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Within this criteria related to jaer journal of arts entrepreneurship research.
2 JONATHAN
JAER
Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research
Gary D. Beckman What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
Jonathan Gangi Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis
James D. Hart Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero’s Adventure
Volume 1, Number 1, 2014
The Liminal Freelance Landscape: Geography, Proximity
and Community
Laine Goldman
2 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Gary D. Beckman Executive Editor
Associate Editors Stephen Carradini
Jonathan Gangi
Bailey Stiles
Jason C. White
Editorial Board Kitty Daniels - Cornish College of Art
William Foulkes - Rhode Island School of Design
Laine Goldman - Tilburg University, Netherlands
James D. Hart - Southern Methodist University
Laurence Kaptain - Louisiana State University
Gerald Klickstein - Peabody Conservatory
Satish Nambisan - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
John Mueller - Western Michigan University
Rachel Roberts - New England Conservatory
Diane Roscetti - California State University, Northridge
William Sandberg - University of South Carolina
Joette Wisnieski - Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Volume 1, Number 1, 2014
What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
GARY D. BECKMAN
North Carolina State University
he ?eld of Arts Entrepreneurship is gaining strength measured both in program
emergence and student demand. Some programs are serving hundreds of students
each academic year and the variety of e!orts signify how contextualized the ?eld has
become; the academic housing of these e!orts is a partial indication. Likely, it is time
for the ?eld to consider a number of consensus points and these challenging discussions have
already informally begun. For example, the ?eld seems to desire a “de?ning” of terms— such
as the ?eld’s title—which is not only reasonable, but necessary. As one who appreciates
de?nitions and the processes contained therein, I submit that there may be times when the act
of “de?ning” (broadly speaking) may be better approached non-linearly, radically (in the
Schumperterian sense), with a measure of respect for the ine!able and perhaps most
importantly, patience. This article suggests that de?ning “Arts Entrepreneurship is…” is
critical, as it demonstrates/communicates both trajectory and intellectual vitality. Yet given the
realities of what it is we organically appear to be doing as ?eld (simply acknowledging the
need for de?ning without a clear scholarly methodology to approach the topic),
“circumscribing,” “embracing” and “theorizing” might provide a stronger methodological
foundation in de?nition development with signi?cant bene?ts in the long term.
A PRECURSOR: IS, SOMETHING
From an A(a)rts perspective, “entrepreneurship” is an interesting something to try and
de?ne. One wonders if it is a set of actions, character traits, behaviors, processes, mindsets, etc.
or some combination thereof. It certainly seems observable and replete with opinions of what
entrepreneurship “is” or “is not”—as our colleagues in the business school know all too well.
What obfuscates matters is that it appears one person’s “entrepreneuring” is another’s everyday
activity. For example, a case could be made that starting a business (New Venture Creation) is
3 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
T
A common and necessary desire in disciplinary development is the need to define the object of
study. The field of Arts Entrepreneurship contains two words lacking consensus, which creates
significant challenges when attempting to define a third. As an introductory examination, this article
outlines how the inherent tension and hidden harmony of the field’s title may serve as a foil to
developing a successful, immediate definition garnering wide-spread consensus.
z
Copyright © 2014, Gary Beckman
not “entrepreneurial;” new businesses launch every day and The United States Small Business
Administration is dedicated to their success. In fact, there is an entire cultural, educational and
economic infrastructure to facilitate the emergence of these entities. But for some reason, most
consider the late Steve Jobs an “entrepreneur” because he founded Apple Computer—and we
should note that he was not the ?rst one to start a computer company. One could ask “why do
most consider Jobs an entrepreneur when all he did was start a business?” Most, I suppose,
would answer by saying that he had a “vision” for the company that centered on the leveraging
of new technology (with a sense of the aesthetic) for those who could not normally a!ord such
things; perhaps Jobs simply recognized opportunity.
Art appears to su!er the same malady—it is an interesting something to try and de?ne.
If someone calls something “Art” and we acknowledge it as so (despite our misgivings), does this
serve Art? This something seems observable and there are many opinions on what it is or is not.
One person’s Art is another’s trash, it seems. A case could be made that creating Art is an
everyday occurrence and not unique. What we call “Art” today has not only existed for
millennia, it permeates today’s society to the point of commoditization; besides, it appears that
anyone can do anything and call it Art. In fact, there is an entire cultural, educational and
economic infrastructure to facilitate the emergence of A(a)rt: higher education, the arts
industries, “the Art World,” etc. But for some reason, we consider Jackson Pollock’s Number 8
Art, when Sandro Botticelli (if he had the chance to view the work) may ask why a drop cloth
was hanging on a wall for all to see. It is an interesting question: why do some consider
Pollock’s work “Art” when Botticelli likely would not? Most, I suppose, would answer that
Pollock had a new artistic “vision” that centered on leveraging a demand for new somethings in
the Art World. Yet all somethings being contextual, Botticelli’s cultural context would likely not
support his judgement of Number 8 being a work of Art at all; perhaps Pollock simply
recognized opportunity.
So, who is the entrepreneur, who is the artist and which one is both? Jobs, Pollock,
Botticelli? All three? None? One? To determine the answer with any sort of con?dence, we
need de?nitions, which typically require the verb “is.” The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
de?nes the term as: “That which exists, that which is; the fact or quality of existence.”
1
Obviously, this de?nition appears more concerned with something that is identi?able, making
no distinction about its tangibility. However, at its core, “is” communicates a distinct binary
value: something “exists” and “is” or something “does not exist” and therefore, “is not.”
Simplicity and determination are the hallmarks of this verb, yet “is” (existence and
identi?ability) can be an elusive concept. There are many disagreements about a number of
“is-s,” for example: “This is ART” or “blue is a state of mind.” Even “Beethoven was a great
composer” communicates an unequivocal; something exists (Beethoven’s work) and can be
identi?ed (greatness). The interesting thing about the verb in these grammatical constructions
is that despite its seemingly harsh pronouncements, it can engender an almost automatic
contrarian response—“prove it.” As academic ?elds emerge, there comes a time when verbs
become important. At this point in the ?eld’s development, “is” is an important verb and
“prove it” is an essential check on the de?nition.
4 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
1
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “is.”
For any emerging academic ?eld, de?ning its essence is obviously critical as it
communicates the explicit binary—is and isn’t, the study object exists or it does not, it is
identi?able or it is not. As formal statements of signi?cance and meaning, de?nitions can be
vexing, wrought with disagreement, occasionally obvious and sometimes defying easy
linguistic description. The inherent struggle with de?ning “somethings” in this manner is not
simply the process of de?ning (and getting it right) but gaining consensus on a de?nition—as
our colleagues in business schools can attest.
2
CIRCUMSCRIBING
We could begin a conversation about de?ning the ?eld by simply circumscribing our
e!orts. As educators, most appear to be in contact with students from the Fine Arts disciplines
(music, theatre, dance, ?lm, photography and Art) who desire (broadly speaking) to make a
living with their Art based on their training—conservatory students are a typical example.
Additionally, there are those students who are not pursuing a Fine Arts degree who also desire
(broadly speaking) to make a living with their A(a)rt in some manner. (These students could be
pursing a business, music industry or even a zoology degree, for example; note that many
gravitate to the popular arts). We also see students who (again broadly speaking) are less
interested in producing A(a)rt for a living, yet still desire a signi?cant connection with the
A(a)rts as it is important to their life’s work or ambitions (arts administration, for example).
Though this exposition may not be as inclusive as some educators see, it helps to prove
a very simple and necessary point about de?ning the ?eld. At the micro-level, the ?eld is
highly (if not hyper) contextualized according to discipline, disciplinary culture, student
population and even institutional mission, yet when examined at a macro level, the ?eld
appears to serve two broad groups of emerging arts entrepreneurs: 1) those who desire to
entrepreneurially produce A(a)rt and 2) those who desire to entrepreneurially impact the
production of A(a)rt in some way, shape or form. Perhaps we could also broadly state that what
unites the two groups is a desire to make A(a)rt a critical aspect of their life’s work. Since the
?eld’s su#x contains the word “entrepreneurship,” we might also assume that our students
desire an “entrepreneurial” lifestyle.
It would not take too much thought to “de?ne” Arts Entrepreneurship (and even other
permutations of the ?eld) given this circumscription. The problem, however, becomes
apparent as the title of the ?eld contains two words—both borrowed and both lacking
consensus. If we were to stop here and de?ne the ?eld as outlined above, we would be making
two explicit assumptions: 1) We know what A(a)rt is and can identify it (with consensus on the
de?nition) and 2) We know what entrepreneurship is and can identify it (with consensus on
the de?nition). Obviously, we can typically de?ne tangible things with a sense of certainty, yet
once we introduce subjectivity, intangible properties, cultures (micro-, macro-, non-western,
etc.) and perspective (to name but a few variables), de?nitions become less authoritative, more
di#cult to articulate and challenging to build consensus. While it is true that de?nitions can
be contextual, is it in the ?eld’s interest to adopt a contextual de?nition based on assumptions?
5 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
2
A very brief example describing the discipline’s challenges in this regard appear below.
A second measure of circumscription is less tangible. When pulling apart the
compound construction of the ?eld’s title at its most basic level—ART and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP— there are broad, undeniable distinctions. The most obvious is “Art”
and the centuries of contextual meaning it possesses and “Entrepreneurship,” which appears
to have no consensus in the discipline other than what appears to be two primary schools of
thought (New Venture Creation and behavior) with perhaps, some tenuous connections
between them.
3
As far apart (or as connected) as ART and ENTREPRENEURSHIP seem, they
also embody signi?cant and fundamental distinctions and commonalities the ?eld must
explore in the process of de?ning “Arts Entrepreneurship is…”
There is a broad and sometimes subtle (though not exclusive) di!erence in how A(a)rt
and non-A(a)rt products are consumed. When thinking of the products that emerging
entrepreneurship students in business school-based entrepreneurship programs leverage,
perhaps we in the Arts assume that the market consumption of these goods and services is as
follows: an Intangible Idea yields a Tangible Product, which yields a Tangible Experience. For
example, a business school-based student may see an opportunity for a new application of
technology, which they develop and manifest for a market that sees value in the consumption
of that application: a refrigerator, a television or software that speeds analysis, etc. In the
A(a)rts, we see a similar construct, though with a signi?cant distinction: an Intangible Idea
yields a Tangible Product (a performance, a work of A(a)rt, an A(a)rts education company), yet
yields an Intangible Experience for the market’s consumers. This Intangible Experience may be
described as an aesthetic experience of some sort or kind, if we 1) agree even modestly with 19
th
century aestheticians and 2) aesthetic experiences transcend A(a)rt’s genres. I envision this as a
very broad-based distinction and would caution the reader that our colleagues in the business
school absolutely assist some of their emerging entrepreneurs with products and ideas that
possess aesthetic properties. Automobiles, for example, can provide aesthetic experiences for
certain market segments and these segments likely consume these products based on a
complicated and subjective judgment of the contents and de?nition of subjective beauty—just
like an A(a)rt consumer.
We should note, however, that our business school colleagues also help their students
leverage services resulting in Intangible Experiences (the experience of a car repair, for
example). The same could be said of students in our classrooms from the sciences who wish to
aid artists with new inventions or innovations resulting in a Tangible Experience (software,
again, serves as an example). What links both sets of students—and their educators—is that
both sides of campus engage in the construction and leveraging of broad- and sometimes
hybrid-based value propositions: tangible and intangible.
4
6 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
A cursory discussion describing these two recent schools of thought appear below.
4
Vivek Velamuri, Hybrid Value Construction (Leipzig: Springer, 2011). Note that Velamuri discusses the merging of
the tangible and intangible to create a hybrid value proposition. However, deconstructing the author’s de?nition
appearing on page seven “…hybrid value creation is de?ned as the process of generating additional value by
innovatively combining products (tangible component) and services (intangible component),” helps to articulate
the similarities shared by arts-based and business school-based educators and students.
EMBRACING
The Role of the Business School
When examining how the ?eld approaches its scholarship, a cursory examination of
what the ?eld has produced to date betrays a remarkable lacuna. By any measure, the ?eld’s
published research demonstrates a distinct arts perspective, which in the context of
negotiating the ?eld’s title seems axiomatic.
5
However, by either ignoring or cursorily
examining the extant business school literature on the topic of entrepreneurship, the ?eld
misses a signi?cant opportunity. Speci?cally, the discipline of Entrepreneurship is not only far
more advanced in its examination of the topic, it possesses signi?cant ideas, theories and
frameworks suitable for application in an arts context.
6
By avoiding the examination,
leveraging and embrace of this extant research, the ?eld both misses an opportunity and
restricts its intellectual growth. Though this literature is certainly foreign to those of us in the
arts, we must both broaden our investigative context by producing research engaging more
challenging Library of Congress call numbers and pull ourselves away from the overweighted
integration of topics better suited for arts administration literature.
7
By asking our business school colleagues to be partners with us in (at least) scholarship
development and (perhaps) curriculum design, we can impact both sides of campus. As
mentioned above, our ?eld needs assistance integrating entrepreneurial theory and perhaps
our partners would bene?t by an exposure to the arts, aesthetics, artistic entrepreneurial
desire and intention, etc. There is much to be learned on both sides of campus and I argue that
intellectual uncertainty, lethargy or suspicion does not help our ?eld and absolutely does not
help our students. Indeed, there are di!erences in foci, but we do share a name—
entrepreneurship—and not fully embracing our partner’s e!orts hamstrings our ?eld’s
development.
Likewise, we should be wary of ideas, concepts or words that appear to provide a quick
?x. For example, a popular trope heard recently is “Arts Entrepreneurship is a transdiscipline.”
Michael Scriven de?nes a transdiscipline in two ways: ?rst, an older conception of the term as
“...meaning a theory, point of view, or perspective that has some application in several
disciplines” and a second, more recent conception as “...meaning a discipline that has
standalone status as a discipline and is also used as a methodological or analytical tool in
7 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
5
Gary Beckman, “Entrepreneuring the Aesthetic: Arts Entrepreneurship and Reconciliation,” in The Routledge
Companion to Entrepreneurship, ed. Friederike Welter and Ted Baker. (London:Taylor & Francis Group,
forthcoming 2014).
6
See the following: Larry Cox, Stephen Mueller and Sherry Moss, “The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education
on Entrepreneurial Self-E#cacy,” International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 1, no. 2 (2002): 1–17; Hoa Ma
and Justin Tan, “Key Components and Implications of Entrepreneurship: A 4-P Framework,” Journal of Business
Venturing 21 (2006): 704–25; and Daniel Yar Hamidi, Karl Wennberg and Henrik Berglund, “Creativity in
Entrepreneurship Education,” Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 15, no. 2 (2008): 304–320.
7
For example: Johan Kolsteeg, “Situated Cultural Entrepreneurship” Artivate 2, no. 3 (2013): 3–13; Vijay Mathew
and Polly Carl, “Culture Coin: A Commons-based Complementary Currency for the Arts and its Impact on
Scarcity, Virtue, Ethics and the Imagination,” Artivate 2, no. 3 (2013): 14–29; and Debra Webb, “Placemaking and
Social Equity: Expanding the Framework of Creative Placemaking,” Artivate 3, no. 1 (2014): 35–48.
several other disciplines.”
8
We should note that Arts Entrepreneurship is 1) not a discipline nor
is it recognized as such (we have yet to develop our own branch of knowledge) and 2) at this
point in the ?eld’s development, we appear to not possess a single theory—much less one that
is used by another discipline. Therefore, according to Scriven, Arts Entrepreneurship is not a
transdiscipline. To make such Latin-based pre?x pronouncements following the verb “is”
re?ects the ?eld’s youth, inexperience and demonstrates a signi?cant misunderstanding of
disciplinary development and grammatical perspective. Further, our business school partners
seem to resist such grand urges, yet use pre?xes to appropriately to classify the contributions
of many disciplines to the development of Entrepreneurship.
9
Contents
There is one signi?cant aspect we must consider when embracing the ?eld’s scholarly
horizon. Speci?cally, many of our students intend to entrepreneur directly with an aesthetic
product. As brie?y mentioned above, this both articulates and binds us to our colleagues in the
business school. To reiterate, our compatriots across campus do not help their students
entrepreneur aesthetic products exclusively. Again, this distinction is helpful as it can be used
in the theorizing process as well: A(a)rts students entrepreneur with aesthetic products exclusively
and business school-based students do not, exclusively.
Obviously, the implications of this suggestion are somewhat grand: does this mean that
we must teach aesthetics in our arts entrepreneurship classroom? If we consider the question
even cursorily, we may ?nd further distinctions and commonalities with our business school
partners. For example, if one examines a standard degree plan for a B.S. in Business we ?nd
that students are exposed to a broad set of basic concepts the discipline determined provides a
solid intellectual foundation for students to enter business culture. However, in the Fine Arts,
skills designed for Fine Arts Culture are the focus. Both prepare their students to participate in
a distinct culture, yet Fine Arts students are trained to provide an aesthetic experience almost
exclusively as their market’s culture demands (consciously or not) the experience. This may
suggest we acknowledge the importance of aesthetic theory for our ?eld and further, that it
may be crucial in our curricular design decisions.
Certainly most Arts Entrepreneurship educators are not trained in aesthetics and truth
be told, many of our arts terminal degree training constructs do not mandate the topic. Yet
how can we prepare A(a)rts students to entrepreneur when their market makes aesthetic
judgements without a discussion of the product’s aesthetic contents? If the desire for an
ine!able A(a)rt experience is the real reason for A(a)rt’s consumption (yet no one can explain
why), then 1) our students need to know because this core, desired experience becomes the
8 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
8
Michael Scriven, “The Concept of a Transdiscipline: And of Evaluation as a Transdiscipline,” Journal of Multi-
disciplinary Education 5, no. 10 (2008): 65–66. For a more detailed discussion, see Atila Ertas, “Understanding of
Transdiscipline and Transdisciplinary Process,” Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science 1, no. 1 (2010): 53–
73.
9
Jose Barreira, “Early Thinking and the Emergence of Entrepreneurship,” in Frontiers in Entrepreneurship
(Johannesburg: Springer, 2010), 15–18.
broader value proposition and 2) the percentage of aesthetic content in our student’s
entrepreneurial product distinguishes us from our business school partners.
Aesthetics in the Arts Entrepreneurship classroom should not be considered remote as
it possesses some signi?cant pedagogical bene?ts. For example, when speaking about arts
marketing, aesthetics can help to suggest proper ratios of cultural, semiotic and linguistic
communication in the context of demographics and consumption model identi?cation/
targeting. In this case, if we consider the cause of the market’s consumption of A(a)rt in
combination with the way these markets consume that A(a)rt, it is likely that more e!ective
decisions about the content and design of an art venture’s marketing mix, for example, would
be possible. Though this is a more elementary example, the prospect of adopting some form of
aesthetic training for emerging arts entrepreneurs should be seriously considered as it impacts
our student’s markets—those who make buying decisions centered on an individualized
determination of beauty.
THEORIZING
Negotiating Our Title
If there were ever two words brought together to form an emerging academic ?eld
wrought with little to no consensus on what each word means, ART + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
would be a strong candidate. For roughly 2,500 years, the best minds in the history of western
civilization have yet to agree on what Art is or is not, how it should be judged, or its true
function in society—other than multifaceted. De?nitions of “A(a)rt” abound and though one
de?nition may account for what most call “A(a)rt,” some will inevitably disagree. Thousands of
gallons of ink, thousands of years and (likely) thousands of minds have attempted to de?ne
something that exists (society tends to agree on this) yet de?es consensus. This something we call
“Art” may not be a something at all.
10
We know that the something “Art” may be a painting, a
performance, etc., but when it strays outside our personalized conception or de?nition of the
something, thus begins the conundrum. Without going into a philosophical discussion about
Art’s meaning, I would suspect that most readers at least agree with the premise: A de?nition
of “Art” lacks consensus for many, many reasons.
The discipline of Entrepreneurship has been exploring their de?nition (in the modern
sense) for many years. Abstracted, one more recent event in their “de?ning” history begins
with a seminal article in 1989 by Murray Low and Ian MacMillian.
11
In this work, the authors
suggested that the discipline confront a simple problem: there were too many research
trajectories examining the discipline and thus, reaching consensus points would prove
di#cult. What resulted was an interdisciplinary examination of the term, which solidi?ed two
broad streams of thought: entrepreneurship is the creation of new ventures (New Venture
9 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
10
See Stephen Davies, The Philosophy of Art (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006). Davies articulates the
rationale for “Art” being both a biological and cultural need.
11
Murray Low and Ian MacMillan, “Entrepreneurship: Past, Present and Future Challenges.” Journal of
Management 14, no. 2 (1988): 139–61.
Creation) and entrepreneurship is a choice to behave in a certain manner after due process.
12
These two camps exist to this day and are clearly articulated in graduate school seminars.
13
Uni ti ng our ?el d i s a l ack of consensus on both terms, ART and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, which possesses signi?cant methodological implications. For
example, we can observe what di!ering de?nitions of each term provides. That is, we can say
‘this individual appears to be acting in an entrepreneurial manner according to de?nition A
using art as de?ned by C and D.’ This methodology may produce quick de?nitions, but is it
appropriate?
While we can de?ne “Arts Entrepreneurship” using extant de?nitions, we must ask
whether or not a precise de?nition is even possible in the future—and if it is—who is best
positioned to create the de?nition? Are we as Arts Entrepreneurship Educators in a position to
de?ne the ?eld’s title when our colleagues across campus cannot de?ne and reach consensus
on the title’s components. Though the last question is for others to answer, I posit that quickly
de?ning the ?eld as “Arts Entrepreneurship is…” both misses the point and provides a learning
opportunity: embracing the uncertainty of their discipline’s title is what our business school
partners have done for decades, they have simply (with consensus) theorized (for now) a
(present) ine!able—we are both in liminal space.
Embracing uncertainty is not a weakness, nor is saying everything matters. Stephen
Davies would suggest that if Art is contextual then so is the judgment of its constituent
properties.
14
This broader-based conception of Art is helpful in my view as it pulls the
constituent “parts” of Art’s discussion together and raises it above the fray—it allows us to
theorize a broader de?nition based on the “working out” of evolving issues. We may disagree
with a de?nition of Art’s contents but a broad-based theory of art encompassing di!ering
de?nitions and opinions is helpful.
15
This allows us to discuss the parts and judgments of Art
in a myriad of contexts while retaining the observation and consensus that there is this
something called “Art.”
Using this methodology, we may ?nd it more helpful to discuss art and
entrepreneurship (both separate and together) as a phenomenon within a broader theory (or
theories) of Arts Entrepreneurship.
16
This way, the ?eld can account for the observations of
human actions and behavior without being drawn into arguments about constituent and
contextual de?nitions. Indeed, the idea is to observe the broader phenomenon of arts
entrepreneurship within theoretical constructs that can be proved, disproved or adapted as the
10 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
12
A singular piece of representative literature for both schools of thought would include Je!ry Timmons and
Stephen Spinelli, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century (Homewood, Il: McGraw Hill, 2004)
and Kelly Shaver and Linda Scott, “Person, Process, Choice: The Psychology of New Venture Creation”
Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice 16, no. 2 (1991): 23–45.
13
Karen Verduijin, “Tales of Entrepreneurship: Contributions to Understanding Entrepreneurial Life” (Ph.D. diss.,
Vrije Universiteit Amstredam, 2007).
14
Davies, The Philosophy of Art, 10.
15
Ibid., 45–47.
16
The OED de?nes phenomenon as “A thing which appears, or which is perceived or observed; a particular (kind
of ) fact, occurrence, or change as perceived through the senses or known intellectually; esp. a fact or occurrence,
the cause or explanation of which is in question.” Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “phenomenon.”
?eld’s scholarship—and time—progresses. Our business school partners have been doing this
for decades.
If a theory is intended to explain a phenomenon, then perhaps positing a de?nition of
Arts Entrepreneurship at this point is premature.
17
Using this “theory” methodology can
account for multiple observations of the phenomenon, thus providing distinct data points and
hypotheses with which to develop not only a uni?ed theory, but help to disprove theories that
cannot support predictions. A theory of Arts Entrepreneurship allows us to agree on the
observation of a broader phenomenon while keeping intact the observations that generated
the theory’s hypothesis, perhaps to be used in future theorizing.
Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the solar system provides an apt example. Based
primarily on the solar system’s constituent parts as they were known and observed from earth,
Ptolemy theorized that the earth was the center of the solar system. This theory was widely
accepted for roughly 1500 years. Though we credit Copernicus for disproving geocentrism in
the 16
th
century, heliocentricity still accounted for the observed movements of the solar system’s
constituent parts as viewed from earth, yet with more accuracy.
18
The lesson here is that the
observation of the phenomenon of heavenly bodies moving in the sky was correct—it was the theory
explaining the phenomenon’s observation that was incorrect. It should also be said that
without an understanding of key concepts we take for granted today such as gravity and laws
of motion, heliocentrism failed to enjoy immediate public adoption.
19
The importance of observation, I argue, is key at this point in the ?eld’s scholarly
development. Keeping with the example above, we see that constant observation of heavenly
bodies was critical to both theories. That is, by being able to securely predict where heavenly
bodies rose and set helped to both prove geocentricity adequate for 1500 years and prove
heliocentricity correct for 500.
Example
As an oversimpli?ed example, we may be able to craft a theory about Arts
Entrepreneurship Education. If we observe that most arts students typically do not make a
living with their art upon completing their college training despite their desire to do so, we
may identify a multitude of reasons: poor professional development in Arts training culture, a
lack of status quo opportunities in the A(a)rts job markets, economic conditions and individual
temperament, to name a few. However, if we see some A(a)rts students successfully leveraging
A(a)rt as their primary source of income through the creation of for- or non-pro?t ventures,
this may appear opposite of the typical status quo employment outcomes for this population.
11 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
17
The OED de?nes theory as “A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a
group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been con?rmed or established by observation or experiment,
and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general
laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed.” Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “theory.”
18
The increased accuracy of the heliocentric model is well documented, even in the Greek era. See Thomas
Heath, Aristarchus of Samos: The Ancient Copernicus (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2004).
19
Alan A. Kubitz, The Elusive Notion of Motion: The Genius of Kepler, Galileo, Newton and Einstein (Indianapolis: Dog
Ear Publishing, 2010): 41.
We may then identify this smaller group (popularly conceived) as “arts entrepreneurs” since
these individuals are creating new ventures by leveraging or creating art products, experiences
or products that impact the production of A(a)rt.
Subsequent observations may reveal that student ventures and desires are as diverse as
the genres and sub-genres of A(a)rt. Some may start these ventures because they ?nd non-
A(a)rts environments abhorrent. For others it may be that A(a)rt is the only pursuit that
sustains them emotionally, religiously, intrinsically or ethically. Still others may be drawn to a
popular mythos of the entrepreneurial hero and aspire to recreate the narrative through A(a)rt.
Next, when considering the role of the Arts Entrepreneurship educator, we may
observe a desire to help A(a)rts students make a living with their A(a)rt. We may also observe
that, again, students do not receive professional development or entrepreneurship education
during their arts training. Finally, we might observe that both sides of the classroom agree that
students want to make a living with their A(a)rt.
With these observations in hand, we can create a working hypothesis concerning the
purpose of Arts Entrepreneurship Education. In this example, we have the following:
1) Students who desire to make a living with their A(a)rt are having signi?cant
di#culties achieving this goal and there are many reasons why. (abstract: students desire to
make A(a)rt their livelihood and cannot).
2) Some students are successfully making a living with their A(a)rt by creating new and
highly diverse arts ventures, which are not status quo professional outcomes for this
demographic. (abstract: some appear to act “entrepreneurially” and are successful doing so).
3) The diversity of rationale for starting an arts venture is as diverse as the ventures
themselves. (abstract: diversity is a hallmark of the decision-making process and outcome).
4) Arts Entrepreneurship educators and students may share a desire for the same
outcome: for students to make a living with their A(a)rt. (abstract: both sides of the classroom
desire professional success for students).
Given these four observations, we can begin to construct a hypothesis explaining the ?eld’s
educational arm. Compressing the elements above, we can express the following: a desire for
success by both student and educator + some students succeeding “entrepreneurially” + a high
level of diversity throughout the process. This may lead us to the following statement:
Arts Entrepreneurship Education provides tools to facilitate multifaceted and self-
determined success modalities for emerging artists or those providing tools to artists.
Whether this hypothesis describes the educational arm of the ?eld or not is the ?eld’s
decision. However, it highlights three critical aspects of theorizing and de?nition development:
1) broad-based and contextualized observation is crucial 2) the diversity of our student’s
desired outcomes require the ?eld’s educators to adopt an multi-disciplinary understanding of
A(a)rt’s cultures in addition to a working knowledge of basic entrepreneurial theory as exposed
by our business school partners and 3) our student’s success depends on communicating an
A(a)rt product’s unique value proposition.
12 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Lex parsimoniae: If we agree that our ?eld concerns the study of those artists desiring a
lifestyle outside the economic and cultural status quo, then we are simply dealing with artistic
individuals far more interested in “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently,” which may fall in line
with the basic scholarly trajectory of our partners in the business school. However, for those of
us with any experience in the ?eld, we also know that many emerging 2- or 3-D artists enter
our classes to insert themselves into the status quo economic and cultural system of the “Art
World”—something far from “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently.” This simple reality yields
a number of vital and signi?cant questions perhaps far more pertinent for the ?eld’s short
term development as these students appear far more interested in selling the Art they produce
and perhaps, come to us searching for an understanding of that status quo economic and
cultural system. Do they desire to “be di!erent” or “do di!erently” in this case? Could our role
for these students be described as “painter of the Arts economic and cultural landscape”
rather than teaching them “Arts Entrepreneurship?” What delineates a class on the economic
and cultural landscape of the 21
st
century’s “Art World” from “Arts Entrepreneurship
Education?” Is Arts Entrepreneurship Education’s primary role to helping emerging artists
become successful at “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently,” or just successful or both or all
three? Is “being di!erent” simply being di!erent than non-artists or other artists? Though the
?eld must answer these vital questions, I submit a paraphrase of two seminal works by
William B. Gartner: What Arts Entrepreneurship “is” is the wrong question, because in our
e!ort to explain a whole, we may be trying to explain a hole—for now.
20
CONCLUSION
If we agree that Arts Entrepreneurship Education “is” hyper-contextual at this point in
the ?eld’s development, then de?ning Arts Entrepreneurship with the verb “is” will likely
require a broad-based de?nition; to fully understand the phenomenon demands expertise
from many disciplines. As important as this is for the ?eld, a de?nition that reaches consensus
may take signi?cant time. In the interim, this time may be better spent articulating
observations and theorizing about the phenomenon of entrepreneurial action in the arts
domains to provide data points for our campus colleagues as they help us de?ne the ?eld.
What needs to be said, however, is that determining what Arts Entrepreneurship is not also
provides critical data points.
We should also acknowledge that signi?cant observations about the ?eld can occur
anecdotally, then exposed through scholarship. For example, after attending a conference in
2008, I was speaking with a colleague who opined that his music entrepreneurship students “…
do not want to be rich, they just want to play music and earn a living.” Six years later, I heard
from another colleague uttering virtually the same words about his arts entrepreneurship
students. These educators are on opposite sides of the country; one is not teaching in the ?eld
at this time and there is no possibility of the two knowing each other. If the ?eld possessed
13 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
20
See William B. Gartner, “Who is an Entrepreneur is the Wrong Question,” American Journal of Small Business 12,
no. 4 (1988): 11-31; and William B. Gartner, “The Edge De?nes the (W)hole” Saying what Entrepreneurship is (not)
in Narrative and Discursive Approaches in Entrepreneurship: A Second Movements in Entrepreneurship Book, ed. Daniel
Hjorth and Chris Steyart (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004), 245–254.
empirical data from students that this is the case, this would go far in articulating
commonalties and di!erences with business school-based entrepreneurship students and help
to form educational goals, desired outcomes and curricula in parallel with our student’s
desires. The same can be said of considering Arts Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon. Just a
few months ago a colleague used the term to describe the actions of arts entrepreneurs—and
coupled with other scholarship describing entrepreneurship similarly— our possible adoption
of the term appears worthy of signi?cant and immediate exploration.
21
To answer the question “can Arts Entrepreneurship be de?ned?” I submit the
following;
2x + y = 1
-3x + 2y = 0
and put to the ?eld that after su#cient—and proper—e!ort, lex parsimoniae. Our solution will
likely be the result of a partnership with those studying the tangible, the intangible and the
aesthetic (which unites us in this e!ort); apprehension of the unknown (which intellectually
divides us and thwarts our e!ort) is no excuse to embrace a larger, more circumscribed, theory-
based methodology. Yet when human behavior and beauty are our equation’s variables, can
the process be as elegant when two unknowns can make a known?
14 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
21
For an all too brief list of examples, see Christian Bruyat and Pierre-Andre Julien, “De?ning the Field of
Research in Entrepreneurship” Journal of Business Venturing 16 (2000): 165–180; Scott Shane and S. Venkataraman,
“The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research” Academy of Management Review 25, no. 1 (2000): 217–26;
and Alain Fayolle, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
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17 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
18 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis
JONATHAN GANGI
Pennsylvania State University
roadly speaking, Arts Entrepreneurship Education is concerned with helping higher
education arts training become more responsive to the professional realities students
face after graduation. In part, this is prompted by decision- and policy-makers actively
reconsidering the outcomes of arts training.
1
Although this article deals with
professional artists and their entrepreneurial work, the focus is on the process of artists acting
entrepreneurially. Surveys such as SNAAP and other scholarship pertaining to artists and
work are concerned with the professional outcomes of arts training or an artist’s occupational
environment.
2
Despite some similarities, it is crucial to point out that surveys and scholarship
19 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
1
Ann M. Galligan and Neil O. Alper, “The Career Matrix: The Pipeline for Artists in the United States,” in The
Public Life of the Arts, ed. Joni Cherbo and Margaret Wyszomirski (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,
2000), 173–201; Harry H. Chartrand, “Toward an American Arts Industry,” in The Public Life of the Arts, ed. Joni
Cherbo and Margaret Wyszomirski (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000), 22–49; Gary D. Beckman,
“Career Development for Music Students: Towards a Holistic Approach,” South Central Music Bulletin 3 (2004): 13–
18; Neil O. Alper and Gregory H. Wassall, “Artists’ Careers and Their Labor Markets,” in Handbook of the Economics
of Art and Culture, ed. Victor A. Ginsburgh and David Throsby (Amsterdam: North Holland, 2006); Joni Cherbo,
Ruth Stewart and Margaret Wyszomirski, Understanding the Arts and the Creative Sector in the United States (New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008).
2
Pierre-Michel Menger, “Artistic Labor Markets: Contingent Work, Excess Supply and Occupational Risk,” in
Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, ed. Victor A. Ginsburgh and David Throsby (Amsterdam: North
Holland, 2006); Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, A Diverse Palette: What Arts Graduates Say About Their
Education and Careers—Annual Report 2012, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary
Research, 2012); Kristin Tomson, “Roles, Revenue, and Responsibilities: The Changing Nature of Being a Working
Musician,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 514–525; Elizabeth L. Lingo and Steven J. Tepper, “Looking Back,
Looking Forward: Arts-Based Careers and Creative Work,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 337–36.
B
As a conceptual tool, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis depicts commonalities and amplifies profound
connections between artistic action and the art of entrepreneurial action. The framework is presented
as a step towards empowering arts students for the complexities of effective entrepreneurial action
by identifying and ordering the scope of knowledge and skills artists need for entrepreneurial
success. Further, the model demonstrates how entrepreneurship education and training can be
integrated into higher education arts programs.
z
Copyright © 2014, Jonathan Gangi
of this type are only tangentially related to this proposed framework, as this framework deals
with process, not professional outcomes.
3
As a framework, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis is intended to help introduce and empower
arts students to the complexities of e!ective entrepreneurial action. By identifying and
ordering the scope of knowledge and skills artists need for entrepreneurial success, the
framework attempts to establish both epistemological and ontological contexts, thus
demonstrating how the study of entrepreneurship can integrate into higher education arts
training. It is the author’s intention that the model help faculty, administrators and students
recognize the content, concept, and context relationships expressed by some educational
leaders when engaging in artistic and entrepreneurial action.
This article proposes that entrepreneurial action and artistic action are synergetic and
asks how entrepreneurial action might ?t within the broader scope of an artist’s career. As a
conceptual tool, the Meta-Praxis is also a response to the suggestions of Sam Hope, former
executive director of the National O#ce for Arts Accreditation (NOAA), for maturing the ?eld
of Arts Entrepreneurship Education as well as amplifying the profound connections between
artistic action and the art of entrepreneurial action.
4
Hope identi?es important pedagogical
needs for arts entrepreneurship educators to address:
“There are many ways to help students make connections between what music
[art] is and knows and what business is and knows and what entrepreneurship
is and does…These commonalities may provide important connections, for
entrepreneurial action is not a science, but rather an art.”
5
Later, he proposes the following:
“What I am suggesting [for those engaged in entrepreneurship education] is an
orientation to big picture facts, issues, and choices in the territory of
entrepreneurial action…especially with regard to the relationship among
content, concept, and context, between fundamental knowledge and skills…and
connection and synthesis…Without this conceptual and contextual knowledge
[musicians and artists acting entrepreneurially] are vulnerable…to weakness
and constant economic challenges…[There is a] complexity that awaits music
[art] and musicians [artists] in the broader world of entrepreneurial action. If we
are not realistic about the need for basic understanding of this broader world,
we run the risk of giving our folks spears and a few techniques of spear
throwing to engage those who have legions of tanks led by four-star generals
who were ?rst in their class at armored warfare school. This is a danger we must
?nd ways to avoid.”
6
20 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
See below for an explanation of the term Meta-Praxis as coined by this author.
4
Samuel Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action, Leadership, and the Futures of Music,” (paper presented at the College
Music Society Summit - Music Entrepreneurship Education, Nashville, TN, 2010), 6, 15–16, Also, see Steve Blank,
“Entrepreneurship is an Art, not a Job,”http://steveblank.com/2011/03/31/entrepreneurship-is-an-art-not-a-job,
Accessed May 5, 2014.
5
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action,” 6, 15–16.
6
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action,” 7, 15.
Towards this end, the framework serves to speci?cally illustrate how these actions
coalesce in the context of Hope’s suggestions.
WHAT IS THE ARTIST’S META-PRAXIS?
De?ning Terms
In the case of this model, meta is derived from the word metaphysics and attempts to
answer in the broadest possible terms: “What is there?” “What is it like?” and “How do they
relate to each other?”
7
The pre?x meta also denotes a position behind, after, beyond or
something of a higher or second-order kind.
8
Praxis (traditionally understood as “practice”) is
the process where a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realized.
9
Additionally, praxis is used by educators to describe a recurring passage through a cyclical
process of experiential learning.
10
The term Meta-Praxis is employed to describe all the skills—both cognitive and
physical—that artists need for self-determined success. Although practice takes place
speci?cally in each component of the model, Meta-Praxis is the practice that encompasses the
entirety of what is practiced. It is the ultimate, uni?ed or larger practice—the practice of
everything simultaneously. Colloquially, the Meta-Praxis is how the big picture operates: the
general practicing of all of the smaller, speci?c practices in the context of the larger practice.
Divergent Thinking
As knowledge workers (i.e. those who determine tasks autonomously), artists acting
entrepreneurially employ divergent thinking within the entire scope of behaviors and skills
required to launch and sustain a ?scally solvent arts business. Consequently, divergent
thinking is a critical component within the Meta-Praxis. Many perceptions of divergent and
convergent thinking exist; however, this framework employs the understanding of divergent
thinking outlined below.
Since the 1950s, divergent thinking has been a popular topic of study and considered a
primary cognitive component of creativity.
11
Gibson, Folley and Park write:
21 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
7
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “metaphysics.”
8
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “meta.”
9
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “praxis.”
10
David A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Englewood Cli!s, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1984).
11
See Joy P. Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” in Creativity and Its Cultivation: Addresses Presented at the Interdisciplinary
Symposia on Creativity, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, ed. Harold H. Anderson (New York:
Harper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1959), 142–61; Sarno! A. Mednick, “The Associative
Basis of the Creative Process,” Psychological Review 69, no. 3 (1962): 220–32.
“Divergent thinking is distinguished from convergent thinking, which is de?ned
by a narrowing of possible responses to reach the correct solutions. In contrast,
divergent thinking involves ?exible ideation to generate many responses to
open-ended and multifaceted problems. Convergent thinking works best with
well-de?ned problems that have a clearly de?ned response, while divergent
thinking is best suited for poorly de?ned or unstructured problems… Since
Guilford’s seminal contribution to the study of creativity, divergent thinking has
remained a conceptually, internally, and externally valid element of the creative
process.”
12
According to Guilford, divergent thinking provides the foundation for creative production, as it
requires ideational searching without directional boundaries.
13
He identi?ed four aspects of
divergent thinking:
1) Fluency (the ability to produce a great number of ideas or problem solutions in a
short period of time)
2) Flexibility (the ability to simultaneously propose a variety of approaches to a
speci?c problem)
3) Originality (the ability to produce new, original ideas)
4) Elaboration (the ability to systematize and organize the details of an idea and carry
it out)
14
General Systems Theory
Borrowing from General Systems Theory (GST) helps to depict and legitimize the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis framework. Je!rey Stamps describes GST as “…an integration of two
complementary approaches, rational and intuitive perspectives.”
15
By envisioning the broad
scope of actions artists could use when behaving entrepreneurially, the Meta-Praxis
framework endeavors to integrate critical aspects of the rational and intuitive approaches
needed for a codi?ed systems theory.
In further explaining human systems, Laszlo and Krippner draw certain distinctions:
“[H]uman activity systems (be they composed of individuals in a nuclear family,
musicians in an orchestra, or members of a national or international
organization) tend to have multiple and overlapping purposes, of which it is
possible to distinguish at least three levels: the purpose of the system, the
22 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
12
Crystal Gibson, Bradley S. Folley and Sohee Park, “Enhanced Divergent Thinking and Creativity in Musicians:
A Behavioral and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study,” Brain and Cognition 69 (2009): 162–69.
13
Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” 142–61.
14
Joy P. Guilford, “Creativity,” American Psychologist 5, no. 9 (1950): 444–54; Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” 142–61.
15
Je!rey Stamps, Holonomy: A Human Systems Theory (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1980), 14.
purpose of its parts, and the purpose of the system of which it is a part, the
suprasystem.”
16
The Artist’s Meta-Praxis (as a system) falls into the category of a human activity system and
therefore, necessarily contains the three levels outlined above. Obviously, the Meta-Praxis is
also an attempt to de?ne and order a coherent theoretical human activity system for artists.
This is necessary, as the aims and purposes of artists as entrepreneurs are often di#cult to
de?ne, possessing multiple and overlapping purposes.
17
Note that Laszlo and Krippner suggest that GST is a methodology “to model complex
entities created by the multiple interactions of components by abstracting from certain details
of structure and component, and concentrating on the dynamics that de?ne the characteristic
functions, properties, and relationships that are internal or external to the system.”
18
This method is the basis for determining inclusion in the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
conceptual model. It should be noted that the goal is to include all necessary and su#cient
elements that an artist (acting entrepreneurially) would require to engage in the complexities
of e!ective entrepreneurial action in an arts context. Additionally, the model is designed to
contain explanatory power, both in minute detail and broad categories, to explain the totality
of how an arts entrepreneur’s “general system” would—or does—function.
Holons and Holarchies
As a seminal ?gure in the ?eld of GST, Arthur Koestler’s work serves to further validate,
contextualize, and legitimize the Artist’s Meta-Praxis conceptual framework. His system-
theoretical model of Self-Regulating Open Hierarchic Order (SOHO), developed in 1967, uses the
concept of a ‘holon,’ described as, “a system which is simultaneously a subsystem and a
suprasystem.”
19
He de?ned the term holon as:
“[Referring] to complex entities, particular organisms and people, which are
simultaneously: (a) whole individuals and (b) participating parts of more
encompassing wholes. ‘Holon’ was constructed from the Greek word for whole,
holos, and the su#x ‘on,’ which connotes a part, as in proton or electron.”
20
23 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
16
Alexander Laszlo and Stanley Krippner, “Systems Theories: Their Origins, Foundations, and Development,” in
Systems Theories and A Priori Aspects of Perception, ed. J. C. Jordan (Amsterdam, North-Holland: Elsevier, 1998), 47–
74.
17
Gary D. Beckman, “‘Adventuring’ Arts Entrepreneurship Curricula in Higher Education: An Examination of
Present E!orts, Obstacles and Best Practices,” Journal of Arts Management, Law & Society 37, no. 2 (2007): 88–111;
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action”; Gary D. Beckman, “So, What’s the Point? An Introductory Discussion on the
Desired Outcomes of Arts Entrepreneurship Education,” in Disciplining the Arts: Teaching Entrepreneurship in
Context, ed. Gary D. Beckman (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little?eld, 2011), 177–84. Ruth Bridgstock, “Not a Dirty
Word: Arts Entrepreneurship and Higher Education,” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 12, no. 2–3 (2013):
122–37.
18
Laszlo and Krippner, “Systems Theories,” 47–74.
19
Arthur Koestler, The Ghost in the Machine (New York: Macmillan, 1967); Stamps, Holonomy, 8.
20
Stamps, Holonomy, 7.
He further explains holons as:
“Intermediary structures on a series of levels in ascending order of complexity,
each of which has two faces looking in opposite directions: the face turned
towards the lower levels is that of an autonomous whole, the one turned upward
that of a dependent part. This dichotomy is present on every level of every type
of hierarchic organization, and is referred to as the ‘Janus phenomenon’.”
21
Hierarchies are often characterized by a chain of command ?owing directionally from the top
down; thus, entities on lower levels have very little communication or in?uence on or with
higher levels.
22
Contrastingly, holarchies have a bidirectional command chain. Unlike
hierarchies, holarchies contain horizontal channels of communication and in?uence. In a
holarchy, an entity from any level can a!ect and in?uence other levels, in any direction, both
vertically and horizontally. Consequently, there is no superiority of importance within the
system; all holons in the holarchy are vital to the optimal functioning of the structure.
Realizing General Systems Theory in the Meta-Praxis
The Artist’s Meta-Praxis can be envisioned as a framework operating similarly to
Koestler's Self-Regulating Open Hierarchic Order. By adapting Koestler’s language used to
de?ne his ideas of holarchies and holons, it is possible to describe the application of these
concepts in a new academic context while simultaneously arguing for the validity of the Meta-
Praxis framework. To be extremely clear, the following ideas and language are original to
Koestler; this article merely adapts his language to the framework.
23
META-PRAXIS IN GREATER DETAIL
De?nitions and Structural Design of the Framework
Structurally, the Meta-Praxis consists of multiple holons that can be isolated into
individual components. When combined, however, they transform into a multiple-leveled
framework, creating a holarchy of parts within parts. Three vertical levels form the depth of
the structure, and three horizontal components on any given level comprise its span.
1
st
level holons are:
•
Meta-Intellect
•
Artistic Action — in any discipline or sub-discipline (i.e. classical guitar)
24 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
21
Arthur Koestler, “Beyond Atomism and Holism: The Concept of the Holon,” in Beyond Reductionism: New
Perspectives in the Life Sciences, edited by Arthur Koestler and John R. Smythies, (London: Hutchinson, 1972), 197.
22
Stamps, 8.
23
Paraphrased version adapted from Koestler, “Beyond Atomism and Holism.”
•
Entrepreneurial Action
Level 1 holons, in combination, serve to reconcile the atomistic and holistic activities of artists.
2
nd
level holons are:
•
Technique
•
Practice
•
Divergent Thinking
Level 2 holons are inherently behavioral in nature, incorporating routines of acquired skills
and displaying rule-governed behaviors.
3
rd
level holons are:
•
Theoretical Knowledge
•
Applied Knowledge
•
Domain Knowledge
Level 3 holons are acquired and incorporated by those of Level 2.
The Meta-Praxis framework is a way of thinking, perceiving and acting, involving both
the cognitive and the physical. Figure 1 illustrates the paradigm’s structure; ?gures 2, 3, and 4
show each component’s subsystem. Additionally, Figures 2, 3, and 4 display each subsystem’s
sub-layer. Figure 5 illustrates both the paradigm’s structure and subsystems.
To interpret this framework, one must 1) consider this model in three dimensions, 2)
envision a constant bidirectional ?ow of information and skill application between the
components, and 3) take into account a guiding force that will govern the system. The reader is
cautioned not to consider this a “grand model of artist cognition” but rather a way to visualize
(rightly or wrongly) what appears to be important to an artist and where art and
entrepreneurship might occur in this system. To reiterate, this model is presented only as one
possible way to understand how an artist might think and where entrepreneurship education
would ?t into this model.
25 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 1
26 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Figure 2
27 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 3
28 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Figure 4
29 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 5
30 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
The Governing System: Meta-Intellect & Creativity
The Meta-Intellect (or “big picture intellect”) is an all-encompassing, ?uidly governing
intellect; as such, it is the command center for the management of knowledge and action. It
perceives, analyzes, discerns, anticipates, critiques, interprets, judges, and guides. Enabling
e#ciency, the Meta-Intellect illuminates and prioritizes tasks or skills, di!erentiating activities
that are a means to an end and those that are ultimate ends. Additionally, it organizes a
staggering amount of information, knowledge and skill needed for one to be—in this case—a
successful artist and entrepreneur. The Meta-Intellect, as the command center of knowledge
and action, fosters high levels of expertise critical to the successful functioning within the
multiple domains of the Meta-Praxis.
Cognitive psychology can help explain and validate the suggested Meta-Intellect
concept. Fayena-Tawil, Kozbelt, and Sitaras abstract metacognition thusly:
“Expertise is the perceptual and behavioral ability to work with ‘the big picture’
in solving a problem. Having a sense of ‘the big picture’ is also relevant to
understanding how individuals monitor progress and engage in metacognition,
that is, re?ection about one’s own thinking. Metacognition involves actively
monitoring and regulating one’s own cognition and behavior to achieve a goal.
Metacognition plays very important roles in creativity. For example, eminent
creators appear to deliberately engage in metacognitive processes like
consideration of task strategies, self-instruction, time management, self-
monitoring, and self-evaluation. Better problem solvers are also more adept at
metacognitively monitoring their progress.”
24
Within the domains of artistic and entrepreneurial action, the necessity of expertise, problem
solving, and a sense of the “big picture” seem obvious. Additionally, processes like
consideration of task strategies, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring, and self-
evaluation are essential. Thus, the role of the Meta-Intellect is to direct these metacognitive
processes throughout the entire system of the Meta-Praxis.
25
Meta-Intellect controls the rules, strategies, integrative and self-assertive tendencies,
triggers, scanners, regulation channels, shifts from mechanical rigidity to freedom of mind,
and the regenerative processes within the Meta-Praxis holarchy. Likewise, the Meta-Intellect
a!ects horizontally the holons of any speci?c arts discipline and Arts Entrepreneurship, as
well as vertically the holons of Divergent Thinking, Technique, Practice, Theoretical
Knowledge, Domain Knowledge, and Applied Knowledge. Theories of the system determine
the rules of the game and strategy determines the course of the game. Meta-Intellect selects
strategic maneuvers within the Meta-Praxis by activating Divergent Thinking, which requires
the involvement of Domain Knowledge and Applied Knowledge. Contrastingly, the rules of
31 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
24
Frieda Fayena-Tawil, Aaron Kozbelt and Lemonia Sitaras, “Think Global, Act Local: A Protocol Analysis
Comparison of Artists’ and Nonartists’ Cognitions, Metacognitions, and Evaluations While Drawing,” Psychology
of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts 5, no. 2 (2011): 135–45.
25
Kelly G. Shaver and Linda R. Scott, “Person, Process, Choice: The Psychology of New Venture Creation,”
Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice 16, no.2 (1991): 23–45.
the game are determined by Theoretical Knowledge and Domain Knowledge. These rules
a!ect and in?uence the strategic decisions of the Meta-Intellect. Functionally, the interplay of
behavior between holons of each level account for the coherence, stability, and speci?city of
the entire Meta-Praxis.
Artistic Action
Although an artist operating within any arts discipline could be inserted into the Meta-
Praxis, this article will employ a classical guitarist as a speci?c arts discipline in the model (See
Figure 3). Classical guitarists utilize a variety of skills to master their instrument: facile
technique and a compelling sense of musical interpretation are certainly critical, but cognitive
power, enhanced through divergent thinking, is also necessary. A classical guitarist relies
heavily upon Divergent Thinking during the process of determining ?ngerings for complex
musical passages as the aesthetic quality of the music—whether superior or inferior—is
greatly a!ected by the ?ngerings chosen. Therefore, the incorporation of Meta-Intellect
guiding Divergent Thinking during this process is vital to determining the degree of technical
ease or di#culty within a work and, ultimately, the musical result.
However, in order to achieve expertise in ?ngering choices and musical control, the
guitarist must develop a thorough knowledge of music, the instrument and e#cient practice
regimens. An example of Domain Knowledge is a guitarist possessing an understanding of
each of these categories: 1) the instrument’s design and operation, 2) music and how it is
generated on the guitar, and 3) practicing—both how it works broadly and how it is e#ciently
executed on the instrument. Knowing the necessary technique, music, practicing, and thinking
theories are examples of Theoretical Knowledge. It is at this point that the Meta-Intellect
governs the process by guiding the strategic choices through Divergent Thinking.
26
Theoretical Knowledge determines the rules of the game, and the Meta-Intellect determines
the optimal choice using both Domain Knowledge and Divergent Thinking. The decision is
then put into action through Applied Knowledge to bring about the desired e!ect.
The ?eld of cognitive science can help to validate these suggested processes within the
Meta-Praxis. Francis Heylighen and Clément Vidal suggest the following:
“One of the key insights of the new cognitive science is that cognition is
necessarily situated and embodied. This means that a cognitive system, such as
the human mind, is always interacting with its environmental situation via its
bodily sensors (eyes, ears, touch…) that perceive, and e!ectors (hands, vocal
chords…) that produce actions. The complexity of the real world is dealt with
not by manipulating an abstract internal representation, but by manipulating
32 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
26
See Chapter 4 of the author’s dissertation for a detailed analysis and explanation of how learning the classical
guitar fosters divergent thinking ability. Gangi, Jonathan J., “Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of
the Artist’s Meta-Praxis” (DMA diss., University of South Carolina, 2014).
the world itself, i.e. by performing actions and monitoring their results via
perceptions.”
27
This type of cognition articulates the required actions of the Meta-Praxis, and as such, the
model can move from pure assertion closer to a grounding in cognitive science. Classical
guitarists manipulate their world (or domain) by interacting with their environment via bodily
sensors (eyes, ears, touch), e!ectors that produce actions (hands), and a monitoring of the
musical results. For example, after choosing ?ngerings for a musical passage, guitarists test the
choices by performing the music, listening to the results and making necessary adjustments to
achieve the desired results. Similarly in performance, guitarists must monitor their playing
and respond accordingly in order to realize their musical interpretation according to their
musical or artistic intentions.
Entrepreneurial Action
The same elements utilized within Artistic Action by a virtuoso classical guitarist are
required in Entrepreneurial Action. An e!ective entrepreneur will likely bene?t from Domain
Knowledge, whether the domain is Theoretical Knowledge about entrepreneurial Technique,
Applied Knowledge towards Technique, or how to think creatively in order to simply recognize
a “better way.” These areas of knowledge in?uence entrepreneurial Technique and Practice,
which advance through Divergent Thinking.
Behaving as an entrepreneur requires expertise, problem-solving skills and the
incorporation of Divergent Thinking, all of which can be done in an artfully creative manner.
Like artists (as mentioned previously), entrepreneurs are able to manipulate their domain by
interacting with their environments via bodily sensors that perceive and e!ectors that produce
actions and monitor results. For example, entrepreneurs may use Domain Knowledge to
achieve a better understanding of a market or industry they wish to utilize. Once established,
the Meta-Intellect guides Divergent Thinking to determine, using Theoretical Knowledge, an
optimal strategy for creating a new product/service or innovating an existing product or service
to increase the value to the market. After the new product/service is introduced, entrepreneurs
monitor the results of their e!orts.
Entrepreneurs engage in metacognitive activity to evaluate all aspects of the venture,
including Theoretical Knowledge and Domain Knowledge, the way in which these become
Applied Knowledge, as well as Technique, Practice, and Divergent Thinking. When
modi?cations are made based on preliminary results, entrepreneurs often employ perceptual
triggers, scanners, and feedback loops to evaluate the e!ectiveness of their entrepreneurial
technique, problem solving skills, creativity and innovation to achieve the desired results of
their practice. These actions can be viewed as identical to those of artists, as the only
signi?cant di!erence between an artist and an entrepreneur in this context is the creation and
development of di!erent “products” in di!erent domains. It appears then that many of the
33 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
27
Francis Heylighen and Clement Vidal, “Getting Things Done: The Science behind Stress-Free Productivity,”
Long Range Planning 41, no. 6. (2008): 585–605.
elements involved in the intellectual and creative processes of artists and entrepreneurs can be
described as similar, if not identical.
Throughout the entire Meta-Praxis, these cognitive and physical activities cannot be
separated. Channels of communication and synthesis ?ow constantly and multi-directionally
between each level of process within any and all of the components. Technique in?uences
Practice, which is in?uenced by Divergent Thinking. Divergent Thinking is in?uenced by
practicing techniques of thinking and by learning about theories of thinking. Further,
Technique is in?uenced by thinking about theories of technique, and Practicing is in?uenced
by thinking about theories of practicing. Applied Knowledge of one area to another is the glue
that binds all of these processes together and provides cohesion.
28
Similarly, entrepreneurial
action and artistic action, directed by intellectual action, form a synergetic relationship.
PROFESSIONAL ARTIST SURVEY
Purpose
Although the Meta-Praxis as a theoretical model is grounded in cognitive and systems
science, querying professional artists can initially test the framework. The author conducted
an informal survey to investigate the processes and skill sets used in the larger context of the
participants’ careers as an initial attempt to demonstrate the hypothesized Meta-Praxis theory.
Results of the survey demonstrate a linking of the theory with practice, thus providing a basis
to illustrate that ?scally solvent arts entrepreneurs use many—if not all—of the elements
contained within the Meta-Praxis framework.
Method
Participants chosen to complete the questionnaire are working artists. Requiring
participants to be self-employed allowed for authenticity and credibility in the sample.
Further, all survey questions were developed using the theoretical foundations of cognitive
and systems science. Purposefully, each artist was unaware of the Meta-Praxis framework to
avoid any bias.
29
Participants
Participant 1 - Painter: Primarily self-taught, with some university training in art and art
history; exhibits original works at prestigious juried arts fairs and shows nationwide.
34 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
28
Envision the process described while referencing Figures 1-5.
29
See Appendix A for the questionnaire. Participant 1 provided written survey answers, while Participants 2 and 3
answered via phone interview, therefore most of the quotes for Participant I are verbatim, with only a few
paraphrased sentences for continuity’s sake. All quotes by Participants 2 and 3 are paraphrased, not direct quotes.
Note: Participant 2 is not the author.
Participant 2 - Guitarist: Classically trained founder/artistic director of an international
guitar festival and director of a guitar school; performs nationally and internationally in
addition to composing for movies, theater, radio, television, and documentaries.
Participant 3 - Dancer: Classically trained founder/artistic director of a dance theatre
touring company; choreographed works for Momix, Ballet Arizona, Verb Ballets, Ballet
Theatre of Ohio, Dancing Wheels, numerous universities, and pre-professional programs.
Responses Pertaining to Intellectual Action
Determining What to Work On, When
All three participants clearly focused on long term planning. This includes how they
determine when and what to work on and a concern for the ‘big picture” of their business and
career. Participant 1 indicates that new paintings are created to replace pieces sold:
“I work on paintings to replace the same thematic pieces that I have recently
sold. My paintings are prioritized in order to replace inventory, whatever
streamlines that is the priority.”
Organized by theme, new work is prioritized according to thematic areas needing
replenishment.
Participant 2 constantly focuses on long-term student retention and new student
acquisition as the highest priority:
“Maintaining high enrollment for capital ?ow is crucial for my business, and
staying ahead of the game regarding enrollment requires ongoing, ahead of
time planning.”
For this participant, new student recruitment targets elementary, middle, and high schools,
although priority is placed on elementary and middle schools, because younger students are
better retention candidates.
Participant 3 prioritizes work based on achieving the long-term goal of increased
visibility and impact within various communities, in addition to engaging audiences
throughout multiple geographic regions:
“I determine when and what to work on based on grant deadlines and other
funding concerns. Additionally, I create work to push artists to get better at their
artistic skills, as well as communicating through their art to have a high impact
on our audiences/communities.”
35 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Monitoring Progress
Participant 1 keeps a daily log of each painting sold, how many paintings of each theme are
sold and the markets yielding the highest volume of sales:
“I daily monitor my progress in my business’ keeping a log of each painting I
sell, how many paintings of each theme were sold, and which markets have
been best to sell in.”
Additionally, daily goals are set for which new paintings to create. Likewise, Participant 2
states:
“I always consider what pedagogical materials and repertoire students like and
try to keep their interest by giving them a variety of musical styles to practice
and perform. By doing so, not only are the students happy, but, more
importantly, the parents are happy, resulting in long-term student retention.”
Participant 3 monitors the complete scope of the dance company, including artists, board
members, budget concerns, grant applications, tickets sales, community impact, and
competition analysis:
“At least once a week I try to meet with everyone involved in the dance company
to monitor the progress of each aspect of the organization.”
Divergent Thinking
Participant 1 views divergent thinking as especially critical to realizing the aesthetic goal /
vision of each painting. It is also used when interacting with customers to determine what will
connect with the target audience and correctly assess their feedback:
“Creative thinking is the soul of my business. There are many times where I will
talk with other artists, especially my wife and children, about paintings. My son,
who is also a painter, many times will engage me, and we will discuss our vision
and goals for di!erent paintings we hope to accomplish.”
For Participant 2, divergent thinking is the starting point of practice, performance, and
teaching:
“For me, everything I do is always going to begin with creativity; the more I use
it, the better I get at thinking creatively in all aspects of my art and business.”
Whether the task is composing music or developing new business strategies (such as
incentivizing current students to recruit new students) divergent thinking is essential and must
be carefully cultivated through constant use and application. Similarly, Participant 3 uses
divergent thinking in all career aspects, including the creation and presentation of new works,
assessing and surpassing other competing organizations, and the management of assets and
resources:
36 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
“Creative thinking is vital to everything I do, both on the artistic side and the
business operations side. I try to create new work and present it in new spaces,
using new ways to market and develop audiences. Creativity is critical for me to
place art in a new context.”
Answers Pertaining to Artistic Action
Role of Technique and Practice
Participant 1 delineates that technique and practice are what de?ne skill level, which in turn
allows the artist to achieve the aesthetic goal/vision of a painting:
“In my artistry, technique and practice are what de?ne my skill level, and
ultimately help me to satisfy my aesthetic vision.”
When practicing for performances, Participants 2 and 3 always have goals and prioritize
practice session content according to the requirements of upcoming performances. For
Participant 2, possessing a strong technique is critical as each performance is selling a product.
Technique directly a!ects the product’s quality:
“When I perform on stage, I am selling a product, so technique is very
important. I need to know what I am good at and how I will present to an
audience. So, I evaluate my technique to be sure I can present my product well.”
Participant 2 also indicated that technique is tremendously important when working
through injuries such as focal dystonia.
Participant 3 notes that technique and artistry are vital to a quality product and
performance and are directly linked to the ultimate success of the arts business:
“Technique is vital to artistry, and there is a strong link from technique and
artistry to the success of the dance company, but technique is not the only thing
— depending on context—sometimes connecting with and engaging the
audience is more important.”
Importance of Environmental Situations
Participant 1 draws upon rural landscapes for inspiration, re?ecting the artist’s work
environment. An art show environment is crucial for Participant 1 because:
“My actions are based on my audience’s response to my work. I monitor closely
whether I have succeeded in communicating based on their feedback.”
Participant 2 says that knowing the environment of speci?c performances is vital:
37 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
“I always pick repertoire for the audience I am playing for and try to be smart in
the way I program concerts; using innovative repertoire sometimes requires that
I create new arrangements.”
This is the same for Participant 3, who also uses innovative repertoire targeted to the
preferences of speci?c audiences. Never would a program be performed without taking into
account the target audience:
“I must be aware of my environment artistically, by having an awareness of
trends in choreography, gauging what works and what doesn’t compositionally,
and keeping up with trends to stay in tune with other choreographers’ work. I
also have environmental considerations pertaining to performances, and it is
crucial for me to ?nd innovative venue locations.”
Seeking out and utilizing new performance venues serves to provide new ways of
communicating, engaging and connecting with audiences.
Answers Pertaining to Entrepreneurial Action
Role of Technique and Practice
A foundational entrepreneurial technique for Participant 1 is the ability to comfortably talk
with clientele at arts venues. For this participant, talking is the primary impetus for sharpening
business acumen, perspicacity, and skill:
“To build my art business I needed to ?rst be able to comfortably talk with my
clientele, have the drive to constantly improve the product, and to be realistic
about my goals.”
Participant 2 states:
“I don’t see a di!erence between my art and my business, it all melds together.
So it is important for me to have the full scope of skill sets needed in all facets of
my business.”
Some of these skill sets include the ability to communicate and articulate the value of their
artistic products to their markets. Human interaction (i.e. asking questions and seeking out
advice from mentors and experts) is another important technique for all participants.
Participant 3 acknowledges:
“I must be real and honest with people when talking about my business and why
it matters, should be funded and why performances should be attended. I found
that talking to someone like you are [simply] just two people sharing what is very
important and e!ective as a technique when talking to artists, board members,
and audiences/communities.”
38 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Importance of Environmental Situations
Of critical import for success, Participant 1 must be positioned in the environment of small
arts venues/events. This domain provides opportunities to personally meet clientele, which
serves as a precise measurement of successful communication through the artwork to the
target customer:
“My communication with my clientele at various small art venues where I sell
my work is what sharpens my skills. In this environment I can personally meet
with clientele, and this serves as a perfect measurement of my success with my
audience.”
Maintaining an awareness of one’s environment is essential for Participant 2, who is always
looking for opportunities within a domain:
“I am very willing to do other things besides my art, and this has been very
bene?cial for me.”
For example, Participant 2’s guitar school is housed on the second ?oor of a tennis club. Within
that environment, an opportunity was recognized for both the tennis club and the guitar
school. A mutually bene?cial agreement was reached involving an exchange of labor on
Participant 2’s part (creating advertisements for the tennis club) while the tennis club owner
?nanced the purchase of the advertising mechanism and allowed Participant 2 to include
marketing materials for the guitar school. The TV screen was displayed in a prime location,
near the ?rst ?oor entrance, serving to inform clientele of tennis club events and guitar school
events on the second ?oor, resulting in increased business for both the guitar school and the
tennis club.
The non-pro?t arts sector environment is crucial to consider for Participant 3,
especially the actions of similar dance companies:
“I must be aware of the artistic climate that I am a part of, including knowing
what other arts organizations are doing that are similar to mine. The more
aware of my environment I am, the better I can know what has worked or not
worked for another company and this helps me to get and keep a competitive
advantage.”
As the dance company’s director, competitive advantage can only be maintained by possessing
an awareness of the environment and what has failed or been successful for competing arts
organizations regarding grant funding, choreographic trends, and repertoire/programmatic
choices. Equally important within this climate, Participant 3 must have an understanding of
key business/marketing trends relating to community visibility, engagement, and audience
loyalty, because these are critical to maintaining a competitive advantage within a target
market.
39 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Analysis
Sub-discipline speci?city seems irrelevant concerning the ‘big picture” of each artist’s
business and career, as each participant indicated a signi?cant focus on long-term planning
concerning their arts “products” and how they determine what to work on when. Clearly,
Divergent Thinking is incorporated in all aspects of the participants’ arts businesses, along
with the use of Theoretical Knowledge, Domain Knowledge and Applied Knowledge.
Divergent Thinking, then, may be viewed as a primary element of an arts entrepreneur’s
business venture. There is a knowledge transfer occurring as Divergent Thinking is
consistently used in the artistic domain, resulting in creative ideas over?owing into other
aspects of the business. Further, with sustained Divergent Thinking practice, high skill levels
of creative thinking emerge in all facets of artistic and business experience.
As indicated previously, the Meta-Intellect is an all-encompassing, ?uidly governing
intellect. As such, it is the command center for the management of knowledge and action.
Exempli?ed by the self-described actions of real-world professional artists, the Meta-Intellect
organizes a staggering amount of information, knowledge, and skill needed for one to be a
successful artist and entrepreneur. Professional practice reported by these artists demonstrates
the use of metacognition to determine the following: what to work on and when, priority of
activities, di!erentiation between actions that are means to an end vs. the ultimate end, the use
of task strategy, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring, self-evaluation and the
organization of knowledge, information, and skill needed to be a professional artist. All of
these elements listed are descriptors of how the Meta-Intellect functions and are clearly
incorporated by professional artists.
Additionally, interaction with customers (i.e. the environment) and monitoring actions
via perceptions is crucial in these endeavors. Once again, this highlights the importance of
interacting with environmental situations, performing actions, and monitoring results via
perceptions. This exempli?es the processes and skill sets outlined by the Meta-Praxis
framework, which are perhaps vital to the success of an arts entrepreneur as demonstrated by
the three survey participants. Each indicated the importance of human interaction and
emphasized that asking those successful in other domains for advice/help is essential for
success. Perhaps most importantly, these successful arts entrepreneurs view “non-arts” speci?c
skill sets (i.e. business skills) as complimentary to and synergetic with the artistic process, not
detrimental or antithetical.
For the participants, there is no distinction between Entrepreneurial Action,
Intellectual Action, and Artistic Action, as all three domains of action are melded together into
one experience. Cultivating skills in other facets besides their speci?c art seems critical to
sustaining their arts businesses, as evidenced by their responses. These examples clearly
articulate the bene?ts of these meta-cognitions and behaviors, thus serving to empirically
support the theoretical notions of the Meta-Praxis framework. Further, this informal survey
shows that the components of each holon in the Meta-Praxis holarchy are not solely
theoretical, but inherently emerge within the broad scope of a professional artists’ career. Note
that the goal of the model is to codify and systematize these processes in a formal manner,
suggesting that the framework could serve to help artists become aware of how both
Entrepreneurial Action and Intellectual Action are vital to their task. For the emerging arts
40 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
entrepreneur, understanding the Meta-Praxis could facilitate the goal of being a successful
professional artist.
CONCLUSION
As a conceptual tool, an application of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis may be of bene?t to
students, faculty, curriculum designers, and administrators by helping them, as Hope
suggested, “… make connections between what [art] is and knows and what business is and
knows and what entrepreneurship is and does.”
30
For artists serious about making their art
their career, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis framework may be indispensable. Each survey participant
— all successful professional artists — validate this claim by intimating the absolute necessity
of Entrepreneurial Action and Intellectual Action to their careers.
The Meta-Praxis identi?es the skill sets necessary for Entrepreneurial Action, showing
that artists are already using them in their areas of expertise. Again, each survey participant
demonstrated synergies between Artistic Action and Entrepreneurial Action and further
indicated that no distinctions exist. Therefore, the model is valuable for artists, as it articulates
how non-arts knowledge can strengthen artistic endeavors. By expressing the required
multidimensionality needed to create a viable career through their art, the Meta-Praxis
liberates artists to view “non-arts” (i.e. business) tasks and skills as bene?cial and essential to
their artistry. This enables them to know that when not in studio, rehearsal, or practice room,
they are still operating as professional artists.
For arts entrepreneurship curriculum designers, the Meta-Praxis framework could be
invaluable to their task, as it outlines a viewpoint contextualizing behavioral patterns of
Entrepreneurial Action within the broad scope of a professional artist’s career.
31
The Meta-
Praxis identi?es the skill sets necessary for entrepreneurial action, demonstrating that some
artists are already leveraging these skills in their areas of expertise. Curriculum designers can
build upon this framework by drawing additional parallels between artistic and
entrepreneurial processes, behaviors, and actions. Doing so will further enable artists to
recognize the artistry within the entrepreneurial approach, empowering them to think not
only artistically and divergently, but also in how they entrepreneurially recognize and exploit
opportunities.
Lastly, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis is an answer to Sam Hope’s call for:
“An orientation to big picture facts, issues, and choices…especially with regard
to the relationship among content, concept, and context, between fundamental
knowledge and skills…and connection and synthesis.”
41 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
30
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action.”
31
Shaver, and Scott, “Person, Process, Choice,” 23–45.
Having demonstrated the relationships between content, concept, and context when engaging
in Artistic Action, Intellectual Action, and Entrepreneurial Action, the framework provides
explanatory power, both in minute detail and broad categories, regarding the totality of how
an arts entrepreneur’s system could function. Perhaps most importantly, this model
demonstrates how artists could channel creativity, imagination, and Divergent Thinking into
Entrepreneurial Action to generate and communicate artistic value. Thus, the Artist’s Meta-
Praxis is a step towards framing entrepreneurship as critical to the artist, arts training, and
even art itself. Consequently, Entrepreneurial Action can serve as a key catalyst in ful?lling
artists’ professional goals.
42 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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of Art and Culture, edited by Victor A. Ginsburgh and David Throsby, 813–61. Amsterdam:
Elsevier, 2006.
Beckman, Gary D. “Career Development for Music Students: Towards a Holistic Approach.”
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———. “‘Adventuring’ Arts Entrepreneurship Curricula in Higher Education: An
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———. “So, What’s the Point? An Introductory Discussion on the Desired Outcomes of Arts
Entrepreneurship Education.” In Disciplining the Arts: Teaching Entrepreneurship in Context,
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Blank, Steve. “Entrepreneurship is an Art, not a Job.” Accessed May 5, 2014. http://
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Bridgstock, Ruth. “Not a Dirty Word: Arts Entrepreneurship and Higher Education.” Arts and
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Cherbo, J., Stewart, R., and Wyszomirski, M. Understanding the Arts and the Creative Sector in the
United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
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135–45.
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———. “Traits of Creativity.” In Creativity and Its Cultivation: Addresses Presented at the
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Productivity.”Long Range Planning 41, no. 6 (2008): 585–605.
Hope, Samuel.“Entrepreneurial Action, Leadership, and the Futures of Music.” Paper
presented at the College Music Society Summit—Music Entrepreneurship Education.
Nashville, TN, January 17, 2010.
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Reductionism: New Perspectives in the Life Sciences, edited by Arthur Koestler and John R.
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———. The Ghost in the Machine. New York: Macmillan, 1967.
Kolb, David A. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and
Development. Englewood Cli!s, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1984.
Laszlo, Alexander and Stanley Krippner. “Systems Theories: Their Origins, Foundations, and
Development.” In Systems Theories and A Priori Aspects of Perception, ed. J. C. Jordan, 47–74.
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and Creative Work,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 337–36.
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Working Musician,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 514–525.
45 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
APPENDIX A
PROFESSIONAL ARTIST QUESTIONNAIRE
Intellectual Action Questions
Regarding the “big picture” of your arts business and career, please describe:
o How you determine what to work on and when
o How you prioritize activities
o How you di!erentiate between actions that are means to an end, vs. your
ultimate end/goal
o How you organize the knowledge, information, and skill needed to be a
professional artist
o How often you monitor your progress in all facets of your business, artistic skill,
thinking, and behavior relating to launching/achieving and sustaining your arts
business
o How you use task strategy, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring
and self-evaluation
o How important creative/divergent thinking is to your goal of sustaining a
successful arts business, and in what speci?c areas/ways do you use this type of
thinking
Artistic Action Question
Regarding the skills needed as an artist, please describe:
o The complete scope of skills needed to create/produce your art
o The role of theoretical, domain, and applied knowledge
o What is needed for expertise, and how do you determine if you are an expert
o The role of technique, practice, and creative/divergent thinking
o How you interact with environmental situations of any kind
o The importance of performing actions and monitoring the results via
perceptions
46 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Entrepreneurial Action Questions
Regarding the skills needed as an entrepreneur, please describe:
o The complete scope of skills needed to build/sustain your business
o The role of theoretical, domain, and applied knowledge
o What is needed for expertise, and how do you determine if you are an expert
o The role of technique, practice, and creative/divergent thinking
o How you interact with environmental situations of any kind
o The importance of performing actions and monitoring the results via
perceptions
47 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
48 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
JAMES D. HART
Southern Methodist University
“Acting as the ideology of business avant-gardism, the entrepreneurial myth has
become the context within which conventional wisdom about entrepreneurship has
been in?uenced.”
1
he hero journey is a process of departure, initiation and return. At the beginning of the
tale, a void is created and it becomes the job of the hero to ?ll the void, which can
manifest in any number of forms: emotional, communal or otherwise. For the hero,
the adventure is a going into the unknown, adapting to the demands of change and
facing one’s own fears and doubts.
2
The Hero Journey Structure (HJS) is a key to the vastness
of myth itself, which many modern audiences associate with the popular “The Power of Myth”
series on PBS featuring Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers. However, the HJS framework is not
49 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
1
Omid Nodoushani and Patricia Nodoushani. “Second Thoughts on the Entrepreneurial Myth.” The International
Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 1, no. 1 (2000): 9.
2
For example: a familiar “adventure” is where the hero slays his / her existential nemesis (in the guise / metaphor
of a dragon) and obtains an elixir, ?lling a void experienced / exposed at the beginning of the tale.
T
To both address the “starving artist” stereotype and develop a working curricular model for the arts
entrepreneurship classroom, conventional thinking suggests that “arts technique alone is not
enough” and the “incorporation of entrepreneurial techniques is necessary.” However, these
traditional training modalities alone lack a means whereby artists can mentally, emotionally and
otherwise understand the experience of active arts entrepreneuring. This article examines the Hero
Journey Structure in three modalities and offers a framework to connect the Structure to the act both
theoretically and in the classroom.
z
Copyright © 2014, James D. Hart
Campbell’s as he simply articulated a universal present in many mythological constructs.
3
It is
a structure possessing broad application—from bettering one’s ability to communicate a story,
such as a pitch, to providing an arts entrepreneur a lens (or framework) to navigate unknown
market waters. Ultimately, the structure teaches how to develop self–assurance and courage as
the journey is ultimately one of self-discovery. As more programs incorporate such tools into
arts entrepreneurship curricula, educators can help emerging arts entrepreneurs heroically
structure their lives, ventures and entrepreneurial actions.
MERITS OF THE HERO JOURNEY STRUCTURE
For arts entrepreneurs, the HJS provides a lens where one can view the challenges
encountered when building a business: acquiring funding, creating a functioning business
model, designing revenue streams and/or allying with a board of directors, etc. The HJS
teaches how to “stay in the game”—a necessary skill in order to “win.” Like any entrepreneur,
the arts entrepreneur builds social and economic micro-cultures and employs participants
who look to the entrepreneur to “make it all work” for the sake of continued employment and
venture sustainability. Such challenges partially embody the heavy responsibility of
leadership.
A roadmap of sorts is o!ered with the hero journey, replete with its paradoxical ?uidity
and seemingly intangible map. Eric Ries suggests that “...startups are designed to confront
situations of extreme uncertainty” and in the HJS, we ?nd a useful map or “tool” to address
these challenges.
4
It is the hero’s duty to carve a path of their own, with their lived storylines
best understood in retrospect.
5
Perhaps best articulated by Morong, “Heroes and
entrepreneurs are called to and take part in the greatest and most universal adventure that life
has to o!er: the simultaneous journey of self-discovery, spiritual growth, and the personal
creativity they make possible.”
6
Thus, heroes do not pursue pro?ts and pro?ts alone, for theirs
50 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
The terms “Hero Journey” and “monomyth” are considered interchangeable. However, this article will use the
term “Hero Journey Structure” or HJS exclusively. Note that “Monomyth” is a term that Campbell borrowed from
James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake.” Campbell’s use of the term refers to a singular myth where “A hero ventures
forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered
and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow
boons on his fellow man.” Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, The Power Of Myth (New York: Doubleday, 1988) 23.
Campbell further clari?es, adding “The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a
magni?cation of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation--initiation--return:which might be
named the nuclear unit of the monomyth.” Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces (Novato, CA: New
World Library, 2008), 23.
4
Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation To Create Radically Successful
Businesses (New York: Crown Business, 2011), 28.
5
Note that early stages of the adventure may appear late in a storyline and is explored below through Hamlet.
6
Cyril Morong, “Mythology, Joseph Campbell, and the Socioeconomic Con?ict,” Journal of Socio-Economics 23, no.
4 (1995): 370.
is an inherent act of service though personal heroism.
7
It has been the author’s experience that
in the act of service, one can become necessary. Through the act of entrepreneurial service,
jobs and culture are created, cash ?ows, needs are ful?lled, impact is realized and economies
are stimulated.
WHAT ARE HEROES?
For purposes of this article, a hero is de?ned as one who is willing to sacri?ce their own
desires or interests in service of another or others: Indeed, “They believe a better world is
possible and are willing to surmount incredible odds to achieve it.”
8
Hero’s may serve a
meaning or passion, a desire, an audience, a customer base or donor. Critically, the key is in
serving something larger than themselves in the context of their humanity. Again Morong’s
work provides guidance: “The entrepreneur, however, is seen as a hero, not a saint. The
adventure involves both creation and destruction. Negative aspects of the entrepreneurship
such as business failure and job destruction are just as real as the positive aspects.”
9
There are types of heroes (?re?ghters, for example) who purposefully and intentionally
set out to adventure in heroic action. Other heroes suddenly ?nd themselves unwittingly in a
heroic act—like the stranger who pushes a child out of the way of the moving car, only to
subject their own body to a speedy blow. Sometimes, heroes do not know that they play such a
role and may never stop to even think about their actions. A parallel can be found in
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in the character of Malvolio as he says, “Some are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” (2.5.145–46)
Almost collectively—given the seemingly universal appearance of myth and story—we
recognize heroism. Further, we appear so fascinated and attracted to heroic stories that we
consume them regularly through ?lm and novels: heroes overcoming obstacles and achieving
self-e#cacy, becoming initiated through hardship and returning to serve another or others. We
have lived with, and been fascinated by stories of heroes (both large and small) in every culture
of the world, perhaps forever.
10
51 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
7
The act of service in an arts entrepreneurship context may typically be envisioned as working with or founding a
non-pro?t or social entrepreneurship endeavor. However, there are many types of service acts and—ultimately—
service becomes a matter of perspective. An actress may view her paid performance as an act of service to her
audience or a painter can create a painting with a donor in mind.
8
Kathyrn Janda and Marina Topouzi, “Closing the Loop: Using Hero Stories and Learning Stories to Remake
Energy Policy.” Proceedings of the 2013 ECEEE Summer Study on Energy E"ciency in Buildings, (2013): 231. Accessed
February 2, 2014.http://proceedings.eceee.org/visabstrakt.php?event=3&doc=1-406-13.
9
Morong, The Creative-Destroyers.
10
Rank suggests that “The prominent civilized nations--the Babylonians and Egyptians, the Hebrews and Hindus,
the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, as well as the Teutons and others--all began at an early stage to glorify
their national heroes...” See Otto Rank, The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959), 3.
Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychoanalyst, theorized a “collective unconscious” that
may explain this fascination:
“The collective unconscious - so far as we can say anything about it at all--
appears to consist of mythological motifs or primordial images, for which reason
the myths of all nations are its real exponents. In fact, the whole of mythology
could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious.”
11
For Jung, the collective unconscious unites all persons.
“The psychologist who has best dealt with these, best described and interpreted
them, is Carl G. Jung, who terms them ‘archetypes of the collective
unconscious,’ as pertaining to those structures of the psyche that are not the
products of merely individual experience but are common to all mankind. In
this view, the basal depth or layer of the psyche is an expression of the instinct
system of our species, grounded in the human body, its nervous system and
wonderful brain.”
12
Hayman clari?es, stating that “He (Jung) de?nes archetypal images as those with an archaic or
primordial character, corresponding to familiar mythological motifs.”
13
EVOLVING STRUCTURES
The hero journey structure (as a storytelling or other literary technique) is akin to other
techniques used in arts practice—it can vary and adapt. Stanislavski Technique, well known in
theatrical training is an apt example.
14
Variants include Uta Hagen’s technique, Meisner
52 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
11
Carl Jung, The Structure And Dynamics of the Psyche (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969).
12
Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By (New York: Viking Press, 1972), 210. Note that the concept of a collective
unconscious is controversial, even in circles friendly to Campbell’s ideas. Rank writes “The problem of ‘elemental
ideas’ (and their continuing in?uence in modern life) is one that concerned Jung and his disciples; it has led to
their famous—if controversial—theories of the ‘archetype’ and the ‘collective unconscious’.” Rank, The Myth of
the Birth of the Hero, 8n. See also Richard Noll, The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement, (New
York:Touchstone, 1997).
13
Ronald Hayman, A Life of Jung (New York, W.W. Norton, 1999), 122-23. A working knowledge of archetypes can be
found in Carol Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help us Find Ourselves and Transform our
World. (New York: Harper Collins), 1991. See also: Margaret Hartwell and Joshua C. Chen, Archetypes in Branding: A
Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists. (Cincinnati, OH: HOW Books, 2012) and Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams,
Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature (New York: Penguin, 1990). These
archetypes can be thought of as the “cast of characters” one ?nds in tales. Some examples include the Orphan,
Caregiver, Warrior, Wizard and Hero. Each of us has the potential to play or manifest archetypes within our own
lives, as well as in our art and business. We may also ?nd ourselves enacting archetypes in the lives of others, as
many play the role of mentor or caregiver, if only to those within our own families. Robbins abstracts the
importance of archetypes in a larger sense: “According to archetypal psychologists, we are each on di!erent heroic
quests throughout our lives as we mature and transform ourselves.”
Ruth Ann Robbins, “Harry Potter, Ruby
Slippers and Merlin: Telling the Client's Story Using the Characters and Paradigm of the Archetypal Hero's
Journey,” Seattle University Law Review 29, no. 4 (2006): 779.
14
See Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares (New York: Routledge, 2013).
technique, Stella Adler’s technique and Earle Gister’s method among others.
15
The same holds
true for Campbell’s HJS. Christopher Vogler’s popular book is used by many screenplay
writers to understand mythic structure in storytelling and includes a variant of Campbell’s
original HJS.
16
Chart 1 compares Campbell’s original HJS with Vogler’s adaptation and is used
to illustrate how the HJS (and its adaptations) are paralleled by arts entrepreneurs.
17
The
reader is reminded that the Stanislavski variations possess the same underlying principles of
the original technique.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces,
(Campbell’s original) HJS)
Vogler’s HJS variation: Arts Entrepreneurship Parallel:
World of Common Day Ordinary World Pre-vision
Call to Adventure Call to Adventure Vision
Refusal of the Call Refusal of the Call Saying “No”
Supernatural Aid Meeting the Mentor Mentorship
Crossing the ?rst Threshold
Belly of the Whale
Crossing the ?rst Threshold Decision to Action
Road of Trials
Tests, Allies & Enemies Challenges, Collaborators,
Competition
Approach to the Inmost Cave Prepping to Launch
Meeting with the Goddess
Woman as Temptress
Atonement with the Father
Apotheosis
Ordeal Startup to Launch
The Ultimate Boon Reward Customers
Refusal of the Return
The Magic Flight
Rescue from Within
Crossing the Threshold
The Road Back Product Adjustment
Return Resurrection Re-branding
Master of the Two Worlds
Freedom to Live
Return with the Elixir Need Ful?llment as an Elixir
53 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
15
See Uta Hagen, Respect for Acting (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, 1973); Sanford Meisner and Denis Longwell,
On Acting (New York: Random House, 1987); Stella Adler, The Art of Acting (New York: Applause Theatre and
Cinema Books, 2000) and Joseph Alberti, Acting: The Gister Method (Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson Education,
2012).
16
Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (Studio City, CA.: Michael Wiese
Productions, 1998).
17
Though this article uses the term “arts entrepreneurs” speci?cally, the principles discussed throughout the work
apply to many of those who “entrepreneur.”
Chart 1
18
THE PARALLEL
There are many parallels between the HJS, Vogler’s variation and how the HJS
manifests and an entrepreneur’s typical experience in an arts context. Chart 1 compares the
three. To further illustrate and better articulate the parallel, I provide a side-by-side narrative
comparison using both an interview with an arts entrepreneur and selections from Hamlet. By
using this more direct narrative presentation, the reader can better parse the individual aspects
of the HJS and how they manifest entrepreneurially. The narrative is structured as follows:
i. describes Vogler’s structure inspired by Campbell
ii. illustrates the arts entrepreneurship parallel
iii. provides the comparable storyline structure from the play Hamlet
iv. o!ers a brief “case study” of former student at The International Theatre Academy Norway
19
Ordinary World / Pre-Vision
i. Ordinary World
The Ordinary World for the hero is that world existing prior to the Call to Adventure. It
is the world the prospective hero knows as their “everyday,” where they encounter the same
stimuli and even the same people at the same time of day. This is their “ordinary world”— but
then something extra-ordinary occurs. A void is created or a need becomes apparent and can
appear in any number of forms. It might be a need within one’s community or could be a
personal void the hero encounters, such as emotional, ?nancial or meaning based. The duty of
the hero then becomes simply, to ?ll the void.
ii. Pre-Vision
For the arts entrepreneur, the ordinary world represents Pre-Vision, which is the stage
prior to having a creative vision for an entrepreneurial endeavor. The arts entrepreneur can
identify this stage in retrospect, as they look back upon their adventures and identify their
respective timelines.
iii. Hamlet’s Ordinary World
54 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
18
Vogler o!ers an interesting comparative chart that is similarly structured to Campbell’s. Vogler, The Writer’s
Journey, 6.
19
The interviewee is an arts entrepreneur/independent artist. By acting in bold and decisive manners, he has
realized opportunity as an independent artist and published author of theatrical plays.
The ordinary world for Hamlet is two-fold: Wittenberg, where he has been studying
with dear friend Horatio and the castle Elsinore in Denmark. Hamlet returned to Elsinore (as
Prince) due to the death of his father, followed by the marriage of his mother to his uncle—
and now king—Claudius.
iv. Case Study Ordinary World
MR: My ordinary world was just being a big ?sh in a small pond and not really taking any risks
creatively or artistically. It was very easy. I went to a small college in Nebraska, where I was born and
raised. And it was very easy for talent to just be enough and not really working too terribly hard and
just letting laud and praise be enough for telling you, “OK, you’ve done enough, you’ve succeeded,” and
not really taking any risks, so to speak, or expanding my paradigms at all. And so it was just very
much the same type of thing where, you know, if there’s auditions for another show in that small
community then if want to do it, I do it, I get the part I want and I do it, and then that’s enough for me.
I guess the ordinary world was never really accepting any challenges that the outside world came to
o#er me at all. Not taking any risks where I’d always wanted to be a published playwright, but hadn’t
really written much in college or after that, really.
Call to Adventure / Vision
i. Call to Adventure
At some point, the prospective hero is presented with a “call to adventure.” This call is
delivered by an archetype called a “herald.” The herald’s function, mythically speaking, is to
bring an underlying potential into the conscious awareness of the prospective hero. It is as
though the herald’s arrival says, “Wake up! It’s time to go into the unknown.”
ii. Vision
Creative vision or opportunity serves as the prospective artist entrepreneur's call to
adventure. It may come as a result of much e!ort on the entrepreneur’s part in an attempt to
?nd inspiration, or could arrive quickly and unexpectedly. Additionally, it may come in the
form of “vision” or opportunity recognition. Vision might be explained as the moment that the
arts entrepreneur ?nds inspiration, a calling, a picture in their mind’s eye of what could be; it
brings into focus a picture or sense of potential for the artist entrepreneur, should they say,
“Yes.”
iii. Hamlet’s Call to Adventure
King Hamlet (Hamlet’s recently deceased father) appears to Hamlet and friend Horatio
as a ghost who tells of how he was recently murdered by his brother Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle),
thus usurping the throne from Hamlet. This creates the void in the play. The call to adventure
comes with the ghost of King Hamlet saying:
GHOST: If thou didst ever thy dear father love--
HAMLET: O God!
55 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
GHOST: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (1.5.23-25)
20
iv. Case Study Call to Adventure
MR: My call to adventure came when I was looking at graduation from college in the face. I had
no idea what I wanted to do and I didn’t know where I wanted to go. And my theatre director in college
told me, “Well, you’re talented enough to pursue this more if you really wanted to work hard.” So I
started researching places that I could audition for, for some further education.. I clicked on a Facebook
ad, liked what I saw, I submitted an audition over YouTube. A little while later, the director called me to
interview me a little bit and then he congratulated me on getting accepted into his program. And then, I
guess maybe a month later, he called me back and said, “My mother’s school is in Oslo, Norway and I
want to present you with a challenge and the opportunity of going out there in a couple of months and
spending at least a semester studying abroad there and exploring what that experience would be like.”.
I had never lived outside of the country before, only traveled internationally twice. And I certainly was
not initially planning on graduation that I would move to another country for an extended period of
time. That was de?nitely my call for adventure
Refusal of the Call / Saying, “No”
i. Refusal of the Call
The prospective hero typically says “No” to the adventure; ?rst refusing and
rationalizing reasons for non-commitment, which might include not being interested in the
opportunity presented or vision experienced. Any number of reasons can arise in the mind of
prospective, such as not being ?t for the opportunity or inexperience, yet in the end they
accept.
ii. Saying, “No”
Whether through overcoming fears, training culture or personal doubts, in the end, the
developing artist entrepreneur decides to accept the call to adventure. However, should the
artist entrepreneur continue to refuse such a call, the door of opportunity closes and its
potential is left unrealized by the would-be hero, as opportunity may not return. Campbell
o!ers this encouragement to accept such adventure, saying, “I say, follow your bliss and don't
be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.”
21
iii. Hamlet’s Refusal of the Call
Hamlet refuses the call to adventure throughout most of the tale. This is exempli?ed by
Hamlet not killing Claudius. He has opportunity, but does not want to send Claudius’ soul to
heaven by murdering Claudius as he is absolving his sins (in the excerpt below). This is a clear
example of opportunity denial and a distraction from the goal of avenging his father’s death.
Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
56 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
20
Shakespeare, trans. 1982, 1.5.23-25.
21
Joseph Campbell & Bill Moyers, The Power Of Myth. (New York: Doubleday, 1988), 120.
And now I'll do't.
And so he goes to heaven; (3.3.73–75)
And later, when approaching his inmost cave—what Campbell describes as being in the “belly
of the whale”—the crown prince asks of himself whether to live or die: “To be or not to
be?” (3.4.89) The only reason for living, he concludes, is the fear of something after death.
Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than to ?y to others that we know not of? (3.1.76–82)
In the bedroom scene, his initial e!orts into action are blundered as he kills Polonius
by accident and thus contributes towards Ophelia going mad and, thus, enraging her brother
Laertes. Rather than on a continued path towards killing Claudius, Hamlet aggressively
engages with his mother (Queen Gertrude) as she laments to Hamlet, “Thou hast turn’st my
eyes into my very soul…” (3.4.89) This leads to the reappearance of the Ghost of King Hamlet,
telling Hamlet:
Do not forget. This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. (3.4.112)
In aggregate, we do not have a clear picture of a hero saying, “Yes,” until the end of the tragedy.
But in the end, he accepts the call.
iv. Case Study Refusal of the Call
MR: I was seriously involved with the woman that eventually became my wife and my parents
also had always been very close to me and I never lived very far away from them. And I was so sure
that they were going to tell me, “No, don’t do this. This is too much for you to take on,” that I just
suppressed it for a little bit. I didn’t say anything to anybody. And just had kind of made up my mind, I
wasn’t going to do it because there’s no way I was going to be good enough because I’m from a small
town in the Midwest and culture was telling me that I’m not talented enough and I knew for sure that
my loved ones were going to tell me that I was ludicrous for thinking about doing this at all. I de?nitely
refused it [the call] for a couple of weeks.
Meeting with the Mentor / Mentorship
57 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
i. Meeting with the Mentor
A mentor ?gure, as typically presented in folktales and movies, is often depicted as a
wise old man with a beard, such as in Star Wars with Ben Kenobi, Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
and Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But a mentor can come in any
form, sex, personage or ?gure. Mentors represent ?gures who know more than the hero and
can advance the cause of ?lling their gap or void by equipping them with knowledge, skills
and special tools through a mentoring relationship. In Star Wars, Obi Won gifts Luke
Skywalker a light saber, which he uses as he develops into a Jedi and enacts great good,
creating signi?cant impact for the rebel forces he comes to serve. In Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows, Harry is gifted an invisible cloak, which was once his father’s; it was gifted by
his old bearded headmaster Dumbledore. Robert Bly opines that “In ordinary life, a mentor
can guide a young man through various disciplines, helping to bring him out of boyhood into
manhood.”
22
Thus, the function of this archetype is to better equip our hero, to prepare them
for the rigors and challenges that lay in store in the yet unknown chapters of their adventure.
ii. Mentorship
No arts entrepreneur creates his or her entity alone.
23
Mentors can be found all around
us if we are humble enough to ask and receive their guidance and wisdom. Mentors provide
information and tools that enable the arts entrepreneur to better their chances of ?lling the
void they perceive at the beginning of their process.
iii. Hamlet’s Mentor
The Ghost of King Hamlet serves as Hamlet’s mentor ?gure. According to Campbell,
the mentor gives the hero a psychological center.
24
King Hamlet’s ghost does so by telling
Hamlet what has transpired and encouraging him to take action to kill Claudius. In multiple
scenes, we see Hamlet’s father’s ghost guiding the prince, insisting that Hamlet leave his
mother alone and kill Claudius. Evidence is seen of this mentor relationship when Hamlet
responds to his father, telling him to listen, with Hamlet responding, “Speak, I am bound to
hear.” (1.5.6) Moreover, one can assume an o!stage mentorship between the previously living
King Hamlet and his crown prince son, Hamlet.
iv. Case Study Meeting with the Mentor
MR: I did encounter some mentor ?gures. The one person I did tell was my theatre director in
college and he kept pushing me to do it. He said, “... you’re not going to grow until you are in situation
where you are with people that are better than you. And you are not going to grow and hone your craft
until you get teachers that are better than me and teachers that are more than me.” And between that
and having a very inspirational conversation with [the school’s director] over the phone about his
58 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
22
Robert Bly, Iron John: A Book about Men. (New York: Random House, 1992), 233. It should be noted that Bly’s book,
“Iron John” is a “Book About Men.” Heroes can, of course, be female.
23
Many entrepreneurs need help in their process of realizing visions of scope, which may come as a result of
working with collaborators through an incubator, with venture capitalists, a board of directors, someone who has
more experience than the entrepreneur (a mentor) or through some other means of advising, such as a board of
advisors.
24
Campbell and Moyers, The Power Of Myth, 146.
program, that convinced me as far as the mentorship side of the hero journey. That was where I
received that portion of getting—I don’t know—getting pushed o# of the fence, so to speak.
Crossing the First Threshold / Decision to Action
i. Crossing the First Threshold
To cross a threshold is to pass from one region to another; it is a changing of
environments. In the United States, a groom sometimes carries a bride over the threshold of
their home following marriage. A modern interpretation can suggest exiting one world
(perhaps living apart as individuals) and entering a new world (living together as a married
couple). In the hero journey, this denotes the moment the hero crosses from decision to action
—from the ordinary world to a new one. One also commonly ?nds threshold guardians, i.e.,
those ?gures that prevent a hero from experiencing (and/or succeeding at) the adventure.
ii. Decision to Action
When an arts entrepreneur decides and says “Yes” to the adventure before them,
(making a vision into a reality) equivocation is eliminated. Taking the ?rst steps towards
?nding collaborators, fundraising, creating an venture plan or amassing resources is when one
enters the realm of adventure (has said “Yes”). Once crossing from their ordinary world—that
world prior to vision—an arts entrepreneur enters the new, special world of the market, which
is much like a forest, a common symbol and setting in adventure literature. Forests (like
markets) can be dangerous and even at times ferocious, but can also hold treasures.
iii. Hamlet’s Threshold Crossing
Hamlet’s ?rst moment of considerable action towards avenging his father’s death comes
when he accidentally kills Polonius, thinking it to be King Claudius. Instantly, Hamlet crosses
the threshold from merely musing about the “call” into acting on the “call.” This act is one of
the two primary reasons for Ophelia crossing her own threshold towards madness: ?rst, her
love of Hamlet is forbidden, as she is not a royal, and second is the death of her father at the
hands of her love. Killing Polonius thrusts Hamlet into a special world, which in the play
denotes a story turn: the pre-killing of Polonius and post killing. In this new, special world,
Hamlet’s life is actively sought by the shadow ?gure King Claudius, as he seeks to secure his
usurpation of Hamlet’s place upon the throne.
iv. Case Study Crossing the First Threshold
MR: Well de?nitely moving to Norway. I think crossing of the threshold is moving to a di#erent
country. Diving into a di#erent culture where everyone is speaking a di#erent language and learning a
new governmental style and new educational style. And going into the conservatory lifestyle. I had
been a product of public education and then gone to a private liberal arts college in the middle of
Nebraska. That’s completely di#erent than going into a conservatory setting where you are completely
focused on honing your craft in one particular area, as well as doing that in the structure and context of
a completely di#erent country.
59 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
Tests, Allies and Enemies / Challenges, Collaborators and Competition
i. Tests, Allies and Enemies
The hero encounters trials and tribulations in their adventures and comes to know allies and
enemies. Much like Newton’s third law, the hero experiences trials and tribulations because of
the “pushback” he/she receives as a result of having entered and engaged the special world of
adventure.
ii. Challenges, Collaborators and Competition
Just as heroes encounter fellow travelers on their adventures, arts entrepreneurs gather
contacts through networking. Entrepreneurially speaking, “allies” can be viewed as our
network and “enemies” as competition. It is important to note that “enemies” need not be
thought of in a negative context. Competition can serve as a motivating factor, one that can
encourage innovation and betterment for consumers and audiences.
iii. Hamlet’s Tests, Allies and Enemies
Prince Hamlet does not have many allies. He ?nds his best ally and friend in Horatio.
Describing enemies for Hamlet, one ?nds many, chief of which is his uncle, King Claudius.
The usurping king embroils numerous others to conspire with him, including Polonius,
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and later Laertes. Hamlet’s tests involve evading certain death in
England and persevering, despite the King’s e!orts to kill him. He wrestles with the passing of
his love, Ophelia, and his mind struggles with whether to live or die with, “To be or not to
be.”
25
iv. Case Study Tests, Allies and Enemies
JH: Did you encounter any tests, allies or enemies in the process?
MR: Yes. So ironically at TITAN, The International Academy of Norway, when I ?rst got there,
there was an educator who I thought I was going to hate. I wasn’t really connecting with his passion at
all. And I wasn’t internalizing the challenges that he was throwing my way as a challenge. I was
internalizing them as, “He’s picking on me because I’m the American student.” And throughout a little
bit of arguing, a little bit of public debate in class that probably wasn’t very respectful, and throughout
the experience of actually completing the challenging work that he was presenting me with, I realized
that not only was he challenging me to grow farther than I thought I could grow, he also became the
biggest mentor to me in my experience there. So I think there’s something to be said about realizing….
You have to cognitively realize beforehand that there is going to be adversity that hits you. Some of it
will be self-in?icted, some of it will be from outside. But if you’re not experiencing the adversity, then
you’re not being challenged and you’re not going to grow.
JH: Did you meet any allies?
60 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
25
(Shakespeare, trans. 1982, 3.1.56)
MR: De?nitely met allies. It was wonderful t to build friendships with people at the school itself.
If you’re not familiar with the conservatory lifestyle, especially in the performing arts realm, you’re in
school eight or nine hours a day with these people and then you’re in rehearsals afterwards with these
people. And so you can’t help but build relationships with people there in order to thrive and for your
work to be successful.
JH: What about enemies?
MR: Oh, man. I de?nitely made some enemies there. I’m a very passionate individual and I’m
very quick to share my opinion. So, I alienated a few students...
Approach to the Inmost Cave / Prepping to Launch
i. Approach to the Inmost Cave
At this stage, heroes are further challenged and are ?guratively “in the wilderness.”
This is the stage in the HJS where the hero approaches the heart of the new world. It can be a
stressful time, as one may be wrestling with their fears and doubts prior to market launch.
Campbell o!ers a structural heading he calls, “The belly of the whale.” This stage is,
symbolically or literally, a time of darkness where there appears to be no light and the hero is
being devoured by their environment. But ultimately, those heroes that survive this stage re-
emerge as something di!erent—changed by the experience, transformed and more able to ?ll
the void.
ii. Prepping to Launch
From an entrepreneur’s perspective, this moment represents the preparation prior to a
venture’s launch, where there is typically a ?urry of activity, planning and e!orts exerted. It is
time to prepare for the unknown and muse about what lies in store with the launch of one’s
vision. This can be a highly stressful period as the entrepreneur comes face to face with the
realities of the risks they assume in addition to their own fears.
iii. Hamlet’s Approach to the Inmost Cave
The “mousetrap” or “player” scene, found in act III, scene II, represents the stage of the
“Approach to the Inmost Cave.” Hamlet seeks to trap the mouse (his uncle) by gaining proof of
his guilt through the re-enacting of the murder scene, as described by the Ghost. We see this
exempli?ed as Hamlet says:
“I'll have grounds.
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King. (2.2.599–601)”
iv. Case Study Approach to the Inmost Cave
MR: After I had written something that I was really proud of, and I thought maybe it was going
to be good enough to be published, my wife had to talk me out of throwing it away before I showed it to
anybody.. So, a lot of the anxiety that came before stepping up to the challenge to slay my dragon was
61 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
just from the standpoint of, “Do I really have the fortitude and the guts to have a thick skin if people tell
me my work sucks? And do I have the guts to even send my work out there to have people look at it?”
Because up until this point I had never really had too many people tell me that what I was doing
wasn’t good enough or it wasn’t good at all. And it’s a very harsh reality when you’ve created this baby
and you need, in order for it to get to the next step, you need somebody else to say, “I think it’s OK.”
That’s a very vulnerable position to be in at the very ?rst time.
Ordeal / Startup to Launch
i. Ordeal / Startup to Launch
As the hero grows near to achieving their goal, yet another challenge presents itself,
which is far greater in scale than all of the previous challenges. This requires that the hero
utilize their full range of acquired abilities, skills and strengths as they will be pushed to the
limits of their talents. It is at this moment, that they face their “dragon.” It is here that the hero
is either overcome or they overcome. Engaging the “dragon,” one comes to face their fears and
doubts. In doing so, they face an extrinsic manifestation of an intrinsic realization.
ii. Startup to Launch
For the arts entrepreneur, the entire process from startup to launch is “The Ordeal.”
The arts entrepreneur is likely ?ghting their “dragon” as they encounter numerous obstacles
throughout the process. Funding sources can dry up, collaborations can fall apart , etc., that
dampen the entrepreneur’s e!orts and threaten the stability and viability of the venture.
By killing one’s “dragon,” the arts entrepreneur acts through their fears and doubts.
Doing so, they can act out of their own desires and interests, rather than what they think they
“should do” based on social morals, which enables an artist’s potential to ?nd their unique
creative voice. In doing so, they come to know their audience, company and customers. When
the “dragon” is slain, the hero has an opportunity to claim the elixir (the treasure that will ?ll
whatever void is expressed in the story).
For the arts entrepreneur, the elixir might represent a community need addressed or
met. It could mean pro?tability and the securing of jobs created for those assisting in the
adventure. Artistically speaking, it could represent a graphic artist contracting with a large
client or a visual artist having a successful gallery opening. For a self-publishing author, it
could represent a milestone in sales.
62 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
In hero literature, the elixir can mean or symbolize many things, but ultimately, the
treasure of one’s hero journey is a deepening self-awareness.
26
The demands that arts
entrepreneurship places upon the entrepreneurs themselves are so great that they typically
undergoes a transformation in the process from vision to pro?tability and sustainability—they
change as their concept and business emerges.
iii. Hamlet’s Ordeal
Laertes challenges Hamlet to a fencing contest. Prior to Hamlet’s arrival, King Claudius
conspires with Laertes to apply poison to the weapons. (the goal is for Laertes to wound
Hamlet during the match). For good measure, Claudius poisons the wine with which he
intends to toast Hamlet—Hamlet presumably drinking from the cup with the toast. Laertes
cuts Hamlet with the poisoned blade and Hamlet returns the favor. Shortly after having
accidentally drunk from the cup that Claudius has tainted, the queen says, “The drink, the
drink! I am poison’d.” (5.2.316) Hamlet is enraged, calling for the doors to be shut. Laertes,
realizing that he and Hamlet are e!ectively dead, laments and confesses to poisoning Hamlet
and tells of Claudius’ treachery. With the Queen mother, Laertes and Hamlet simultaneously
dying, Hamlet takes his sword and ends King Claudius’ life. He stabs him and forces Claudius
to drink from the poisoned goblet.
iv. Case Study Ordeal
MR: I guess my dragon was going to be just my own personal anxiety of feeling like I wasn’t
going to be able to get past the fact if somebody told me “No.” Because I believe that the hero journey is
something that does manifest itself in people’s lives, I knew that the adversity was going to come. And so
the big dragon, so to speak, for me inwardly was this dragon of, “Am I going to have the balls to be able
to pick myself back up after the adversity knocks me on my ass?” And then I guess the proverbial
dragon that was contributing to me outwardly was just the whole industry entirely of the publishing
world. It’s gruesome, it’s not working ever as fast as you want it to, and “No” is going to be an answer
you hear a lot, and yadda, yadda, yadda, it’s just a whole big ordeal.
Reward / Customers
i. Reward / Customers
The hero journey is a process of individuation; thereby, the elixir often comes to represent self-
knowledge, which is the larger point of adventuring in the ?rst place. The hero goes through a
process of trials and tribulations that, in turn, better prepare and enable the hero to ?ll the
void articulated at the beginning of their process.
63 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
26
In classroom context, I de?ne “self-awareness” as ?nding a sense of one’s personal meaning and passion
through an active awareness of their environment. My students are encouraged to re?ect upon their own life
stories and to identify ?gures (possible archetypes) serving as mentors, allies and shadow elements. Furter, they
are asked to identify key moments that serve as markers or transitions in their lives, noting who was there, and to
become aware of those motivating urges that stimulate them to want to take action—including when they are
enacting an archetype. This awareness is what can be brought back to their community to ?ll a need, as found in
the Hamlet example.
ii. Customers
Having customers is critical for any for-pro?t venture’s sustainability. But more lasting,
the hero entrepreneur, due to the adventure itself, gains a deeper understanding of
themselves. The artist entrepreneur’s reward for overcoming many trials and tribulations are
many and include the realization of their creative vision or personal meaning. Perhaps it
comes in the form of pro?ts or the impact of their non- or for-pro?t social entrepreneurship
endeavor. For some, the reward may be the realization of a creative lifestyle or any number of
other “wins” as the arts entrepreneur seeks to ?ll the void.
iii. Hamlet’s Reward
Hamlet discovers his reward prior to the Ordeal. The elixir comes in the claiming of his
title, where he does, as Polonius advises to Laertes in act one, scene three:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.” (1.3.78)
This happens in the Ophelia burial scene, where Hamlet says to Laertes, “This is I, Hamlet the
Dane.” (5.1.250–51) For the ?rst time in the play, we see the thoughtful prince claim his rightful
position and title. He has decisively claimed the elixir of self-knowledge.
iv. Case Study Reward
MR: My work has been published, which is very exciting. And it has unleashed me to write even
more because the ?rst thing I had published, I didn’t write anything after that. I don’t know if that was
the right decision to make or not, but that was the choice I made— I was going to wait and see what
happened with that to see if this was worth pursuing or not. And so after you get that ?rst thing
published, it was kind of unlocking the door to me just blasting through it and writing a whole lot more.
