The Arts Entrepreneurship Minor at SMU seeks talented and imaginative individuals, who seek to have a greater role in the realization of their own creative opportunities.

Entrepreneurs address the status quo and offer change.

Do you have a large imagination? Have concepts you would like to realize into a concrete reality and make a living in the process? We may be right for you. The following are some Frequently Asked Questions: If you have additional questions, contact Director of Arts Entrepreneurship, Jim Hart.

FAQ:

1. Do you need to be an Arts Major to minor in Arts Entrepreneurship? In brief, No. Students who attend courses in either the Arts Entrepreneurship or Arts Management Minors can be from any college or study across campus. The minors are truly cross-disciplinary.
2. What if I don’t want to start a business? Whether one wants to create a nonprofit, social entrepreneurship endeavor, a for-profit business or simply a business of one, this training will dramatically increase one’s chances of making a living in the arts and via ones own creativity. Artistic Technique + Entrepreneurial Technique = Working Artists.
3. What is the difference between Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship? In a nutshell: Want to manage an existing organization? Study Arts Management. Though management skills do play into Arts Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneurial line is for those who seek to alter the status quo, to fill a gap within society, to offer value that serves one’s community needs and to make a living from one’s own talents and sweat.
4. What skills will I gain by studying Arts Entrepreneurship? Students who study in the Arts Entrepreneurship minor learn a vast array of skills including, but not limited to: identifying one’s audience and then building a loyal following of support and communication, developing a business plan of action and budgets, legal structuring. Students learn to articulate their original visions and then launch those visions into the market. All attending students are mentored in this process by the remarkable faculty of AMAE. The minor in Arts Entrepreneurship is based in experiential learning (or learning by doing).
5. What if my schedule as a student does not work well with the AMAE schedule? These minors are new offerings and we wish to work with our students’ needs. If you have scheduling conflicts, contact Director of Arts Entrepreneurship, Jim Hart at jdhart@mail.smu.edu.
6. How do I sign up? Speak with your councilor, Director Jim Hart or Abigail Smith in the office of AMAE (2121), second floor.
7. How can I get additional information? Check out our website!
8. Is having a profit motive in the arts considered selling out? We are not teaching to sell out. We are teaching creative people to sell art. We teach our students to develop, realize and profit from their original creative visions and to serve others in the process. We seek to aide each of our creatively minded students realize their individual creative voice in the process of training.
9. Why is Arts Entrepreneurship so important? Arts Entrepreneurship is necessary, as it is a system that creates jobs–with the artists creating them, themselves. In creating original opportunities, one inevitably creates jobs for others. In doing so, the job creator becomes a very real contributing factor to both local and national culture, as well as the economy.

Jim Hart is the Director of Arts Entrepreneurship at SMU. Click these links learn more about Jim Hart and two minors of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship.