Arts Professional Story: Lisa Canning, The Institute for Arts Enterpreneurship
The Artist as Innovator: From “Starving” to Entrepreneurial by Thinking Outside the Box
I believe that artists who allow their concept of artistic success to move away from the traditional concert halls, galleries, and museums are likely, with training, to find innovative ways to not only survive but also to thrive—artistically and financially. Inspired by Dan Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, and other thought leaders like economist Richard Florida (Rise of The Creative Class) and creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson, I’ve come to believe that there is a bigger, more relevant way to express our artistry, rather than staying within the narrow confines of what fits in the “art box” with which we are familiar.
And I am not alone. Slowly but surely, this community-based approach is becoming a valid art movement. As Nicolas Bourriaud, art critic and author of Relational Aesthetics, writes, "The role of artworks is no longer to form imaginary and utopian realities, but to actually be ways of living and models of action within the existing real, whatever scale chosen by the artist." I believe my art practice, and the work of many others in the future, will be about creating a living, breathing, interactive, ongoing experience that calls others to action through expression. I believe that, perhaps for the first time ever, economic opportunities are beginning to emerge for artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, and big-picture thinkers who are willing to learn how to use their gifts innovatively. Innovation is not only for the business and high-tech world. We, too, can create a more innovative culture of our own.
But to truly create our own innovative culture and forge this kind of community, we as artists must learn to set our egos aside. I think ego gets in our way of forging new frontiers and being willing to learn how to do so. By spending all our time in the studio or the practice room trying to become some kind of arts genius, we don't develop the skills we need to effectively communicate our ideas to the community and get paid for doing so. As a consequence, our own actions encourage the romantic, self-destructive myth of the “starving artist”—a myth I hope to turn on its head. After all, it’s a vicious cycle: The more we are unable to demonstrate financial success to ourselves, thus boosting our sense of self-worth, the more we feel we have to convince others how good we really are as artists through selfless sacrifice that results in self-destructive, “starving artist” tendencies.
As a result, our society continues to allow the notion of the “starving artist” to perpetuate itself. A couple of current examples include the HBO show Flight of the Conchords, about two musicians living in New York who have only one devoted fan and mostly eat spaghetti. Another popular HBO comedy series, Bored to Death, is about a novelist and a comic book artist, both of whom don’t have very many paying gigs. Sadly, if we artists don’t begin to demonstrate to the world and ourselves that we are capable of both financial and artistic achievement, how can we truly reach our highest potential? Staying in survival mode does little to enhance our creative development. Take one look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and it's quickly apparent that to achieve our highest creative potential, a lot more than our basic needs must be met.
Over the past 20 years my views on combining art and business have fueled the development of my personal art practice and, simultaneously, my bank account. I am connecting with my audience, and my ideas are being noticed, regardless of whether they lack a conventional perspective. My art flows through a deeper awareness of anthropological, sociological, and economic issues in our world today, and I express them through building, and helping others build, creative businesses that impact community.
There is such great need for visionary leaders and creativity to restore our planet on so many levels: economically, environmentally, politically, and peacefully. Ultimately, it is this need (and the outdated “starving artist” myth) that acted as catalysts for my decision to launch, with the support and help of a community of leaders, The Institute For Arts Entrepreneurship™ (The IAE).
My hope is that by helping artists develop “real world” skills, and teaching them how to cultivate the mindset of arts entrepreneurs, they will learn how to use their own beliefs and values to help heal our planet and financially benefit by doing so. Many of us went to great schools—expensive ones at that—to help develop the artistic skills we so desperately wanted to learn. I worked unbelievably hard to learn how to play the clarinet at the level I do. But those skills are like a hammer: You need a nail to become truly relevant and necessary. There are far too many incredibly talented and intelligent individuals walking around under-employed or doing jobs that don’t utilize the special skill that they were willing to sacrifice to build, or go into debt to develop, in the first place.
Don’t you think it’s time this changed? I certainly do. I am tired of having my pizza delivered by a painter, and going to Starbucks and being served by an actor, and picking up the newspaper to read, knowing it was delivered by an unemployed writer.
The IAE is dedicated to creating an environment in which people are learning how their interconnectedness and interdependence upon one another is the key to creative and financial success. We seek to help individual artists innovate through their artistry, reinventing what it means to be an artist and using art in new ways to create greater support within the community. The IAE believes strongly in the power of an experiential education, especially when it comes to developing a creative enterprise.
Aristotle once said "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." Aristotle's philosophy is not unlike how one develops as an artist—by doing. At IAE, we utilize the strengths of experiential learning precisely because many artists have been taught or taught them selves this way already.
If you are passionate about wanting to earn a living as an artist, need help figuring out where to begin, or already have an idea for a business and you want to learn how to turn it into reality, we have a variety of workshops and programs beginning now and in the summer that are available to you. Our two-year program will run over 10 immersion weekends and two full weeks a year, beginning in January 2011. We are already accepting applications because enrollment is limited to 45 students, and we’ve had so much interest. To learn more about The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship's™ unique curriculum, please go to http://www.TheIAE.com