And it’s become something that I ?nd therapy in, it’s become something that I thoroughly enjoy and this
is what I spend every free moment that I have doing when I can.
The Road Back / Product Adjustment
i. The Road Back / Product Adjustment
A return is vital in the hero process, as the adventure’s purpose is to ?ll the void or gap
experienced at the beginning of the story. The process is one of large-scale change: the vision
changes, the entity grows and changes, peoples’ roles change and the demands of the market
are in constant ?ux.
There is always the possibility of continuing to seek adventures, to keep going forward
into new opportunities, to not return and ?ll the void. However, it is the duty of the hero to
return with the elixir and provide it for the ?lling of the void that was found in the beginning,
for without ?lling the void, there is no heroic act.
64 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
ii. Product Adjustment
The road back for the artist entrepreneur involves taking feedback and their ?ndings
from market engagement and going back to the lab or the drawing board. As a result of having
gone into and through the special world of the market, the artist entrepreneur has the
opportunity to develop and to bring the relevant ?ndings back for readjustment, re-market
entry and the ?lling the void. Thus, re-entry is a market re-entry with a re?ned concept,
business model, product or service.
iii. Hamlet’s Road Back
During the play, Hamlet leaves for a time, when he is shuttled o! to England for
assassination by his uncle Claudius. However, Hamlet turns circumstances upon Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern, who are escorting him on the voyage, which leads to their mutual demise.
Hamlet’s Road Back is his returning to his Denmark. As the hero journey structure is a ?exible
one, the Road Back occurs before the Reward in this example.
iv. Case Study The Road Back
MR: Totally. I was told, “No” twice before I was told, “Yes.” So that was a whole other process of
picking myself back up and trying to ?gure out, “OK do I really want to send this to someone else now?”
And then also there’s this little bit of, at least in my life, you get this thing that you’ve always said
you’ve wanted to do. And from the time I was 16, I’m 26 now, I said, “I would love to be a published
playwright.” I didn’t know when it was going to happen, I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do it,
but I knew I wanted to be a published playwright. Well, at the age of 25, all of a sudden I achieved that
—way earlier than I thought I was going to. And you get that initial excitement of, “It’s happened,”
and then you get your proof in the mail and you see it and then you get your ?rst shipment of the
scripts in and everything and then you realize people are going to do your show and you get excited
about that.
And then after all that dust settles, you realize, “I’m still the same person.” and this really
wasn’t as much of a transformational experience as, say, getting married. You know, it wasn’t like this
big spiritual epiphany came to me, it wasn’t like all of the sudden my doorbell was ringing with
millions of people needing something from me because I ventured into this whole big new world. It was,
“I’m a published playwright. I’ve got this accomplishment now.” But it takes even more gumption and
even more creative e#ort and even more work to say, “That one creative endeavor isn’t enough, I want
to try to stretch myself and do more.”
Resurrection / Rebranding
i. Resurrection / Rebranding
For the hero, the stage of resurrection is one of being re-born. Having sometimes
sacri?ced so greatly, they experience a metaphorical or literal death, which transforms the
hero. Examples can be found in mythic traditions around the world.
ii. Rebranding
65 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
To rebrand is to re-de?ne the image of one’s company and how the public may come to
view it. Knowing that markets provide feedback and will express its demand, arts
entrepreneurs have an opportunity to re?ect on their creation. At this stage of the adventure,
the arts entrepreneur can further alter what their creation in service of those impacted by the
entrepreneurial vision. However, if one is serving an audience, it likely serves the interests of
the arts entrepreneur to alter their vision for the market, if sustainability is also a goal.
iii. Hamlet’s Resurrection
Hamlet was usurped for the throne. By acting decisively and killing Claudius, Hamlet
restores his birthright to the throne of Denmark. Hamlet’s voice continues on, we presume,
through the actions of Prince Fortinbras of Norway, post play.
iv. Case Study Resurrection
MR: I have become a whole lot more comfortable in my own skin throughout this whole process.
I had never had a problem interacting with people, but this whole resurrection of sorts has become a
whole lot more of an empowering and liberating experience for me to unleash my creative freak ?ag. I
grew up in a very strong evangelical nutshell and I still hold on strong to my faith, but my faith does
not look like the faith that people back home expect me to have. And it was a lot easier to just try to
“people please” and silence myself than it is to say, “This is my freak ?ag, deal with it, and I’m going to
pursue it.” And so when you get that validation of, “OK, what I’m doing is worthwhile and what I’m
creating is powerful and what I’m creating is something that other people see value in,” that provided
me with a little bit of validation to say, “You know what? I’ve got the thick enough skin to hear no and
I’ve got the thick enough skin that I can show my passion in a much bolder way now,” and not worry
about people internalizing it the wrong way.
Parallel: Return with the Elixir / Need Ful?llment
i. Parallel: Return with the Elixir / Need Ful?llment
At this stage, the hero enters the ?nal stage of this particular adventure before another
begins. Campbell describes the juncture thusly:
“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has
been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience
available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes o! on a
series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or
to discover some life-giving elixir. It's usually a cycle, a coming and a
returning.”
27
The goal of a hero adventure is to ?ll voids and to do so with the elixir obtained. To return with
the elixir is to serve one’s community needs.
ii. Need Ful?llment
66 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
27
Campbell and Moyers, The Power Of Myth, 123.
From an artistic entrepreneur’s perspective, this might represent the needs of a
community served by a 501(c)3, for-pro?t or social entrepreneurship endeavor. It can represent
the completion of a novel by a writer who serves an eager and loyal audience. Further, it may
be found in the form of a graphic artist who completes a remarkable and e!ective logo for use
by an emerging company or through the addressing of a community’s needs through a
particularly e!ective dance or theatre performance. It may be represented by any number of
expressions that serve to ?ll a void, with the “void” representing something larger than the
hero alone.
iii. Hamlet’s Return with the Elixir
With the avenging of his father’s death, Hamlet rights the wrongs of usurpation, and for
a brief moment before his death, Hamlet is in the position of King. Some of his dying words as
king are:
“But I do prophesy th’election lights
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.” (5.2.360–61)
Throughout the play, there is a subplot involving young Fortinbras, crown prince of Norway. In
the play, much of Norway’s lands were lost (o!stage) to King Hamlet in a ?ght between the
seniors. Prince Fortinbras, like Hamlet, seeks to right a perceived injustice, but Fortinbras is
more able than Hamlet. Prince Fortinbras successfully amasses an army of soldiers and ably
navigates them to castle doors of Elsinore by the play’s ?nal scene. This is the ruling ?gure that
perhaps Shakespeare intends to rule Denmark (o!stage and post-play). Indeed, Fortinbras is
the character Shakespeare perhaps envisions to be the antithesis of the rot of Denmark, of
which Hamlet is a part. Fortinbras is all that Hamlet is not: decisive, impulsive and action-
based. With the deaths in the court of Denmark, all that “…is rotten in the state of Denmark”
dies with the court and there is hope for healing Denmark (and Norway) through Fortinbras.
(1.4.90) With this void ?lled and the rot removed from Denmark, the tragedy ends.
iv. Case Study Return with the Elixir
MR: I work a lot with college students in what I do outside my writing. And so literally my
world right now is just writing my creative pursuits and working with college students. And it has
been… something that I’ve been able to share with people is this concept of telling them, you know, The
hero’s journey has been very real in my life; it’s very real in their lives, but it’s seeing it through that
paradigm. It empowers the younger people that I work with to say, “Yes,” as well. And so I guess this is
more of feeling more comfortable sharing my story with other people so they can feel more comfortable
sharing their own story. And so it seems to be more of that elixir I’m sharing is that concept of “Feel
empowered to share anyway.”
THE HERO JOURNEY STRUCTURE SUMMARIZED
67 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
Once a person has a creative vision for an entrepreneurial endeavor, they may struggle
with whether or not to commit to action. If the adventure is accepted and progresses from
decision to action, the entrepreneur enters the realm of the market. The market can be a
volatile place ?lled with tests, trials and tribulations. It can also present allies, enemies and
opportunities. Prior to market launch, there will likely be a ?urry of activity in preparation.
Once launched, the market will inform. It will communicate what it does and does not like and
what is and is not working. The entrepreneur typically takes such ?ndings and returns to
recon?gure and even rebrand. Doing so, the hero entrepreneur creates potential for a more
viable business and comes to serve.
Considering the adventure-like quality of heroic exploits into arts entrepreneurship, we
can look to the time-tested structure of the
hero journey, as articulated by Campbell and
later adapted by Vogler, to enable perspective
and perseverance in the process of being an
arts entrepreneur. When facing great
obstacles, students can view such challenges
as thresholds with their accompanying
guardians. Through such a lens, we can
recognize, celebrate and work with our allies/
network. At the same time, we are mindful of
the competition that threatens to end our
adventures. The entire process of arts
entrepreneurship may be viewed through the
lens of the hero adventure. Morong supports
this point: “Showing how the entrepreneur is
like the universal hero in mythology might
help to show that there is a chance for
spiritual and creative ful?llment and self
d i s c o v e r y i n c a p i t a l i s m t h r o u g h
entrepreneurship.”
28
One may even choose to live AND venture heroically, viewing one’s own
life journey and art as a series adventures.
A Need for Heroes
Adventure stories are a popular literary genre, as it seems we identify with the
struggles, trials and tribulations of the heroes and empathizing with the sacri?ces they accept.
Heroes are admired for their endurance, their will and su!ering as they face fantastic odds and
assume signi?cant risks. We also admire heroes because life has no shortage of struggles to
face, risks to assume and challenges to overcome. Those who serve something more than
themselves become necessary and are recognizable. We have no shortage of such visionaries in
contemporary society such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who impacted our world and how we
68 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
28
Morong, The Creative-Destroyers, 2.
communicate, listen to music and compute. One might say that they served a world-wide
community through their personal adventures.
Every community needs its youth to gain experience in the larger world and return that
value to the community. When an arts entrepreneur selects their audience and creates with
the audience’s interests in mind, the arts entrepreneur is committing an act of service. When
one is serving someone or some group, when one’s focus goes from self to another or others,
that individual has the potential to become necessary to those they serve. Being necessary
often leads to pro?tability, mutual need ful?llment and sustainability of the arts entrepreneur
and their entity.
Knowing such a structure, which is ancient and yet still relevant, and having it as
guidance, one gains perspective and a lens through which to navigate the adventures of arts
entrepreneurship. Such knowledge can lead to an understanding of how to build meaning into
one’s own career, visions and creative entities. The HJS gives the artist—who (at least
stereotypically) has an intuitive understanding of meaning—a structure to maneuver through
the process of realizing meaning and passion in the world. With the service-act of the artist
entrepreneur, economies are stimulated, jobs are created and impact is realized. Meaning is
also realized in the artistic entrepreneur’s own process and life.
Teaching with the Hero Journey
In my own classroom, we begin with the HJS, using the parallel found in this article.
We then explore various archetypes, the “cast of characters” of the hero journey, and their
relationship to stories. As a course assignment, students interview three working arts
entrepreneurs, attempting to determine whether and how the stories of their processes of
entrepreneurship parallel the hero adventure structure. The students then create an analysis
of their three interviews. Their interviews are published on the SMU department blog under
the project heading, “Heroes Among Us.”
I teach six key factors of Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure to inspire
development of heroic artistic entrepreneurs:
1. The HJS is addressed and understood in each stage.
2. A working knowledge of archetypes is developed.
3. Students develop a suitable self-awareness to recognize a heroic journey structure and
archetypes that may manifest in their own adventures.
4. They gain an understanding of service.
5. They bring their individual talents and skills to the market (they share their “elixir”).
6. Students develop a lens and perspective to navigate the obstacles of arts
entrepreneurship.
69 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
How individual educators present these structured areas can be as diverse as hero
adventures are varied in circumstance and scope. A full semester or more can be used to
explore the mechanics and varied stages of the structure. Yet where the students make a
lasting and valuable connection is in relating the hero journey structure and archetypes to
their own lives. This is done through the analysis of original interviews with arts
entrepreneurs. Students are able to draw their own conclusions as a result of their own
analysis, which makes for a “discovery” of knowledge. Their discovery is made as a result of
perceived patterns in the happenings of others’ lives and processes, and consequently, their
own. As educators, we can aid students in identifying heroic ?gures that exist in their own
communities and in my classroom, I ?nd they typically identify many.
CONCLUSION
Both Campbell’s and Vogler’s work, especially in relation to the hero adventure, o!er a
myriad of uses for the artist, entrepreneur and arts entrepreneur. We can help our students to
view their entrepreneurial adventures as heroic exploits and in doing so, they may become
heroic arts entrepreneurs. In serving others’ needs, one becomes necessary, and being
“necessary,” as an artist, can lead to pro?tability. Universities training arts entrepreneurs by
o!ering the techniques o!ered in this article gain because of their successful and impactful
graduates who make their way in the world as heroic arts entrepreneurs.
70 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
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Acknowledgements: Dean José Antonio Bowen, Paula Jan Hart, Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart,
Brandon Shelley, Dr. Zannie Voss
72 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
The Liminal Freelance Landscape: Geography,
Proximity and Community
LAINE GOLDMAN
Tilburg University, Netherlands
You have to be able to function as if you are on the frontier again. There’s no backup.
The twentieth century was all about moving from the rural—spreading out and
centralizing in the city. That’s now breaking down. People are pulling back out to
work in exurbs or small towns like where I am – and staying connected to a big city
for the purpose of coming together every so often for face time or to sell a new client.”
rrr Bill Cavanaugh
ather than being marginalized, freelancers are now being institutionalized within
the business structure. As the job market morphs into a new model free of perks,
offices, insurance or the promise of a steady paycheck, it is important to study how
freelancers navigate this shifting workforce culture. Film, television, music, video
gaming, advertising and Internet-driven industries regularly employ contract workers and
this phenomenon is growing across all business sectors. Professionals with varying skills
come together for relatively short periods of time, contribute to a project, then leave. Some
production and creative teams retain the same loose-knit network for years.
1
Eleven project participants, intersecting with many multimedia domains teach us
invaluable commonsense strategies about organizational teamwork—and who works. The
participants’ individual conversations create a composite image of life as a migrant creative at
This article features nationally recognized multimedia artists candidly discussing the shifting
landscape of their freelance work. For these professionals, soliciting clients is intrinsically linked to
their global or local networked community. Therefore, the topography of freelance is not about land
in the same way as geography is not simply about location. Rather, place is about where these
professionals find themselves in relation to the economy, community and other influences that allow
us to understand the relational layering of freelance work. This is a starting point for a conversation
that recognizes liminality, community, and proximity as a way to navigate a more expansive, socially
constructed view of freelance.
z
73 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
1
This article contains excerpts from a signi?cantly longer chapter in Laine Goldman, “The Migrant Creative: U.S.
Media Freelancers at the Border of a Changing Work Culture” (Ph.D. diss., Tilburg University, Netherlands, 2013).
R
Copyright © 2014, Laine Goldman
the border of a changing work culture; these lessons are pertinent for all consultants.
However, participants demonstrate that the liminal tension of waiting for work is reduced
when the freelancers extend their relational web, learn new skills, anchor their body with
energetically calming strategies and frame their career knowing they will engage in many
work styles: full-time, freelance, part-time and many will be simultaneous.
The second part of the article explores location, community and geography as critical
factors when securing work and demonstrates a diversity of participant opinions. The
conversations were di!erent for all of the media arts entrepreneurs regarding the
importance of location and it was contingent on the types of projects. There is no one-size-
?ts-all formula followed with ironclad conclusions. It is not only the entrepreneurs’ body of
work but also their relational connections that foster many of their opportunities. These
shape-shifting connections often start with proximity but also change with time because of
technological improvements in communication.
The migrant creative story is one of early adoption and adaptation of the freelance
work style. It is a story of media freelancers, many with 15 to 30+ years of experience, who are
improvising and reinventing their lives both personally and professionally.The participants,
ranging from a Guggenheim recipient to Emmy winners, are the drivers of inventive projects
across diverse disciplines including documentary work, experimental ?lm, the recording
industry, journalism, the Internet, advertising, reality television, game shows, screenwriting,
radio, and comedy. As Marc Jaffe, a project participant and former Seinfeld writer notes
“Everyone is a freelancer now – they just don’t know it.” It is in this changing work context,
that I invited these colleagues to discuss the shifting landscape of their freelance media
work at the crossroads of technological change.
The participants include: Jimi Izrael, a moderator on NPR’s The Barbershop and author
of The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men (2010); Kasumi, a 2011
Guggenheim recipient; Carol E. Beck, an international video producer for name-brand
corporate accounts like Mercedes Benz, The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, Panasonic and others
while also following her passion for Buddhism by documenting monastic projects for the
Emory-Tibet Partnership in India; Marc Ja!e, a comedian and writer, incorporating both of
these skills in his foundation, Shaking With Laughter, which raises money for Parkinson’s
disease research; Alan McElroy a screenwriter, whose latest screenplay is scheduled to be
produced by X-Men’s Ralph Winter and directed by Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind,
Cinderella Man); Steven Tatar, an Internet designer and former creative head of American
Greetings and entrepreneur currently rebranding Ohio Knitting Mills; Kate Farrell, a reality
television executive producer with WE-tv; Ayad Rahim, a former New York Times blogger and
radio show host focusing on the Middle East, currently in graduate school; Sheryl White a
copywriter for major national accounts; Laura Paglin, a ?lmmaker and documentarian; and
Bill Cavanaugh, an audio mixer MTV, VH1, History Channel, Nova, Discovery and many
others.
74 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
WHERE ARE WE? THE OFF-ROAD CAREER TREKKER
Using the metaphor of travel, the media freelancer would be the off-road trekker on a
career journey. The route is not a predetermined destination but a serendipitous path of
choices and concessions that often offer less in terms of ?nancial predictability and security
but more when it comes to ?exibility and creativity.
The geography of soliciting and ?nding clients is intrinsically linked to their
networked community, whether global or local. Proximity or spatial closeness to clients is a
variable depending on the level of collaboration required. Therefore, the topography of
freelance is not about land; it is where we have landed. Geography is not just about place but
where we ?nd ourselves in relation to the economy, community, family, friends and the
con?uence of in?uences that allow us to better understand the relational layering of
interdependent work. This is the starting point for a conversation that recognizes liminality,
community and proximity as a way to navigate a more expansive, socially constructed
worldview of freelance.
Introducing Liminality as an Anchor in Chaotic Times
Liminal, from the Latin word for threshold, is de?ned in Merriam-Webster dictionary
as “relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition; in-between, transitional.”
2
Anthropologist Victor Turner referred to this liminal condition as “betwixt and between”
when describing a rite of passage in The Forest of Symbols.
3
Freelance is the personi?cation of
a liminal life—working while simultaneously seeking employment. One is in constant
transition, which makes for interesting and exhilarating life. Freelancers are always open to
something new, yet at times this can be terrifying when work is not on the horizon.
This article approaches liminality as the psychological space of being in “limbo” and
then situates the spatial, physical embodiment of this concept as it relates to the media and
freelance experience. The physical is not only about geography but the importance of
bringing a whole-body perspective to work. Many of these participants discuss healthcare
practices that are vital to recalibrating the body in a high-energy creative profession—
especially to counter the liminal experience of restlessness that comes with waiting for work
—while allowing the participants to remain vital, balanced and active.
Also explored is how geography, proximity and community serve to orient and
anchor the freelancer within the liminal landscape. This article advocates an appreciative
stance as one way to positively reframe living with uncertainty; this reorientation allows the
freelancer to consider new scenarios while also engaging emergence. As Henry Miller notes,
“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
"4
75 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
2
Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “liminal.”
3
Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967).
4
Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (New York: New Directions Publishing, 1957), 25.
The Liminal Experience: Somewhere Between Flying and Falling
There is a rush of anticipation and heightened awareness leading to a new job or
project for a freelancer—and a sense a relief when it is complete. Kasumi, an experimental
?lmmaker and Guggenheim recipient, aptly describes this experience: “Freelance is a cross
between ?ying and falling.” Media arts freelancers were already wandering through the
liminal landscape of uncertainty before the ?nancial meltdown.
What is a liminal life? It is the experience of transitioning and changing but not quite
sure where you are going or even how you are going to get there. One is suspended in the
exquisite in-between, feeling the tensional pull of “possibility” on one end and “not
knowing” on the other side. There is a heightened state of awareness when one’s intuitive
antenna is activated and fear is momentarily pushed aside while embracing the uncertainty
of seeking work or completing a new task. A successful freelancer needs to muzzle the fear
or they cannot focus to create either the work or an opportunity. As Deepak Chopra
mentions in a discussion about what is important in life: “I embrace the wisdom of
uncertainty, because if everything is certain, where is the creativity?”
5
Though the original application of the term was brought to life in the ?eld of
anthropology, it has since ?owed to psychology and urban studies, then migrated into a more
interdisciplinary realm. Liminal, a lyrical word, belies the paradoxical life that media
workers and others inhabit. For freelance media professionals, liminality is place that
straddles work and home. They connect with clients both globally and locally, busy creating
the culture they consume and ironically working in an environment that brands lifestyle but
does not always pay a living wage.
Self-employed workers seldom describe themselves as laid-back. There is an
inherent vigilance as they surf for their next job while being acutely aware that the
undercurrent of uncertainty can pull them under. The actual sur?ng, the task of working on
a creative project, is a short-lived experience. The metaphor of sur?ng can romanticize the
free agent experience but it presents a visceral spin on the danger and excitement of working
in a sea of change. This requires emotional balance and the long-term perspective of
remembering that work is cyclical and comes in waves. Marc Jaffe, a comedy writer and
entrepreneur, captures the temporality and long-term perspective required of freelance:
“Because of the nature of the business, you’re a freelancer always. Even when
you have a job, it’s a temporary job. Even if you get a job on a TV show, a
Seinfeld is rare that it lasts for so many years. So many shows last a year or a
couple of episodes and then they’re yanked. It’s not even whether it’s a good
show or not. It’s rare for people to even stay on a show for two or three years. A
producer can change. Everything is a part-time job – it’s your focus for a while.
You have to look at freelance as a whole career and there will be times when I
will have a steady paycheck and times when I won’t.”
76 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
5
Oprah Winfrey, “Oprah Talks to Deepak Chopra,” O, The Oprah Magazine, June 2012, 144.
Everywhere and Nowhere
The University of Chicago’s website on media theory suggests that media is
inherently liminal: “Media may adapt a multitude of forms, even including what can be
considered to be ‘formless.’ As it is both ‘everywhere and nowhere,’ conceptualizing media as
liminal does not seem too far-fetched.”
6
This “everywhere and nowhere” concept can be
further extrapolated to include the media freelancers’ world of working for many clients, yet
not being speci?cally anchored to one. Indeed, this liminal passage is also extended to
include the creative morphing from an unknown concept to an embodied media form. This
phenomenon can also describe how the media freelancer feels in an oversaturated world of
nonstop communication.
Liminal dislocation can also be attributed to the increase of individuals passing
through our lives at a rapid pace due to increased travel and technological advances. This
“intensifying interchange” of evanescent relationships is recognized by Kenneth Gergen:
“One can scarcely settle into a calming rut, because who one is and the cast of ‘signi?cant
others’ are in continuous motion.”
7
It is this continuous movement of accelerated Oz-like
comings and goings that the freelancer recognizes as the part of the job and seeks to
balance; yet these waves of encounters provide moments for connection, creativity and
potential opportunities.
Liminality Challenges Work Organizations and Learning
Freelancers are expected to come and jump into an existing structure and improvise
with a new or existing team. Sue Tempest and Ken Starkey suggest that temporary workers
breathe new life into an organization:
“For organizations, the release from structures that bind too tightly can be positive
for organizational performance, for example promoting innovation as liminal
situations are conducive to transcendence and play. This, in turn, creates a
new image of the temporary worker, challenging organizational
orthodoxies: ‘The liminal person (is) an ambiguous ?gure, capable of
upsetting normative orders and of transcending boundaries by their
continuous entering and leaving.’ ”
8
Another side bene?t for the freelancer is that they are extending their relational web
and learning new practices at each site. The disadvantage is that many ?rms are reluctant to
hire outsiders without the exact experience they are looking for and hesitate to train on the
77 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
6
The University of Chicago, “Glossary: Liminal, liminality.” Accessed September 7, 2012.http://csmt.uchicago.edu/
glossary/2004/liminal.htm.
7
Kenneth Gergen, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life (New York.: Basic Books, 1991), 67.
8
Sue Tempest and Ken Starkey, “The Effects of Liminality on Individual and Organizational Learning,”
Organizational Studies 25 (2004): 509.
job, so freelancers interested in learning new skills are inhibited by hiring specificity. Carol
Beck, herself a production freelancer, notes:
“In Atlanta, 80 percent of the people I hire I’ve known for ?ve years. When I
do have to bring on unknowns, like a low-level production assistant, I get
them from friends. ‘All my PA’s (production assistants) are booked up, who do
you know?’ I never hire anybody who just sends me a resume... That is the
most ineffectual way to get a job imaginable. They need to work for free. It
doesn’t even have to be an internship. They can go to a production
company and say, ‘On your next production I will work for free.’ You cannot
get work experience until you have work experience. Nobody is going to pay
you to test you out.”
Within the socially constructed territory of freelance work, there are no steadfast rules
about what works and who works. All of the freelancers interviewed mentioned the
importance of relational connections and the ability to perform at the high level as
contributing to their career.
Tempest Starkey asks “...how long term goals can be pursued in an economy devoted
to the short term and how mutual loyalties and sentiments can be sustained in institutions
which are constantly breaking apart and continually being redesigned.”
9
The answer is the
power of relational connections as a sustainable force: “It is ongoing relationships and the
sense that a career can be created out of the ?ux of changing projects that provide stable
points of reference, trust, and learning that serve both individual and organization.”
10
As
more jobs become contingent, the power of relationships will challenge our attitudes about
competition and demand more cooperative alliances.
Attention to Balance and Perspective Grounds the Liminal Experience
The notion of liminality can also connect to how it is embodied in the physicality of
the freelancers’ lives. For many participants, the importance of nurturing the body and
taking time for self is critical when one works with the fast-paced frenzy of individuals
passing through your life. Quiet time becomes a touchstone for centering and many
freelancers in this project mention needing recovery time to regroup and regain their
creative vitality. Freelancers recognized long ago that harnessing and balancing their energy
is critical to performance. This idea is slowly gaining momentum as Tony Schwartz (founder
and CEO of The Energy Project) suggests that in business we are witnessing a personal
energy crisis:
“Energy, after all, is the capacity to do the work. In the face of relentlessly
rising demand, fueled by digital technology and the expectation of instant
24/7 responsiveness, employees around the world are increasingly burning
78 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
9
Ibid., 524.
10
Ibid.
down their energy reserves and depleting their capacity.”
11
Schwartz recognizes the growing disconnect between the high energy demand required of
the workforce and the return:
“The vast majority of organizations—and CEOs—have failed to fully
appreciate the connection between how well they take care of their
employees; how energized, engaged and committed those employees are as a
result; how well they take care of clients and customers; and how well they
perform over time.”
12
Freelancers, early on, recognized the physical and mental demands of creative work
and know how to recalibrate, rest, and appreciate their freedom during leaner times. This
“running on empty” phenomenon is a professional liability for the entire workforce, but
deadly for the freelancer who must continually recharge her creative juices while staying
open to new opportunities. As Carol Beck, a videographer says, “The hardest thing about
freelance is ?nding time in the day to be good to yourself—to exercise, to meditate, to make
healthy meals... to do those things you need to maintain balance...”
