Fellow ventures will be tracked longitudinally and instructional best practices will be shared with art and business educators.
This research has exciting possibilities. While workshops and seminars have been dedicated to the subject of equipping artists with entrepreneurial skills for many years, there has not been a corresponding increase in artist income. We believe this is due primarily to the fact that learning outcomes are not being measured. Artists are receiving great information, but assessment is not taking place to assure learning has occurred. Often, advanced business concepts are being introduced before prerequisite knowledge has been acquired.
It takes time, reflection, instruction, collaboration and experimentation to become good at any discipline. Perhaps the secret to increasing artist income and career success involves changing how we teach artists to think about entrepreneurship. There are few better places to accomplish this than an MBA program, provided the culture is supportive and faculty truly understand the dreams and goals of artistic and entrepreneurial students.