Here, the idea of liminality can be repositioned in a full body context to include
replenishing one’s emotional, spiritual and physical reservoir as an anchoring device. The
idea of creating a generative work environment is an emerging trend that stellar companies
recognize and incorporate in their culture: offering healthy food, on-site ?tness, ?exible
hours, encouraging community service, providing creative and leadership opportunities
and pro?t-sharing to name a few. Companies such as Google, Zappos, and SAS Institute are
raising the bar for workplace standards and productivity.
13
Precarity Exacerbates Liminality
Working on one job while searching for another or waiting for the check is a
precarious work environment creating a sense of “not knowing.” Additionally, there is a “pull
of possibility” that is sometimes coupled with an undercurrent of impending doom. The
glory days of risk and reward are de?nitely more about risk than reward as people are trying
to adapt to the new digital economy coupled while weathering economic uncertainty.
Before the economic meltdown, the liminality of uncertainty was already a reality
for media freelancers. Now we have the precarity of an unstable economy added to the mix.
There were many freelancers during the development this article that went back to school,
secured a full-time job and developed their own creative projects. Others that have
postponed retirement and continue to work at a frenetic, exhausting pace. Bill Cavanaugh,
79 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
11
Tony Schwartz, “Share this with your CEO.” Accessed July 2012.http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/06/share-this-with-
your-ceo/
12
Ibid.
13
See CNN Money, “List of the Best Companies to Work for,” accessed May 25, 2014,http://money.cnn.com/
magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/50.html; and Tony Schwartz, “The Twelve Attributes of a Truly
Great Place to Work,” accessed October 16, 2012,http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/09/the-twelve-attributes-of-a-tru/
an audio engineer at RazorMix, acknowledges that risk has always been there but it is
increasing in media:
“The fact of the matter is that there’s always been a risk and the risk is
increasing in this business. If you work for a company, you don’t see the risk
elements because you have a steady paycheck. You don’t see the elephant
charging until the boss comes in and says. ‘I’m laying you off.’ You’re not ready
for it. I have to be the guy that chases down the money without pissing the
client off and keeping it friendly. I know what the true ?nancials are. I did a
job in December and they didn’t pay me until May. So that becomes an issue.
You have to chase the work down, do the work, and then you have to chase the
money down.”
Alan McElroy, a Hollywood screenwriter, describes the limbo of living in the space
where the work is ?nished, you’ve been paid, and you’re not sure if and when the project you
created will come to life—while still worrying about when the next job will appear:
“I have nothing in production. Everything is on the ?ve-yard line and nothing
is getting across the goal. If twenty-?ve years ago, I said to myself ‘Guess
what?’ In 2010 you’re going to have a project you sold in a bidding war with
20
th
Century Fox with an Oscar-winning screenwriter said to direct. You’ve got
a script at Screen Gems and the president of production said it was his
favorite script and he was calling about it. You’ve got an NBC pilot. A Fox
Television studio pilot. Everything is in position and guess what? You’re not
making any money. I’ve been paid to write everything. Everything is sitting in
limbo and the clock is rolling. Nothing new is being generated. All those
things are paid up. So you would automatically think: I should be getting work
all the time. I have a lot of people coming to see me for ideas but nothing is
locking in. It’s a weird limbo I’m in.”
The reality for journalists is that rates were radically reduced Jimi Izrael mentions,
“The market in my opinion has devalued about 60 percent since 2003 or 2004.” In the past, it
was primarily journalists who took the heavy hit, but now the workforce compression
extends to those in other freelance media venues. Cavanaugh chimes in with a similar price
reduction of about half even though he is working nonstop. Everyone is looking for a deal
and the sustainability of working as a media freelancer is tenuous and driving the new
precarity. At the same time, it fosters career improvisation in the nonpro?t and
entrepreneurial realm, as demonstrated by these freelancers. There is clearly a shift
emerging, driving freelancers to the nonpro?t or entrepreneurial sector; Jaffe creating a
philanthropic organization Shaking with Laughter and Steven Tatar starting a knitwear
company Ohio Knitting Mills.
14
80 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
14
See “Shaking with Laughter Foundation,” accessed April 10, 2012,http://shakingwithlaughter.org/; and Steven
Tatar, “Ohio Knitting Mills,” accessed February 19, 2012),http://www.ohioknitingmills.com.
The Why of Living with Liminality: An Appreciative View
Why do these people chose to live in limbo when it comes to work? Tatar beautifully
articulates “the why” of his freelance choice:
“People don’t say I want to be a freelancer. You say I like this type of work and
it happens to be work that is not typically employed but treated as contract
service. I’m a freelancer because I got laid off at the end of the huge burst of
an economy. I never really found a job that I was willing to do. I can get a job
– but I don’t want to get one that isn’t aligned with my strengths, my interests,
my passions, my intent and vision for my professional life. That vision is
everybody’s dream – at least creatives. A lot of people don’t bother dreaming
because they said, ‘It’s a job you’re not supposed to like it.’”
The tradeoff for uncertainty and unpredictability is to ?nd work that is emotionally
and creatively satisfying. According to Daniel Pink, this new work ethic is one of “...having
freedom, being authentic, putting yourself on the line and de?ning success on your own
terms.”
15
The liminality of the freelance lifestyle is supplanted by creativity, scheduling
flexibility and autonomy. When securing payments and ?nding work becomes
disproportionately difficult, freelancers start improvising and begin to consider full- or part-
time work, retirement, starting their own business or other combinations. This is expanding
and changing our de?nition of what it means to have a “regular job.”
Although the uncertainty of freelance is di#cult, many participants suggested that a
9-5 position is becoming increasingly less stable. When one is no longer soliciting or
advancing a personal network, it becomes a fast-and-furious “catch up game” when the
position is eliminated. As Cavanaugh noted earlier, “You don’t see the elephant charging
until the boss comes in and says, ‘I’m laying you off.’ You’re not ready for it.” With Forbes’
prediction that one-half of American jobs will be freelance by the year 2020, media arts
freelancers are not complacent; they realize they will be entering multiple work style
con?gurations at the same time.
16
The Liminal Antidote
A good freelancer is always acquiring new skills on the job, living a moderate lifestyle
because they anticipate down cycles, making sure they reenergize after stressful assignments
to prevent burnout, while also keeping up with their network of colleagues, and soliciting new
connections.
Another critical factor when it comes to securing work and reducing liminality is
having a suitable location for freelance or having the relational contacts to ?nd work outside of
your region. The following sections explore the many facets of geography; however, there are
81 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
15
Daniel Pink, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself (New York: Warner Books, 2002), 82.
16
Elaine Pofedlt, “What you’ll need to know to be the Boss in 2020,” Forbes Online, accessed May 26, 2014, http://
www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2012/04/03/what-youll-need-to-know-to-be-the-boss-in-2020/.
no easy conclusions articulated because the participants’ experiences are highly diverse. The
Takeaway recognizes that the freelance driver is primarily relational connections whether the
jobs are globally or locally situated.
COMMUNITY: THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF FINDING WORK WHERE YOU ARE
SITUATED
We can summarize the preceding discussion as follows: a good freelancer always
acquires new skills on the job, lives a moderate lifestyle as she anticipates economic
downturns and reenergizes after stressful assignments—all the while maintaining her
network of colleagues and soliciting new connections. A critical factor when it comes to
securing work and reducing liminality is having a suitable location to freelance or
possessing the relational contacts to ?nd work outside of your region. There are no easy
conclusions formed in the remainder of this article as the participants’ experiences are
vastly di!erent.
Community and relationships, which are at the epicenter of social construction, are
also clearly central to the vitality of freelance work. If freelancers were not engaged in a
conversation with community and enterprise, there would be limited awareness of where
their talents and interests could connect, contribute and make a difference. Even though
freelancers are often perceived as “independent” since they have multiple employers, they
do not work alone. Their actions must be coordinated with others.
Tatar resonates with the idea of coordinated action when he expands the vision of
creativity from an individual process to a relational process—one that incorporates
community.
“You use the word ‘freelancer’ and in my mind I use the term ‘independent
creative.’ In my mind, more than anything else, it’s about community. It’s about
having the bene?t—emotional, professional and sometimes even ?nancial as a
re?ection of oneself. It’s about the creative process. That noise in your head—
not between you and yourself but among people who resonate with me—is
the single most important element.”
It is the participant’s relational connections (a seemingly unimportant discussion in a coffee
shop or a chance encounter) that indirectly pull the freelancer to the next position. They
often use the term “luck” to describe a happenstance moment but freelancers have the
improvisational ability to seize on a situation, alchemize an opportunity and make it their
own. Jaffe remembers the importance of his agent convincing him to see Jerry Seinfeld’s
performance in Cleveland, which prompted a subsequent writing job. It was through
referrals, relationships and making the effort to connect that he started writing for Seinfeld
and then continued to develop his own unique projects from game shows to the Elijah Cup.
17
82 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
17
Michael Heaton, “Comedy Writer Marc Ja!e devises Seder Cup that drains itself,” accessed May 25, 2014, http://
www.cleveland.com/people/index.ssf/2008/03/comedy_writer_marc_ja!e_devis.html.
In coming to terms with his wife’s Parkinson disease prognosis, Ja!e co-created a play
titled Side E#ects May Include. It not only involved his local community in fundraising efforts
but resulted in co-developing an organization (Shaking with Laughter) that raises awareness,
money and support for Parkinson research. (The funds are coordinated with both the
Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation). Here, fundraising efforts
reach the Hollywood community where Jaffe’s friends in the industry extend their “star
value” and contribute time, tickets and personal involvement with his Internet auction. The
highest bid, for $17,500, was a 20-minute minute pitch meeting with Larry David (co-creator
of Seinfeld and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm). The new freelance is about realizing that the
creation of opportunity can take place on a stage other than Broadway or Hollywood; the
ripple started locally in Cleveland and now extends to a more global stage.
The freelance projects these participants engage in usually start with a relationally-
driven recommendation that originates from those who recognize that a freelancer can
perform at a high level. Freelance is predicated on the notion that people want to work with
individuals that can do the job, but also a person that is compatible. Facing long hours and
collaborative intimacy, a media freelancer with exceptional talent and poor relational skills
would not last long. “It is, in other words, not only about being good at something, it is also
about carefully cultivating the image of being good.”
18
The re?ection on the freelancer’s
contribution to the project is often casually unpacked in after-hour social gatherings. As
Tatar notes, “Business is about relationships. It’s face time. Let’s have a drink time. Hanging
out ‘till you get it time.” Seth Godin, a media innovator, also reveals the power of personal
connections:
“The connection revolution is upon us. It sells the moment short to call this
the Internet revolution. In fact, this new era marks the end of the industrial age
and the beginning of something new. The industrial revolution wasn’t about
inventing manufacturing. It was about amplifying it to the point where it
changed everything. And the connection revolution doesn’t invent connection,
of course, but it ampli?ed it to become the dominant force in our economy.
Connecting people to one another. Connecting seekers to data. Connecting
businesses to each other. Connecting tribes of similarly minded individuals
into larger, more effective organizations.”
19
Relationships Matter: “Freelance Is a Team Sport”
Certainly, we are acutely aware of the Internet’s power to transform and change, yet we
are standing at a chaotic crossroad. It presents an opportunity for reinvention and renewal.
What I have discovered with all the freelancers is that relationships matter. It is essential for
innovative individuals to engage others in the creative process in all steps, from concept to
83 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
18
Mark Deuze, “Workstyles in the Media Production Industries: Mapping Media Work” (paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston, Massachusetts, July 31, 2008. Available at http://
citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/1/2/0/pages241206/p241206-1.php
19
Seth Godin, “Stop Stealing Dreams: What is School for?,” accessed March 27, 2012, www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/
stopstealingdreamsscreen.pdf.
completion. As Tatar notes:
“Partnerships are so important. The bottom line is that freelance is not an end
to itself. It’s where you live. It’s like having a one-bedroom apartment. It doesn’t
mean that you sleep alone. It’s still a team sport.”
For most freelancers, there is fundamental trust in the ability of the other project
participants to not only complete the job, but to make it exceptional. This is relational
knowledge of having worked together in the past, knowing their performance skills and level
of commitment.
Bridging A Divergent Community Jumpstarts Discovery and the Economy
Geography, proximity and community are vital in the world of freelance work.
Community is an important driver for discovery as freelancers hear about jobs or potentially
bene?cial situations while on the way to do something else. These everyday conversations
requires nuanced social skills. The following section exempli?es the importance of
secondary connections (called “bridging”), which Richard Florida describes as “...looser ties
that extend across and connect different groups. Bridging activities provide the conditions for
creativity, for the Eureka moment when new possibilities suddenly become apparent.”
20
Clearly, secondary bridging activities often lead to surprising opportunities.
Discovered Gold While Searching for Steel
A bridging moment organically occurred when Tatar discovered a vintage knitwear
company, Ohio Knitting Mills, while he was scouting materials for an art project. He was
also looking for a new community development meeting location in Cleveland when an
acquaintance mentioned that the Mill had signi?cant space. Tatar was a bit surprised to ?nd
the shell of a working knitting mill and arranged a meeting with the owner. The mill was in
the shuttering process and the owner was interested in selling off the remainder of knitwear
stock. The discovery was a pleasant surprise. He remarks:
“We were snooping around. I walked in and there were these old knitting
machines in operation still knitting. There were thousands and thousands of
cones of yarn. They were in the process of packing it up and shutting it down.
But they were still running out a few contracts and orders. There was a skeleton
crew of about a dozen people at the max. It was clearly on its way down. The
vibe was so real. It was old school.”
Tatar envisioned greater branding possibilities for this vintage knitwear collection
(1947-1974), which prompted the rebirth of Ohio Knitting Mills He is seeking a partnership to
84 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
20
Richard Florida, Who’s Your City: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of
Your Life (Toronto: Random House 2009), 124.
further the venture and is poised to produce some limited edition items in the United States.
Tatar opines: “I am all about repurposing in a structural way.”
He is also concerned about reigniting the American imagination to the beauty of
“made in America” and notes:
“The new frontiers are not the Wild West. It’s not the Gold Rush. What can we
discover in the left behinds? What is it in our cities and urban places and our
former industrial places—in the manufacturing—that is beautiful? Yes, it’s
neglected but it’s not something to throw away. This is our soul. This is the
essence of who we are. We need to embrace it—put it back together and put our
future together.”
Although cities and environments shape us in profound ways, this commentary is also an
example of how we shape our community by discovering beauty and opportunity where we
are situated.
CREATIVE FOLKS LIVE EVERYWHERE: CLEVELAND IS NO JOKE
The freelancers involved with this project, all with a long history working in media,
demonstrate the survival instincts, tenacity, relational and improvisational skills needed to
thrive in less than ideal situations. That can sometimes include location. Seven of the eleven
media freelancers hail from Cleveland, Ohio, yet their sphere of in?uence is national and
even international in scope. With a gritty postindustrial backdrop, Cleveland is a community
that offers affordability and culture. It is an underdog location (much like Detroit and other
Rust Belt cities) and a tough place where people provide the color in a frequently steel-grey
landscape. The motto “Cleveland, you’ve got to be tough” is no joke. When media comes to
mind, Cleveland is not ?rst and foremost on anyone’s list as a location conducive for
freelance work. Yet creativity abounds.
Richard Florida’s solution for post-recession future growth is the encouragement of
mega regions: “...the great mega-regions that already power the economy, and the smaller,
talent- attracting innovation centers inside them—places like Silicon Valley, Boulder, Austin
and the North Carolina Research Triangle.” He further opines that the challenge in Rust Belt
cities is “...managing population decline without becoming blighted” and suggests that “the
economy is different now. It no longer resolves around simply making and moving things.
Instead, it depends on generating and transporting ideas.”
21
In my view, we need to move beyond location and view the imagination as a way to
jump-start and fuel the economy. Cities, housing markets, and popular destinations are
always in a socially-constructed ?ux, yet creative individuals can greatly impact a city or
region wherever they are situated. Even the term “Rust Belt” starts with a de?cit discourse
that does not allow one to imagine a richer, more vibrant scenario. Imagination will be the
85 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
21
Richard Florida, “How the Crash will Reshape America,” The Atlantic, accessed September 25, 2012, http://
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2009/03/how-the-crash-will-reshape-america/307293/.
driver of the new economy wherever people are situated and many seem to agree.“Rust Belt
Chic: The Cleveland Anthology”captures Cleveland’s creative appeal:
“America is in the grips of a budding ‘roots movement.’ Desires for the splashy
are giving way to a longing for the past. Many are turning back toward the Rust
Belt and geographies like it to ?nd what they’ve been missing. Rust Belt Chic is
churches and work plants hugging the same block. It is ethnic as hell. It is the
Detroit sound of Motown. It is Cleveland punk. It is getting vintage t-shirts and
vinyl for a buck that are being sold to Brooklynites for the price of a Manhattan
meal. It is babushka and snakeskin boots. It is babushka in snakeskin boots.
It is wear: old wood and steel and vacancy. It is contradiction, con?ict, and
standing resiliency. But most centrally, Rust Belt Chic is about home, or that
perpetual inner ?re longing to be comfortable in one’s own skin and one’s
community.”
22
Hardscrabble cities like Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh are making a comeback not
because they are imitating other popular destinations but because they are “...offering the
promise of a better (cheaper) quality of life—and yes, the ironic pleasures of bowling,
pierogies, and polka—Rust Belt cites truly have become ‘chic.’ “
23
Cleveland is an edgy city
where creativity is thriving precisely because it lacks pretense. It is now enjoying an
entrepreneurial buzz because of a reverse-migration trend (“brain gain”) as “...talented,
educated, creative people are no longer ?eeing the region – they’re ?ocking to it.”
24
The remaining project participants live in the New York City and surrounding Hudson
Valley area, in addition to Atlanta, Georgia. Although this group lives in cities more amenable
to independent media work, they share similar issues and concerns about securing and
getting paid for media projects along with budget, time constraints, and proximity to their
clients. These individual voices create a polyphonic chorus of divergent viewpoints when it
comes to understanding how geography impacts their work. While this article highlights
that creativity lives everywhere, the following themes represent contradictory, multiple
perspectives regarding location.
Location Doesn’t Matter in the Global Arena: Coordination Counts
Kate Farrell and Carol Beck are two project participants who have—and continue to—
work on large-scale overseas video productions. This requires a kind of openness to not only
being able to quickly assemble a crew but also “mutually coordinating” their work styles.
86 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
22
Richey Piiparinen and Anne Trubek, eds., Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology (Cleveland: Rust Belt Chic
Press, 2012).
23
Douglas Trattner, “Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology,” accessed July 30, 2012, http://
www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/rustbeltchic060712.aspx.
24
Details, “The Rust Belt Brain Gain,” accessed April 7, 2012,http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/
201204/rust-belt-revival-brain-gain-think-tank.
According to Kenneth Gergen, et al, this means “trying to communicate across boundaries is
not a matter of simply ‘decoding’ the meaning of the others’ action. Rather, it is a matter of
coordinating actions with them.”
25
Mutual coordination can be experienced in the way
relationships are experienced over time, a sense of knowing and anticipating their
teammates performance styles, understanding the same professional language without
needing to speak, creating a territory of tolerance and respect, and trusting the
professionalism of the team to complete the job even when the demands are extraordinarily
tough.
Carol E. Beck: Working Worldwide From Home
Beck has worked on media planning and production for name brand multinational
corporations such as IBM, General Electric, Coca Cola, The Ford Motor Company, Xerox,
Panasonic, Proctor and Gamble, Home Depot, Honda and others. Her professional expertise
involves managing international logistics in Venezuela, Australia, Budapest, Germany,
Amsterdam, Beijing and India. I teasingly ask if I’m missing anything—she nonchalantly
responds “Japan and all over Europe.”
When working on large productions for corporate clients, the global dimension
requires working with a large, international crew. Beck gives a wonderful example of IBM’s
global investor’s meeting and notes how mutual coordination overrides geography:
“I’ll give you a really good example on how geography doesn’t play. I worked
on a project for an IBM global investor’s meeting. The meeting was taking
place in Bangalore, India. I was here in Atlanta at my desk. The executive
producer was in New York City. My animators were in London. The technical
director was on the ground in Bangalore. I had fabricators working in
Singapore... I sat at my desk in Atlanta until the week before the meeting. It’s
common on these large events that the team gets together from all over.”
Beck enjoys working on overseas projects. She says, “One of my favorite things to do is the
small overseas job. I have worked with my friend Bill for 15 years. We go with a camera
package and pick up a local crew—China, Amsterdam or wherever we happen to be. You
meet fantastic people and it’s really fun working with crews. Crew people are the same all
over the world. There’s a certain mentality and way of being.”
Carol also addresses the level of crew camaraderie after successfully working with an
individual and how that inevitably generates future projects together:
“You’re used to being in the soup and trying to ?gure out how you’re going to do
it. I worked with some guys in Australia—a line producer that I needed on the
ground and a DP (Director of Photography). We had a fantastic time working
together and the other crew people brought on were awesome. At the end of the
87 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
25
Kenneth Gergen, Stuart M. Schrader and Mary Gergen, eds., Constructing Worlds Together: Interpersonal
Communication as a Relational Process (Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2009), 247.
job, we’re like ‘see you, nice to know you—have a good life.’ Then a year later
I’m calling them up saying, ‘Guess what? We’re coming to Australia.’ You know
that people do good work, they’re fun, and when work is over you can go and
have a nice meal together, have a beer, and share war stories. It’s very
relational.”
Mutual coordination on any production or project, whether large or small, requires
respect for the group performance, a strong relational connection and a high level of trust.
Although production participants do not always speak the same language, there is a
prescribed freelance code of ethics and behavior that is universal if you want to stay working.
One of the highest on the priority list is trust: trust that a team member will efficiently and
creatively complete the job, an assumption that it will be at a high professional level and that
colleagues will respect your established client relationship.
PROXIMITY AND RELATIONSHIPS DRIVE FREELANCE: LOCATION MATTERS
Location, location, location
Throughout the interviews, there were two prominent opinions concerning
geography. One viewpoint previously discussed was the idea that mutual coordination,
more than location, is integral in the global production arena. However, on a regional and
national level, it is proximity to the client along with talent and relationships that make a
difference. For many of the project participants, the decision to move away from areas of
commerce was prompted by family concerns. These participants candidly reveal how
proximity intersects with their freelance work.
Steven Tatar: Freelance Relies on Regional Strength as Work Outside the Region is Contingent on
Previous Relationships
For many of the freelancers, location is critical. Tatar’s home base is Cleveland but he is
poised to move if the right situation presents itself. He comments about the importance of
location: “I think it’s huge. So huge. Freelance is locative. It’s a regional strength. Minnesota is
not good at shrimping and New York is not good for steel production. Cleveland is not good
for brand building and services now. It has been better in the past and it was a big
advertising center.”
He acknowledges that work outside Cleveland is contingent on relationships
developed beforehand and mentions:
“Yes, I do work for clients outside of the region. Location matters. I’m of the
opinion that every freelancer who is successful outside of their region is able to
do that because they had a strong foundation to start with which was
relationship based. They didn’t just randomly get discovered by a west coast
company to develop a new brand for a shoe line in New York. That’s why
88 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
community is important—you need community not just for your sanity and to
keep your soul intact. You need your community to build your business and
keep your pipeline robust.”
Marc Jaffe: Geographically Challenged
The irony of the media industry is that Cleveland inspires comedy but is not the
perfect location if you are interested in writing television sitcoms. Jaffe’s view is that
geographical location is central to his line of work:
“Despite the Internet and emails that were kicking in during the 90’s, I was
trying to do things from here. The situation had Paul Reiser with Mad About You
and I was hoping to freelance a script. It took awhile and I ?nally got an
assignment. I was thrilled. As it turned out, the show was going through a bit of
?ux at the time. As the process worked out, the episode never got made because
the arc of the season got changed midway. What I was writing didn’t make sense
for the characters they wanted to focus on which was some other season plot
point. I spoke with Larry and he said, ‘When you’re not here, I need somebody
because things are so ?uid and I need to say, “Hey Marc, come in today”—you’re
in Cleveland and I can’t do that.’ ”
Bill Cavanaugh: Greetings from Elba
Cavanaugh’s thoughts on geography articulate the choice facing media freelancers:
“From a technical standpoint, I could do this anywhere. But you still need face time with
these people. You need to be able to get to them. Because if there’s an issue, I want to be close
enough to come and talk to them and will drop by in the city.” For him, proximity matters—
clearly—yet he articulates a dimension beyond the work:
“Social contact is important. That’s why I still take jobs working in the
remaining studios. I can go two or three times a month into the city so I can be
around humans. That’s where the Elba line came up…just mixing up here and
being by myself. I feel a bit like I’m reading books and waiting to reinvade
Europe. I’m not going to reinvade Europe. I’m not going to reinvade Manhattan
—I never completely pulled out.”
Cavanaugh used to affectionately refer to his home in Rhinebeck, New York, as “Elba,” a
historical reference to the island where Napoleon was banished. Bill talks about the
adjustment:
“When I ?rst moved there, I felt a bit exiled. I had to sell a new model and
would tell clients I could be there in two hours. I can get it to you in twenty
minutes if you send it via the Internet, I can send it back as a full-time
Quicktime movie with picture and everything. You can review it and say ‘Can
you lower the music here?’ That’s what they did. In ten minutes, they would say,
89 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
‘Can you make this change’ and it would be uploaded again. Within a half hour,
it would have gone through all channels and they would say it’s perfect.”
He stresses that proximity still makes a difference because clients have not yet acclimated to
the new studio work method:
“I could be doing this in North Dakota with FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
technology. The idea that I could be in North Dakota would be ridiculous.
Rhinebeck is a well-known town outside of Manhattan. A lot of artists live here.
It’s sort of the upscale Woodstock. There are a lot of musicians and studios up
here. A lot of the engineers are the guys that left the studios in New York twenty
years ago and they’re still in the mindset of the old studio system and haven’t
changed their work method.”
Cavanaugh’s move to Rhinebeck opened up new regional clients in Boston as he was already
working on Nova and Nova Science Now for Boston-based WGBH. He says “Now they’re
comfortable enough with me to say, ‘You can do it in Rhinebeck and then come to Boston or
New York to review it.’ I have proximity to both cities.”
Kasumi: Personal Contacts are More Important than Geography
Kasumi, a recent Guggenheim recipient, acknowledges that she should be in New York
because “...no matter how [many commissions and big jobs] you can do in your own studio,
(commissions and big jobs) you need the face time.” She suggests that although geography
does make a difference, it is your personal contacts are more important when it comes to
collaborative projects. She stresses the following: “Hired to do a job is one thing. But hired to
do a job as a collaborator is another thing. It’s really important to understand the
contributions of each person, as is the case in ?lm. If you think your part is more important
than someone else’s, then you will fail.”
Kate Farrell: Geography In?uences The Type of Work and Friends are a Major Factor in the Choice
Farrell is no stranger to large-scale production. She is currently an executive producer
at WE-tv where she works on reality television programming. When I interviewed Kate in
2013, she was living in Millbrook, New York and working freelance. Prior to our interview, she
had quit working at WE-tv previously because of the everyday commuting strain:
“It was at least a two-hour each-way commute on the train. I did that but that
was a job that I eventually left. I was looking for work in New York again and no
one would really hire me as a ‘work from home’ person. Not in freelance. You
have to go on shoots, go on location, be in the edit room. You have long days and
you can’t commute two hours each way and pull a 12-hour day. It’s too
exhausting.”
Farrell continues:
90 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
“Which coast you live on is another factor. If I wanted to work regularly in
reality, I should be living in L.A. That’s where it’s happening. In New York, there’s
only about four companies that do reality series in the New York area—maybe
more I don’t know about. So you’ve already limited your scope. One of things
that I’ll do in New York is to keep in touch with my sports friends. Another factor
is friendships. ”
Now, she has moved back to the city and is working at WE-Tv again on a full time basis as an
executive producer. She talks about that decision:
“I moved to the Hudson Valley as a personal choice. At the time, I could work
from home but once I wanted to get back into TV, I found that I needed to be in
NYC again. For awhile at least from my perspective, certain companies were
allowing people to work from home but I think I’ve heard a little bit of a shift…
that they want people to be in the jobs—and I’m not talking production jobs.
I’m talking corporate or working for a cable company or network. They’re not as
happy with people working from home.”
Laura Paglin: A Challenge Finding Actors in Cleveland
When Paglin (who typically works on ?ctional ?lms) realized that recruiting acting
talent in Cleveland was more di#cult than expected, she adapted by creating documentaries.
From working on a new project talking to the women who survived serial killer Anthony
Sewell to her recent full-length feature-length documentary on an E-Prep (an
entrepreneurial charter school with a compelling success record) Cleveland is always
featured in her recent work.
26
The one advantage of living in a city with intense challenges is
that there are plenty of topics to discover and document. Married without children, she can
be somewhat versatile in terms of her lifestyle and project choices because her “...lifestyle
doesn’t demand much.We don’t live beyond our means….It’s a way of adapting to what we do.
We don’t have a ‘McMansion’—and we live in Cleveland.”
THE TAKEAWAY: WHETHER FREELANCE IS GLOBAL OR LOCAL, IT IS
RELATIONALLY DRIVEN
“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally
anchored. One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at
things.” — Henry Miller
The media freelancer does not have time to ponder the state of the economy. She is
too busy ?nding work, ?nishing work and then doing it again at a pace and price that is
signi?cantly compressed. Freelancers are certainly aware that the content “king” has been
dethroned. The Internet, along with rapid technological invention, has had a profound
91 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
26
Laura Paglin, “Facing Forward-Trailer,” accessed October 27, 2011,http://www.facingforwardfilm.com/.
impact on all the creative industries: “Attention has shifted from the ‘what’ of content to the
‘how’ of delivery, branding, and customer relations—in other words toward management.”
27
Journalists were the ?rst to feel the impact, especially as newspapers imploded. As we
rapidly shift from the industrial to the information age, structures and solutions that once
worked are creaky and at a breaking point.
All the freelancers interviewed recognize that talent alone does not drive creativity or
invention. Rather, it is a supportive community that can bolster our courage, renew our
con?dence and allow us to move forward together. As noted in Net Locality: Why Location
Matters in a Networked World:
“The fact that the web is marching steadily along the path to localization is an
indication that local communities, cultures, and contexts have always been
relevant, and always will be. It would be naïve to deny the in?uence of global
networks on local communities. However, what we can observe now, in
perhaps comparable intensity, is the in?uence of local knowledge and local
information in shaping global networks. It is in this tension between the local
and the global that net locality unfolds. Net locality changes the meaning and
value of the web, not because the technology has determined that to be the
case, but because people have adopted networked technologies for local
purposes. We exist in communities, neighborhoods, networks, and
spaces...Meaning is produced locally.”
28
The extension of the previous idea that “meaning is produced locally” requires the tagline
“when engaged in relationship” because it is at this junction where emergent possibilities for
creative adventures and performances exist.
From “Me” to “We”
This place of chaos and confusion is really a birthing ground for change and growth.
Where are we? We are at a crossroads where crisis is presenting an opportunity to move from
an individualistic “me” orientation to a more inclusive and interdependent “we” sensibility.
LinkedIn is not just a professional networking site but a metaphor for a new cultural
connectivity. The era of the rugged individualist is now being slowly being supplanted with an
evolving view of interdependence and mutual cooperation. As Kenneth Gergen states:
“In the 1980’s evolutionary biologists began to question the Darwinian
assumptions about the relationships among species. With careful attention to
detail, an alternative view emerged. The relationship was not one of
competition, but co-evolution. That is, the survival of various species could be
linked to the survival of other species, with whom they existed in a mutually
92 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
27
Chris Bilton, “The Management of the Creative Industries,” in Managing Media Work, ed. Mark Deuze, (London:
Sage Publications, 2011), 31–42.
28
Eric Gordon and Adriana de Souza e Silva, Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World (West Sussex:
John Wiley & Sons, 2011), 179–180.
symbiotic relationship.”
29
Media freelancers were the early adopters of a work style that recognizes the importance of
relational connections and collaboration as vital to their survival.
Free-range Workers Seek Opportunity wherever they Land
Cities are a cultural supercollider where different viewpoints, ideologies and
ethnicities inevitably spark creativity and imagination. However, there are other cities that
provide a respite from overstimulation. They allow for the kind of internal re?ection that
later emerges in an invention or imaginative recalibration that creates change. We are all
given choices about where we want to live—some ideal and some not. A city, whether vibrant
or dull, is only one factor that contributes to the socially constructed success of the free-
range worker.
The innate life of the freelancer is one of ?nding an unusual juxtaposition of where
their talents can be useful and getting up to speed quickly in order to produce, create or
consult. Many media freelancers may have little familiarity with a topic but they have a
willingness to explore, research and quickly learn. This is where they get excited and their
creative ideas start percolating. Alan McElroy’s writing projects range from Spawn, to
Halloween 4 to the video game Hellgate London. These participants have the courage to jump
in quickly because they have the experience of learning new skills and receiving recognition
for their work. This reinforcement allows them to enter new domains with greater
con?dence. Yet it is not only a trust in your own ability but in your collaborators who must
also believe in your capacity to transfer skills to another venue. Freelancers are always
leaving the comfort of the familiar and heading to the new. What we can learn from them is
the how they live in the realm of uncertainty.
Explore the Other
“Successful bonding calls for a transformation in narrative. The ‘I’ as the center of the
story must gradually be replaced by the ‘we.’ The ‘we’ now becomes the major
protagonist in the narrative of life, the central character to whom everything is
related.” — Kenneth Gergen
Freelancers are natural explorers and researchers; they enter many domains through
their work and leave again. In entering a new, unfamiliar domain, media freelancers explore
the “other.” Laura Paglin has been interviewing women who have survived an infamous
serial killer in Cleveland and is continuously documenting an entrepreneurial charter
school in Cleveland. Bill Cavanaugh has done sound engineering for Grammy award-
winning projects, television, M-TV, VH1, The History Channel, Nova and Discovery Channel.
Sheryl White has written hundreds of commercials from telecommunications to
93 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
29
Kenneth Gergen, Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 381–82.
pharmaceuticals for national clients. The media freelancer is adept at entering unfamiliar
and familiar territory and then bringing it to life. All of these participants traverse many
“othered”worlds.
Entering the “other’s” world is a shift away from the “me” as it requires one to
suspend judgment and entertain other ways of being and doing. It requires creating a
relational viewpoint that melds both parties together. As a “we,” there is a shared inquiry
where many ideas are explored and “we” can create something newer and exponentially
richer with possibilities together. As Henry Miller once wrote: “If we are always arriving and
departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place
but rather a new way of looking at things."
30
When we look through the eyes of others, there
is a lot more to see.
94 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
30
Henry Miller, Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, 25.
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by Mark Deuze, 31-42. London: Sage Publications, 2011.
CNN Money. “List of the Best Companies to Work for.” Accessed May, 2012. http://
money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/50.html.
Cooperrider, David L. and Diana Kaplin Whitney. Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in
Change. San Francisco, CA.: Berrett-Koehler, 2005.
Details. “The Rust Belt Brain Gain.” Accessed April 7, 2012.http://www.details.com/culture-
trends/critical-eye/201204/rust-belt-revival-brain-gain-think-tank.
Deuze, Mark. “Workstyles in the Media Production Industries: Mapping Media Work.” Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston,
Massachusetts, July 31, 2008. Available athttp://citation.allacademic.com/meta/
p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/1/2/0/ pages241206/p241206-1.php.
Florida, Richard. “How the Crash will Reshape America.” The Atlantic. Accessed September
25, 2012. http:// www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2009/03/how-the-crash-will-reshape-
america/307293/.
———. Who’s Your City: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important
Decision of Your Life. Toronto: Random House, 2009.
Gergen, Kenneth J. Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2009.
Gergen, Kenneth J., Stuart M. Schrader and Mary M. Gergen. Constructing Worlds Together:
Interpersonal Communication as Relational Process. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson
Education, 2009.
Godin, Seth. “Stop Stealing Dreams: What is School for?” Accessed March 27, 2012.
www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/stopstealingdreamsscreen.pdf.
Goldman, Laine. “The Migrant Creative: U.S. Media Freelancers at the Border of a Changing
Work Culture.” Ph.D. diss., Tilburg University, Netherlands, 2013.
Gordon, Eric, and Adriana de Souza e Silva. Net locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked
World. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Heaton, Michael. “Comedy Writer Marc Ja!e devises Seder Cup that drains itself.” Accessed
May 2 5 , 2 01 4 . ht t p: / / www. c l eve l a nd. c om/ pe opl e / i ndex. s s f / 2 008 / 03 /
comedy_writer_marc_ja!e_devis.html.
Merriam-Webster Online.http://merriam-webster.com.
Miller, Henry. Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. New York: New Directions
Publishing Corporation, 1957.
95 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
Pagl i n, Laura. “Faci ng Foward-Trai ler. ” Accessed October 27, 2011. http: / /
www.facingforwardfilm.com/.
———. No Umbrella—Election Day in the City. Accessed October 22, 2011. http://
www.noumbrella.org/.
Piiparinen, Richey and Anne Trubek eds. Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology. Cleveland:
Rust Belt Chic Press, 2012.
Pink, Daniel H. Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself. New York: Warner Books,
2002.
Schwartz, Tony. “Share this with your CEO.” Accessed July 2012.http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/06/
share-this-with-your-ceo/
———. “The Twelve Attributes of a Truly Great Place to Work.” Accessed October 16, 2012.
http:// blogs.hbr.org/2011/09/the-twelve-attributes-of-a-tru/
Shaki ng wi t h Laughter Foundat i on. Accessed Apri l 1 0, 201 2. htt p: /
shakingwithlaughter.org/.
Ohio Knitting Mill. Accessed February 19, 2012.http://www.ohioknittingmills.com/.
Pofedlt, Elaine. “What you’ll need to know to be the Boss in 2020.” Forbes Accessed May 26,
2014.http://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2012/04/03/what-youll-need-to-know-to-be-
the-boss-in-2020/.
Tatar, Steven, and Denise Grollmus. The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book: 26 patterns Celebrating
Four Decades of American Sweater Style. New York: Artisan, 2010.
Tempest, Sue and Ken Starkey. “The Effects of Liminality on Individual and Organizational
Learning.” Organizational Studies 25 (2004): 507–27.
The University of Chicago. “Glossary: Liminal, liminality.” Accessed September 7, 2012. http://
csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary/2004/liminal.htm.
Trattner, Douglas.“Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology.” Accessed July 30, 2012. http://
www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/rustbeltchic060712.aspx.
Turner, Victor. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University
Press, 1967.
Winfrey, Oprah. “Oprah Talks to Deepak Chopra.” O, the Oprah Magazine, June 2012, 144.
96 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
doc_558779161.pdf
Within this criteria related to jaer journal of arts entrepreneurship research.
2 JONATHAN
JAER
Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research
Gary D. Beckman What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
Jonathan Gangi Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis
James D. Hart Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero’s Adventure
Volume 1, Number 1, 2014
The Liminal Freelance Landscape: Geography, Proximity
and Community
Laine Goldman
2 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Gary D. Beckman Executive Editor
Associate Editors Stephen Carradini
Jonathan Gangi
Bailey Stiles
Jason C. White
Editorial Board Kitty Daniels - Cornish College of Art
William Foulkes - Rhode Island School of Design
Laine Goldman - Tilburg University, Netherlands
James D. Hart - Southern Methodist University
Laurence Kaptain - Louisiana State University
Gerald Klickstein - Peabody Conservatory
Satish Nambisan - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
John Mueller - Western Michigan University
Rachel Roberts - New England Conservatory
Diane Roscetti - California State University, Northridge
William Sandberg - University of South Carolina
Joette Wisnieski - Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Volume 1, Number 1, 2014
What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
GARY D. BECKMAN
North Carolina State University
he ?eld of Arts Entrepreneurship is gaining strength measured both in program
emergence and student demand. Some programs are serving hundreds of students
each academic year and the variety of e!orts signify how contextualized the ?eld has
become; the academic housing of these e!orts is a partial indication. Likely, it is time
for the ?eld to consider a number of consensus points and these challenging discussions have
already informally begun. For example, the ?eld seems to desire a “de?ning” of terms— such
as the ?eld’s title—which is not only reasonable, but necessary. As one who appreciates
de?nitions and the processes contained therein, I submit that there may be times when the act
of “de?ning” (broadly speaking) may be better approached non-linearly, radically (in the
Schumperterian sense), with a measure of respect for the ine!able and perhaps most
importantly, patience. This article suggests that de?ning “Arts Entrepreneurship is…” is
critical, as it demonstrates/communicates both trajectory and intellectual vitality. Yet given the
realities of what it is we organically appear to be doing as ?eld (simply acknowledging the
need for de?ning without a clear scholarly methodology to approach the topic),
“circumscribing,” “embracing” and “theorizing” might provide a stronger methodological
foundation in de?nition development with signi?cant bene?ts in the long term.
A PRECURSOR: IS, SOMETHING
From an A(a)rts perspective, “entrepreneurship” is an interesting something to try and
de?ne. One wonders if it is a set of actions, character traits, behaviors, processes, mindsets, etc.
or some combination thereof. It certainly seems observable and replete with opinions of what
entrepreneurship “is” or “is not”—as our colleagues in the business school know all too well.
What obfuscates matters is that it appears one person’s “entrepreneuring” is another’s everyday
activity. For example, a case could be made that starting a business (New Venture Creation) is
3 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
T
A common and necessary desire in disciplinary development is the need to define the object of
study. The field of Arts Entrepreneurship contains two words lacking consensus, which creates
significant challenges when attempting to define a third. As an introductory examination, this article
outlines how the inherent tension and hidden harmony of the field’s title may serve as a foil to
developing a successful, immediate definition garnering wide-spread consensus.
z
Copyright © 2014, Gary Beckman
not “entrepreneurial;” new businesses launch every day and The United States Small Business
Administration is dedicated to their success. In fact, there is an entire cultural, educational and
economic infrastructure to facilitate the emergence of these entities. But for some reason, most
consider the late Steve Jobs an “entrepreneur” because he founded Apple Computer—and we
should note that he was not the ?rst one to start a computer company. One could ask “why do
most consider Jobs an entrepreneur when all he did was start a business?” Most, I suppose,
would answer by saying that he had a “vision” for the company that centered on the leveraging
of new technology (with a sense of the aesthetic) for those who could not normally a!ord such
things; perhaps Jobs simply recognized opportunity.
Art appears to su!er the same malady—it is an interesting something to try and de?ne.
If someone calls something “Art” and we acknowledge it as so (despite our misgivings), does this
serve Art? This something seems observable and there are many opinions on what it is or is not.
One person’s Art is another’s trash, it seems. A case could be made that creating Art is an
everyday occurrence and not unique. What we call “Art” today has not only existed for
millennia, it permeates today’s society to the point of commoditization; besides, it appears that
anyone can do anything and call it Art. In fact, there is an entire cultural, educational and
economic infrastructure to facilitate the emergence of A(a)rt: higher education, the arts
industries, “the Art World,” etc. But for some reason, we consider Jackson Pollock’s Number 8
Art, when Sandro Botticelli (if he had the chance to view the work) may ask why a drop cloth
was hanging on a wall for all to see. It is an interesting question: why do some consider
Pollock’s work “Art” when Botticelli likely would not? Most, I suppose, would answer that
Pollock had a new artistic “vision” that centered on leveraging a demand for new somethings in
the Art World. Yet all somethings being contextual, Botticelli’s cultural context would likely not
support his judgement of Number 8 being a work of Art at all; perhaps Pollock simply
recognized opportunity.
So, who is the entrepreneur, who is the artist and which one is both? Jobs, Pollock,
Botticelli? All three? None? One? To determine the answer with any sort of con?dence, we
need de?nitions, which typically require the verb “is.” The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
de?nes the term as: “That which exists, that which is; the fact or quality of existence.”
1
Obviously, this de?nition appears more concerned with something that is identi?able, making
no distinction about its tangibility. However, at its core, “is” communicates a distinct binary
value: something “exists” and “is” or something “does not exist” and therefore, “is not.”
Simplicity and determination are the hallmarks of this verb, yet “is” (existence and
identi?ability) can be an elusive concept. There are many disagreements about a number of
“is-s,” for example: “This is ART” or “blue is a state of mind.” Even “Beethoven was a great
composer” communicates an unequivocal; something exists (Beethoven’s work) and can be
identi?ed (greatness). The interesting thing about the verb in these grammatical constructions
is that despite its seemingly harsh pronouncements, it can engender an almost automatic
contrarian response—“prove it.” As academic ?elds emerge, there comes a time when verbs
become important. At this point in the ?eld’s development, “is” is an important verb and
“prove it” is an essential check on the de?nition.
4 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
1
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “is.”
For any emerging academic ?eld, de?ning its essence is obviously critical as it
communicates the explicit binary—is and isn’t, the study object exists or it does not, it is
identi?able or it is not. As formal statements of signi?cance and meaning, de?nitions can be
vexing, wrought with disagreement, occasionally obvious and sometimes defying easy
linguistic description. The inherent struggle with de?ning “somethings” in this manner is not
simply the process of de?ning (and getting it right) but gaining consensus on a de?nition—as
our colleagues in business schools can attest.
2
CIRCUMSCRIBING
We could begin a conversation about de?ning the ?eld by simply circumscribing our
e!orts. As educators, most appear to be in contact with students from the Fine Arts disciplines
(music, theatre, dance, ?lm, photography and Art) who desire (broadly speaking) to make a
living with their Art based on their training—conservatory students are a typical example.
Additionally, there are those students who are not pursuing a Fine Arts degree who also desire
(broadly speaking) to make a living with their A(a)rt in some manner. (These students could be
pursing a business, music industry or even a zoology degree, for example; note that many
gravitate to the popular arts). We also see students who (again broadly speaking) are less
interested in producing A(a)rt for a living, yet still desire a signi?cant connection with the
A(a)rts as it is important to their life’s work or ambitions (arts administration, for example).
Though this exposition may not be as inclusive as some educators see, it helps to prove
a very simple and necessary point about de?ning the ?eld. At the micro-level, the ?eld is
highly (if not hyper) contextualized according to discipline, disciplinary culture, student
population and even institutional mission, yet when examined at a macro level, the ?eld
appears to serve two broad groups of emerging arts entrepreneurs: 1) those who desire to
entrepreneurially produce A(a)rt and 2) those who desire to entrepreneurially impact the
production of A(a)rt in some way, shape or form. Perhaps we could also broadly state that what
unites the two groups is a desire to make A(a)rt a critical aspect of their life’s work. Since the
?eld’s su#x contains the word “entrepreneurship,” we might also assume that our students
desire an “entrepreneurial” lifestyle.
It would not take too much thought to “de?ne” Arts Entrepreneurship (and even other
permutations of the ?eld) given this circumscription. The problem, however, becomes
apparent as the title of the ?eld contains two words—both borrowed and both lacking
consensus. If we were to stop here and de?ne the ?eld as outlined above, we would be making
two explicit assumptions: 1) We know what A(a)rt is and can identify it (with consensus on the
de?nition) and 2) We know what entrepreneurship is and can identify it (with consensus on
the de?nition). Obviously, we can typically de?ne tangible things with a sense of certainty, yet
once we introduce subjectivity, intangible properties, cultures (micro-, macro-, non-western,
etc.) and perspective (to name but a few variables), de?nitions become less authoritative, more
di#cult to articulate and challenging to build consensus. While it is true that de?nitions can
be contextual, is it in the ?eld’s interest to adopt a contextual de?nition based on assumptions?
5 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
2
A very brief example describing the discipline’s challenges in this regard appear below.
A second measure of circumscription is less tangible. When pulling apart the
compound construction of the ?eld’s title at its most basic level—ART and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP— there are broad, undeniable distinctions. The most obvious is “Art”
and the centuries of contextual meaning it possesses and “Entrepreneurship,” which appears
to have no consensus in the discipline other than what appears to be two primary schools of
thought (New Venture Creation and behavior) with perhaps, some tenuous connections
between them.
3
As far apart (or as connected) as ART and ENTREPRENEURSHIP seem, they
also embody signi?cant and fundamental distinctions and commonalities the ?eld must
explore in the process of de?ning “Arts Entrepreneurship is…”
There is a broad and sometimes subtle (though not exclusive) di!erence in how A(a)rt
and non-A(a)rt products are consumed. When thinking of the products that emerging
entrepreneurship students in business school-based entrepreneurship programs leverage,
perhaps we in the Arts assume that the market consumption of these goods and services is as
follows: an Intangible Idea yields a Tangible Product, which yields a Tangible Experience. For
example, a business school-based student may see an opportunity for a new application of
technology, which they develop and manifest for a market that sees value in the consumption
of that application: a refrigerator, a television or software that speeds analysis, etc. In the
A(a)rts, we see a similar construct, though with a signi?cant distinction: an Intangible Idea
yields a Tangible Product (a performance, a work of A(a)rt, an A(a)rts education company), yet
yields an Intangible Experience for the market’s consumers. This Intangible Experience may be
described as an aesthetic experience of some sort or kind, if we 1) agree even modestly with 19
th
century aestheticians and 2) aesthetic experiences transcend A(a)rt’s genres. I envision this as a
very broad-based distinction and would caution the reader that our colleagues in the business
school absolutely assist some of their emerging entrepreneurs with products and ideas that
possess aesthetic properties. Automobiles, for example, can provide aesthetic experiences for
certain market segments and these segments likely consume these products based on a
complicated and subjective judgment of the contents and de?nition of subjective beauty—just
like an A(a)rt consumer.
We should note, however, that our business school colleagues also help their students
leverage services resulting in Intangible Experiences (the experience of a car repair, for
example). The same could be said of students in our classrooms from the sciences who wish to
aid artists with new inventions or innovations resulting in a Tangible Experience (software,
again, serves as an example). What links both sets of students—and their educators—is that
both sides of campus engage in the construction and leveraging of broad- and sometimes
hybrid-based value propositions: tangible and intangible.
4
6 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
A cursory discussion describing these two recent schools of thought appear below.
4
Vivek Velamuri, Hybrid Value Construction (Leipzig: Springer, 2011). Note that Velamuri discusses the merging of
the tangible and intangible to create a hybrid value proposition. However, deconstructing the author’s de?nition
appearing on page seven “…hybrid value creation is de?ned as the process of generating additional value by
innovatively combining products (tangible component) and services (intangible component),” helps to articulate
the similarities shared by arts-based and business school-based educators and students.
EMBRACING
The Role of the Business School
When examining how the ?eld approaches its scholarship, a cursory examination of
what the ?eld has produced to date betrays a remarkable lacuna. By any measure, the ?eld’s
published research demonstrates a distinct arts perspective, which in the context of
negotiating the ?eld’s title seems axiomatic.
5
However, by either ignoring or cursorily
examining the extant business school literature on the topic of entrepreneurship, the ?eld
misses a signi?cant opportunity. Speci?cally, the discipline of Entrepreneurship is not only far
more advanced in its examination of the topic, it possesses signi?cant ideas, theories and
frameworks suitable for application in an arts context.
6
By avoiding the examination,
leveraging and embrace of this extant research, the ?eld both misses an opportunity and
restricts its intellectual growth. Though this literature is certainly foreign to those of us in the
arts, we must both broaden our investigative context by producing research engaging more
challenging Library of Congress call numbers and pull ourselves away from the overweighted
integration of topics better suited for arts administration literature.
7
By asking our business school colleagues to be partners with us in (at least) scholarship
development and (perhaps) curriculum design, we can impact both sides of campus. As
mentioned above, our ?eld needs assistance integrating entrepreneurial theory and perhaps
our partners would bene?t by an exposure to the arts, aesthetics, artistic entrepreneurial
desire and intention, etc. There is much to be learned on both sides of campus and I argue that
intellectual uncertainty, lethargy or suspicion does not help our ?eld and absolutely does not
help our students. Indeed, there are di!erences in foci, but we do share a name—
entrepreneurship—and not fully embracing our partner’s e!orts hamstrings our ?eld’s
development.
Likewise, we should be wary of ideas, concepts or words that appear to provide a quick
?x. For example, a popular trope heard recently is “Arts Entrepreneurship is a transdiscipline.”
Michael Scriven de?nes a transdiscipline in two ways: ?rst, an older conception of the term as
“...meaning a theory, point of view, or perspective that has some application in several
disciplines” and a second, more recent conception as “...meaning a discipline that has
standalone status as a discipline and is also used as a methodological or analytical tool in
7 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
5
Gary Beckman, “Entrepreneuring the Aesthetic: Arts Entrepreneurship and Reconciliation,” in The Routledge
Companion to Entrepreneurship, ed. Friederike Welter and Ted Baker. (London:Taylor & Francis Group,
forthcoming 2014).
6
See the following: Larry Cox, Stephen Mueller and Sherry Moss, “The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education
on Entrepreneurial Self-E#cacy,” International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 1, no. 2 (2002): 1–17; Hoa Ma
and Justin Tan, “Key Components and Implications of Entrepreneurship: A 4-P Framework,” Journal of Business
Venturing 21 (2006): 704–25; and Daniel Yar Hamidi, Karl Wennberg and Henrik Berglund, “Creativity in
Entrepreneurship Education,” Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 15, no. 2 (2008): 304–320.
7
For example: Johan Kolsteeg, “Situated Cultural Entrepreneurship” Artivate 2, no. 3 (2013): 3–13; Vijay Mathew
and Polly Carl, “Culture Coin: A Commons-based Complementary Currency for the Arts and its Impact on
Scarcity, Virtue, Ethics and the Imagination,” Artivate 2, no. 3 (2013): 14–29; and Debra Webb, “Placemaking and
Social Equity: Expanding the Framework of Creative Placemaking,” Artivate 3, no. 1 (2014): 35–48.
several other disciplines.”
8
We should note that Arts Entrepreneurship is 1) not a discipline nor
is it recognized as such (we have yet to develop our own branch of knowledge) and 2) at this
point in the ?eld’s development, we appear to not possess a single theory—much less one that
is used by another discipline. Therefore, according to Scriven, Arts Entrepreneurship is not a
transdiscipline. To make such Latin-based pre?x pronouncements following the verb “is”
re?ects the ?eld’s youth, inexperience and demonstrates a signi?cant misunderstanding of
disciplinary development and grammatical perspective. Further, our business school partners
seem to resist such grand urges, yet use pre?xes to appropriately to classify the contributions
of many disciplines to the development of Entrepreneurship.
9
Contents
There is one signi?cant aspect we must consider when embracing the ?eld’s scholarly
horizon. Speci?cally, many of our students intend to entrepreneur directly with an aesthetic
product. As brie?y mentioned above, this both articulates and binds us to our colleagues in the
business school. To reiterate, our compatriots across campus do not help their students
entrepreneur aesthetic products exclusively. Again, this distinction is helpful as it can be used
in the theorizing process as well: A(a)rts students entrepreneur with aesthetic products exclusively
and business school-based students do not, exclusively.
Obviously, the implications of this suggestion are somewhat grand: does this mean that
we must teach aesthetics in our arts entrepreneurship classroom? If we consider the question
even cursorily, we may ?nd further distinctions and commonalities with our business school
partners. For example, if one examines a standard degree plan for a B.S. in Business we ?nd
that students are exposed to a broad set of basic concepts the discipline determined provides a
solid intellectual foundation for students to enter business culture. However, in the Fine Arts,
skills designed for Fine Arts Culture are the focus. Both prepare their students to participate in
a distinct culture, yet Fine Arts students are trained to provide an aesthetic experience almost
exclusively as their market’s culture demands (consciously or not) the experience. This may
suggest we acknowledge the importance of aesthetic theory for our ?eld and further, that it
may be crucial in our curricular design decisions.
Certainly most Arts Entrepreneurship educators are not trained in aesthetics and truth
be told, many of our arts terminal degree training constructs do not mandate the topic. Yet
how can we prepare A(a)rts students to entrepreneur when their market makes aesthetic
judgements without a discussion of the product’s aesthetic contents? If the desire for an
ine!able A(a)rt experience is the real reason for A(a)rt’s consumption (yet no one can explain
why), then 1) our students need to know because this core, desired experience becomes the
8 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
8
Michael Scriven, “The Concept of a Transdiscipline: And of Evaluation as a Transdiscipline,” Journal of Multi-
disciplinary Education 5, no. 10 (2008): 65–66. For a more detailed discussion, see Atila Ertas, “Understanding of
Transdiscipline and Transdisciplinary Process,” Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science 1, no. 1 (2010): 53–
73.
9
Jose Barreira, “Early Thinking and the Emergence of Entrepreneurship,” in Frontiers in Entrepreneurship
(Johannesburg: Springer, 2010), 15–18.
broader value proposition and 2) the percentage of aesthetic content in our student’s
entrepreneurial product distinguishes us from our business school partners.
Aesthetics in the Arts Entrepreneurship classroom should not be considered remote as
it possesses some signi?cant pedagogical bene?ts. For example, when speaking about arts
marketing, aesthetics can help to suggest proper ratios of cultural, semiotic and linguistic
communication in the context of demographics and consumption model identi?cation/
targeting. In this case, if we consider the cause of the market’s consumption of A(a)rt in
combination with the way these markets consume that A(a)rt, it is likely that more e!ective
decisions about the content and design of an art venture’s marketing mix, for example, would
be possible. Though this is a more elementary example, the prospect of adopting some form of
aesthetic training for emerging arts entrepreneurs should be seriously considered as it impacts
our student’s markets—those who make buying decisions centered on an individualized
determination of beauty.
THEORIZING
Negotiating Our Title
If there were ever two words brought together to form an emerging academic ?eld
wrought with little to no consensus on what each word means, ART + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
would be a strong candidate. For roughly 2,500 years, the best minds in the history of western
civilization have yet to agree on what Art is or is not, how it should be judged, or its true
function in society—other than multifaceted. De?nitions of “A(a)rt” abound and though one
de?nition may account for what most call “A(a)rt,” some will inevitably disagree. Thousands of
gallons of ink, thousands of years and (likely) thousands of minds have attempted to de?ne
something that exists (society tends to agree on this) yet de?es consensus. This something we call
“Art” may not be a something at all.
10
We know that the something “Art” may be a painting, a
performance, etc., but when it strays outside our personalized conception or de?nition of the
something, thus begins the conundrum. Without going into a philosophical discussion about
Art’s meaning, I would suspect that most readers at least agree with the premise: A de?nition
of “Art” lacks consensus for many, many reasons.
The discipline of Entrepreneurship has been exploring their de?nition (in the modern
sense) for many years. Abstracted, one more recent event in their “de?ning” history begins
with a seminal article in 1989 by Murray Low and Ian MacMillian.
11
In this work, the authors
suggested that the discipline confront a simple problem: there were too many research
trajectories examining the discipline and thus, reaching consensus points would prove
di#cult. What resulted was an interdisciplinary examination of the term, which solidi?ed two
broad streams of thought: entrepreneurship is the creation of new ventures (New Venture
9 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
10
See Stephen Davies, The Philosophy of Art (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006). Davies articulates the
rationale for “Art” being both a biological and cultural need.
11
Murray Low and Ian MacMillan, “Entrepreneurship: Past, Present and Future Challenges.” Journal of
Management 14, no. 2 (1988): 139–61.
Creation) and entrepreneurship is a choice to behave in a certain manner after due process.
12
These two camps exist to this day and are clearly articulated in graduate school seminars.
13
Uni ti ng our ?el d i s a l ack of consensus on both terms, ART and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, which possesses signi?cant methodological implications. For
example, we can observe what di!ering de?nitions of each term provides. That is, we can say
‘this individual appears to be acting in an entrepreneurial manner according to de?nition A
using art as de?ned by C and D.’ This methodology may produce quick de?nitions, but is it
appropriate?
While we can de?ne “Arts Entrepreneurship” using extant de?nitions, we must ask
whether or not a precise de?nition is even possible in the future—and if it is—who is best
positioned to create the de?nition? Are we as Arts Entrepreneurship Educators in a position to
de?ne the ?eld’s title when our colleagues across campus cannot de?ne and reach consensus
on the title’s components. Though the last question is for others to answer, I posit that quickly
de?ning the ?eld as “Arts Entrepreneurship is…” both misses the point and provides a learning
opportunity: embracing the uncertainty of their discipline’s title is what our business school
partners have done for decades, they have simply (with consensus) theorized (for now) a
(present) ine!able—we are both in liminal space.
Embracing uncertainty is not a weakness, nor is saying everything matters. Stephen
Davies would suggest that if Art is contextual then so is the judgment of its constituent
properties.
14
This broader-based conception of Art is helpful in my view as it pulls the
constituent “parts” of Art’s discussion together and raises it above the fray—it allows us to
theorize a broader de?nition based on the “working out” of evolving issues. We may disagree
with a de?nition of Art’s contents but a broad-based theory of art encompassing di!ering
de?nitions and opinions is helpful.
15
This allows us to discuss the parts and judgments of Art
in a myriad of contexts while retaining the observation and consensus that there is this
something called “Art.”
Using this methodology, we may ?nd it more helpful to discuss art and
entrepreneurship (both separate and together) as a phenomenon within a broader theory (or
theories) of Arts Entrepreneurship.
16
This way, the ?eld can account for the observations of
human actions and behavior without being drawn into arguments about constituent and
contextual de?nitions. Indeed, the idea is to observe the broader phenomenon of arts
entrepreneurship within theoretical constructs that can be proved, disproved or adapted as the
10 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
12
A singular piece of representative literature for both schools of thought would include Je!ry Timmons and
Stephen Spinelli, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century (Homewood, Il: McGraw Hill, 2004)
and Kelly Shaver and Linda Scott, “Person, Process, Choice: The Psychology of New Venture Creation”
Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice 16, no. 2 (1991): 23–45.
13
Karen Verduijin, “Tales of Entrepreneurship: Contributions to Understanding Entrepreneurial Life” (Ph.D. diss.,
Vrije Universiteit Amstredam, 2007).
14
Davies, The Philosophy of Art, 10.
15
Ibid., 45–47.
16
The OED de?nes phenomenon as “A thing which appears, or which is perceived or observed; a particular (kind
of ) fact, occurrence, or change as perceived through the senses or known intellectually; esp. a fact or occurrence,
the cause or explanation of which is in question.” Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “phenomenon.”
?eld’s scholarship—and time—progresses. Our business school partners have been doing this
for decades.
If a theory is intended to explain a phenomenon, then perhaps positing a de?nition of
Arts Entrepreneurship at this point is premature.
17
Using this “theory” methodology can
account for multiple observations of the phenomenon, thus providing distinct data points and
hypotheses with which to develop not only a uni?ed theory, but help to disprove theories that
cannot support predictions. A theory of Arts Entrepreneurship allows us to agree on the
observation of a broader phenomenon while keeping intact the observations that generated
the theory’s hypothesis, perhaps to be used in future theorizing.
Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the solar system provides an apt example. Based
primarily on the solar system’s constituent parts as they were known and observed from earth,
Ptolemy theorized that the earth was the center of the solar system. This theory was widely
accepted for roughly 1500 years. Though we credit Copernicus for disproving geocentrism in
the 16
th
century, heliocentricity still accounted for the observed movements of the solar system’s
constituent parts as viewed from earth, yet with more accuracy.
18
The lesson here is that the
observation of the phenomenon of heavenly bodies moving in the sky was correct—it was the theory
explaining the phenomenon’s observation that was incorrect. It should also be said that
without an understanding of key concepts we take for granted today such as gravity and laws
of motion, heliocentrism failed to enjoy immediate public adoption.
19
The importance of observation, I argue, is key at this point in the ?eld’s scholarly
development. Keeping with the example above, we see that constant observation of heavenly
bodies was critical to both theories. That is, by being able to securely predict where heavenly
bodies rose and set helped to both prove geocentricity adequate for 1500 years and prove
heliocentricity correct for 500.
Example
As an oversimpli?ed example, we may be able to craft a theory about Arts
Entrepreneurship Education. If we observe that most arts students typically do not make a
living with their art upon completing their college training despite their desire to do so, we
may identify a multitude of reasons: poor professional development in Arts training culture, a
lack of status quo opportunities in the A(a)rts job markets, economic conditions and individual
temperament, to name a few. However, if we see some A(a)rts students successfully leveraging
A(a)rt as their primary source of income through the creation of for- or non-pro?t ventures,
this may appear opposite of the typical status quo employment outcomes for this population.
11 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
17
The OED de?nes theory as “A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a
group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been con?rmed or established by observation or experiment,
and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general
laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed.” Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “theory.”
18
The increased accuracy of the heliocentric model is well documented, even in the Greek era. See Thomas
Heath, Aristarchus of Samos: The Ancient Copernicus (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2004).
19
Alan A. Kubitz, The Elusive Notion of Motion: The Genius of Kepler, Galileo, Newton and Einstein (Indianapolis: Dog
Ear Publishing, 2010): 41.
We may then identify this smaller group (popularly conceived) as “arts entrepreneurs” since
these individuals are creating new ventures by leveraging or creating art products, experiences
or products that impact the production of A(a)rt.
Subsequent observations may reveal that student ventures and desires are as diverse as
the genres and sub-genres of A(a)rt. Some may start these ventures because they ?nd non-
A(a)rts environments abhorrent. For others it may be that A(a)rt is the only pursuit that
sustains them emotionally, religiously, intrinsically or ethically. Still others may be drawn to a
popular mythos of the entrepreneurial hero and aspire to recreate the narrative through A(a)rt.
Next, when considering the role of the Arts Entrepreneurship educator, we may
observe a desire to help A(a)rts students make a living with their A(a)rt. We may also observe
that, again, students do not receive professional development or entrepreneurship education
during their arts training. Finally, we might observe that both sides of the classroom agree that
students want to make a living with their A(a)rt.
With these observations in hand, we can create a working hypothesis concerning the
purpose of Arts Entrepreneurship Education. In this example, we have the following:
1) Students who desire to make a living with their A(a)rt are having signi?cant
di#culties achieving this goal and there are many reasons why. (abstract: students desire to
make A(a)rt their livelihood and cannot).
2) Some students are successfully making a living with their A(a)rt by creating new and
highly diverse arts ventures, which are not status quo professional outcomes for this
demographic. (abstract: some appear to act “entrepreneurially” and are successful doing so).
3) The diversity of rationale for starting an arts venture is as diverse as the ventures
themselves. (abstract: diversity is a hallmark of the decision-making process and outcome).
4) Arts Entrepreneurship educators and students may share a desire for the same
outcome: for students to make a living with their A(a)rt. (abstract: both sides of the classroom
desire professional success for students).
Given these four observations, we can begin to construct a hypothesis explaining the ?eld’s
educational arm. Compressing the elements above, we can express the following: a desire for
success by both student and educator + some students succeeding “entrepreneurially” + a high
level of diversity throughout the process. This may lead us to the following statement:
Arts Entrepreneurship Education provides tools to facilitate multifaceted and self-
determined success modalities for emerging artists or those providing tools to artists.
Whether this hypothesis describes the educational arm of the ?eld or not is the ?eld’s
decision. However, it highlights three critical aspects of theorizing and de?nition development:
1) broad-based and contextualized observation is crucial 2) the diversity of our student’s
desired outcomes require the ?eld’s educators to adopt an multi-disciplinary understanding of
A(a)rt’s cultures in addition to a working knowledge of basic entrepreneurial theory as exposed
by our business school partners and 3) our student’s success depends on communicating an
A(a)rt product’s unique value proposition.
12 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Lex parsimoniae: If we agree that our ?eld concerns the study of those artists desiring a
lifestyle outside the economic and cultural status quo, then we are simply dealing with artistic
individuals far more interested in “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently,” which may fall in line
with the basic scholarly trajectory of our partners in the business school. However, for those of
us with any experience in the ?eld, we also know that many emerging 2- or 3-D artists enter
our classes to insert themselves into the status quo economic and cultural system of the “Art
World”—something far from “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently.” This simple reality yields
a number of vital and signi?cant questions perhaps far more pertinent for the ?eld’s short
term development as these students appear far more interested in selling the Art they produce
and perhaps, come to us searching for an understanding of that status quo economic and
cultural system. Do they desire to “be di!erent” or “do di!erently” in this case? Could our role
for these students be described as “painter of the Arts economic and cultural landscape”
rather than teaching them “Arts Entrepreneurship?” What delineates a class on the economic
and cultural landscape of the 21
st
century’s “Art World” from “Arts Entrepreneurship
Education?” Is Arts Entrepreneurship Education’s primary role to helping emerging artists
become successful at “being di!erent” or “doing di!erently,” or just successful or both or all
three? Is “being di!erent” simply being di!erent than non-artists or other artists? Though the
?eld must answer these vital questions, I submit a paraphrase of two seminal works by
William B. Gartner: What Arts Entrepreneurship “is” is the wrong question, because in our
e!ort to explain a whole, we may be trying to explain a hole—for now.
20
CONCLUSION
If we agree that Arts Entrepreneurship Education “is” hyper-contextual at this point in
the ?eld’s development, then de?ning Arts Entrepreneurship with the verb “is” will likely
require a broad-based de?nition; to fully understand the phenomenon demands expertise
from many disciplines. As important as this is for the ?eld, a de?nition that reaches consensus
may take signi?cant time. In the interim, this time may be better spent articulating
observations and theorizing about the phenomenon of entrepreneurial action in the arts
domains to provide data points for our campus colleagues as they help us de?ne the ?eld.
What needs to be said, however, is that determining what Arts Entrepreneurship is not also
provides critical data points.
We should also acknowledge that signi?cant observations about the ?eld can occur
anecdotally, then exposed through scholarship. For example, after attending a conference in
2008, I was speaking with a colleague who opined that his music entrepreneurship students “…
do not want to be rich, they just want to play music and earn a living.” Six years later, I heard
from another colleague uttering virtually the same words about his arts entrepreneurship
students. These educators are on opposite sides of the country; one is not teaching in the ?eld
at this time and there is no possibility of the two knowing each other. If the ?eld possessed
13 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
20
See William B. Gartner, “Who is an Entrepreneur is the Wrong Question,” American Journal of Small Business 12,
no. 4 (1988): 11-31; and William B. Gartner, “The Edge De?nes the (W)hole” Saying what Entrepreneurship is (not)
in Narrative and Discursive Approaches in Entrepreneurship: A Second Movements in Entrepreneurship Book, ed. Daniel
Hjorth and Chris Steyart (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004), 245–254.
empirical data from students that this is the case, this would go far in articulating
commonalties and di!erences with business school-based entrepreneurship students and help
to form educational goals, desired outcomes and curricula in parallel with our student’s
desires. The same can be said of considering Arts Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon. Just a
few months ago a colleague used the term to describe the actions of arts entrepreneurs—and
coupled with other scholarship describing entrepreneurship similarly— our possible adoption
of the term appears worthy of signi?cant and immediate exploration.
21
To answer the question “can Arts Entrepreneurship be de?ned?” I submit the
following;
2x + y = 1
-3x + 2y = 0
and put to the ?eld that after su#cient—and proper—e!ort, lex parsimoniae. Our solution will
likely be the result of a partnership with those studying the tangible, the intangible and the
aesthetic (which unites us in this e!ort); apprehension of the unknown (which intellectually
divides us and thwarts our e!ort) is no excuse to embrace a larger, more circumscribed, theory-
based methodology. Yet when human behavior and beauty are our equation’s variables, can
the process be as elegant when two unknowns can make a known?
14 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
21
For an all too brief list of examples, see Christian Bruyat and Pierre-Andre Julien, “De?ning the Field of
Research in Entrepreneurship” Journal of Business Venturing 16 (2000): 165–180; Scott Shane and S. Venkataraman,
“The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research” Academy of Management Review 25, no. 1 (2000): 217–26;
and Alain Fayolle, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
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———. Disciplining the Arts: Teaching Entrepreneurship in Context. Edited by Gary D. Beckman.
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17 What Arts Entrepreneurship Isn’t
18 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis
JONATHAN GANGI
Pennsylvania State University
roadly speaking, Arts Entrepreneurship Education is concerned with helping higher
education arts training become more responsive to the professional realities students
face after graduation. In part, this is prompted by decision- and policy-makers actively
reconsidering the outcomes of arts training.
1
Although this article deals with
professional artists and their entrepreneurial work, the focus is on the process of artists acting
entrepreneurially. Surveys such as SNAAP and other scholarship pertaining to artists and
work are concerned with the professional outcomes of arts training or an artist’s occupational
environment.
2
Despite some similarities, it is crucial to point out that surveys and scholarship
19 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
1
Ann M. Galligan and Neil O. Alper, “The Career Matrix: The Pipeline for Artists in the United States,” in The
Public Life of the Arts, ed. Joni Cherbo and Margaret Wyszomirski (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,
2000), 173–201; Harry H. Chartrand, “Toward an American Arts Industry,” in The Public Life of the Arts, ed. Joni
Cherbo and Margaret Wyszomirski (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000), 22–49; Gary D. Beckman,
“Career Development for Music Students: Towards a Holistic Approach,” South Central Music Bulletin 3 (2004): 13–
18; Neil O. Alper and Gregory H. Wassall, “Artists’ Careers and Their Labor Markets,” in Handbook of the Economics
of Art and Culture, ed. Victor A. Ginsburgh and David Throsby (Amsterdam: North Holland, 2006); Joni Cherbo,
Ruth Stewart and Margaret Wyszomirski, Understanding the Arts and the Creative Sector in the United States (New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008).
2
Pierre-Michel Menger, “Artistic Labor Markets: Contingent Work, Excess Supply and Occupational Risk,” in
Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, ed. Victor A. Ginsburgh and David Throsby (Amsterdam: North
Holland, 2006); Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, A Diverse Palette: What Arts Graduates Say About Their
Education and Careers—Annual Report 2012, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary
Research, 2012); Kristin Tomson, “Roles, Revenue, and Responsibilities: The Changing Nature of Being a Working
Musician,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 514–525; Elizabeth L. Lingo and Steven J. Tepper, “Looking Back,
Looking Forward: Arts-Based Careers and Creative Work,” Work and Occupations 40, no. 4 (2013): 337–36.
B
As a conceptual tool, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis depicts commonalities and amplifies profound
connections between artistic action and the art of entrepreneurial action. The framework is presented
as a step towards empowering arts students for the complexities of effective entrepreneurial action
by identifying and ordering the scope of knowledge and skills artists need for entrepreneurial
success. Further, the model demonstrates how entrepreneurship education and training can be
integrated into higher education arts programs.
z
Copyright © 2014, Jonathan Gangi
of this type are only tangentially related to this proposed framework, as this framework deals
with process, not professional outcomes.
3
As a framework, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis is intended to help introduce and empower
arts students to the complexities of e!ective entrepreneurial action. By identifying and
ordering the scope of knowledge and skills artists need for entrepreneurial success, the
framework attempts to establish both epistemological and ontological contexts, thus
demonstrating how the study of entrepreneurship can integrate into higher education arts
training. It is the author’s intention that the model help faculty, administrators and students
recognize the content, concept, and context relationships expressed by some educational
leaders when engaging in artistic and entrepreneurial action.
This article proposes that entrepreneurial action and artistic action are synergetic and
asks how entrepreneurial action might ?t within the broader scope of an artist’s career. As a
conceptual tool, the Meta-Praxis is also a response to the suggestions of Sam Hope, former
executive director of the National O#ce for Arts Accreditation (NOAA), for maturing the ?eld
of Arts Entrepreneurship Education as well as amplifying the profound connections between
artistic action and the art of entrepreneurial action.
4
Hope identi?es important pedagogical
needs for arts entrepreneurship educators to address:
“There are many ways to help students make connections between what music
[art] is and knows and what business is and knows and what entrepreneurship
is and does…These commonalities may provide important connections, for
entrepreneurial action is not a science, but rather an art.”
5
Later, he proposes the following:
“What I am suggesting [for those engaged in entrepreneurship education] is an
orientation to big picture facts, issues, and choices in the territory of
entrepreneurial action…especially with regard to the relationship among
content, concept, and context, between fundamental knowledge and skills…and
connection and synthesis…Without this conceptual and contextual knowledge
[musicians and artists acting entrepreneurially] are vulnerable…to weakness
and constant economic challenges…[There is a] complexity that awaits music
[art] and musicians [artists] in the broader world of entrepreneurial action. If we
are not realistic about the need for basic understanding of this broader world,
we run the risk of giving our folks spears and a few techniques of spear
throwing to engage those who have legions of tanks led by four-star generals
who were ?rst in their class at armored warfare school. This is a danger we must
?nd ways to avoid.”
6
20 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
See below for an explanation of the term Meta-Praxis as coined by this author.
4
Samuel Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action, Leadership, and the Futures of Music,” (paper presented at the College
Music Society Summit - Music Entrepreneurship Education, Nashville, TN, 2010), 6, 15–16, Also, see Steve Blank,
“Entrepreneurship is an Art, not a Job,”http://steveblank.com/2011/03/31/entrepreneurship-is-an-art-not-a-job,
Accessed May 5, 2014.
5
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action,” 6, 15–16.
6
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action,” 7, 15.
Towards this end, the framework serves to speci?cally illustrate how these actions
coalesce in the context of Hope’s suggestions.
WHAT IS THE ARTIST’S META-PRAXIS?
De?ning Terms
In the case of this model, meta is derived from the word metaphysics and attempts to
answer in the broadest possible terms: “What is there?” “What is it like?” and “How do they
relate to each other?”
7
The pre?x meta also denotes a position behind, after, beyond or
something of a higher or second-order kind.
8
Praxis (traditionally understood as “practice”) is
the process where a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realized.
9
Additionally, praxis is used by educators to describe a recurring passage through a cyclical
process of experiential learning.
10
The term Meta-Praxis is employed to describe all the skills—both cognitive and
physical—that artists need for self-determined success. Although practice takes place
speci?cally in each component of the model, Meta-Praxis is the practice that encompasses the
entirety of what is practiced. It is the ultimate, uni?ed or larger practice—the practice of
everything simultaneously. Colloquially, the Meta-Praxis is how the big picture operates: the
general practicing of all of the smaller, speci?c practices in the context of the larger practice.
Divergent Thinking
As knowledge workers (i.e. those who determine tasks autonomously), artists acting
entrepreneurially employ divergent thinking within the entire scope of behaviors and skills
required to launch and sustain a ?scally solvent arts business. Consequently, divergent
thinking is a critical component within the Meta-Praxis. Many perceptions of divergent and
convergent thinking exist; however, this framework employs the understanding of divergent
thinking outlined below.
Since the 1950s, divergent thinking has been a popular topic of study and considered a
primary cognitive component of creativity.
11
Gibson, Folley and Park write:
21 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
7
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “metaphysics.”
8
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “meta.”
9
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “praxis.”
10
David A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Englewood Cli!s, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1984).
11
See Joy P. Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” in Creativity and Its Cultivation: Addresses Presented at the Interdisciplinary
Symposia on Creativity, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, ed. Harold H. Anderson (New York:
Harper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1959), 142–61; Sarno! A. Mednick, “The Associative
Basis of the Creative Process,” Psychological Review 69, no. 3 (1962): 220–32.
“Divergent thinking is distinguished from convergent thinking, which is de?ned
by a narrowing of possible responses to reach the correct solutions. In contrast,
divergent thinking involves ?exible ideation to generate many responses to
open-ended and multifaceted problems. Convergent thinking works best with
well-de?ned problems that have a clearly de?ned response, while divergent
thinking is best suited for poorly de?ned or unstructured problems… Since
Guilford’s seminal contribution to the study of creativity, divergent thinking has
remained a conceptually, internally, and externally valid element of the creative
process.”
12
According to Guilford, divergent thinking provides the foundation for creative production, as it
requires ideational searching without directional boundaries.
13
He identi?ed four aspects of
divergent thinking:
1) Fluency (the ability to produce a great number of ideas or problem solutions in a
short period of time)
2) Flexibility (the ability to simultaneously propose a variety of approaches to a
speci?c problem)
3) Originality (the ability to produce new, original ideas)
4) Elaboration (the ability to systematize and organize the details of an idea and carry
it out)
14
General Systems Theory
Borrowing from General Systems Theory (GST) helps to depict and legitimize the
Artist’s Meta-Praxis framework. Je!rey Stamps describes GST as “…an integration of two
complementary approaches, rational and intuitive perspectives.”
15
By envisioning the broad
scope of actions artists could use when behaving entrepreneurially, the Meta-Praxis
framework endeavors to integrate critical aspects of the rational and intuitive approaches
needed for a codi?ed systems theory.
In further explaining human systems, Laszlo and Krippner draw certain distinctions:
“[H]uman activity systems (be they composed of individuals in a nuclear family,
musicians in an orchestra, or members of a national or international
organization) tend to have multiple and overlapping purposes, of which it is
possible to distinguish at least three levels: the purpose of the system, the
22 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
12
Crystal Gibson, Bradley S. Folley and Sohee Park, “Enhanced Divergent Thinking and Creativity in Musicians:
A Behavioral and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study,” Brain and Cognition 69 (2009): 162–69.
13
Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” 142–61.
14
Joy P. Guilford, “Creativity,” American Psychologist 5, no. 9 (1950): 444–54; Guilford, “Traits of Creativity,” 142–61.
15
Je!rey Stamps, Holonomy: A Human Systems Theory (Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, 1980), 14.
purpose of its parts, and the purpose of the system of which it is a part, the
suprasystem.”
16
The Artist’s Meta-Praxis (as a system) falls into the category of a human activity system and
therefore, necessarily contains the three levels outlined above. Obviously, the Meta-Praxis is
also an attempt to de?ne and order a coherent theoretical human activity system for artists.
This is necessary, as the aims and purposes of artists as entrepreneurs are often di#cult to
de?ne, possessing multiple and overlapping purposes.
17
Note that Laszlo and Krippner suggest that GST is a methodology “to model complex
entities created by the multiple interactions of components by abstracting from certain details
of structure and component, and concentrating on the dynamics that de?ne the characteristic
functions, properties, and relationships that are internal or external to the system.”
18
This method is the basis for determining inclusion in the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
conceptual model. It should be noted that the goal is to include all necessary and su#cient
elements that an artist (acting entrepreneurially) would require to engage in the complexities
of e!ective entrepreneurial action in an arts context. Additionally, the model is designed to
contain explanatory power, both in minute detail and broad categories, to explain the totality
of how an arts entrepreneur’s “general system” would—or does—function.
Holons and Holarchies
As a seminal ?gure in the ?eld of GST, Arthur Koestler’s work serves to further validate,
contextualize, and legitimize the Artist’s Meta-Praxis conceptual framework. His system-
theoretical model of Self-Regulating Open Hierarchic Order (SOHO), developed in 1967, uses the
concept of a ‘holon,’ described as, “a system which is simultaneously a subsystem and a
suprasystem.”
19
He de?ned the term holon as:
“[Referring] to complex entities, particular organisms and people, which are
simultaneously: (a) whole individuals and (b) participating parts of more
encompassing wholes. ‘Holon’ was constructed from the Greek word for whole,
holos, and the su#x ‘on,’ which connotes a part, as in proton or electron.”
20
23 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
16
Alexander Laszlo and Stanley Krippner, “Systems Theories: Their Origins, Foundations, and Development,” in
Systems Theories and A Priori Aspects of Perception, ed. J. C. Jordan (Amsterdam, North-Holland: Elsevier, 1998), 47–
74.
17
Gary D. Beckman, “‘Adventuring’ Arts Entrepreneurship Curricula in Higher Education: An Examination of
Present E!orts, Obstacles and Best Practices,” Journal of Arts Management, Law & Society 37, no. 2 (2007): 88–111;
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action”; Gary D. Beckman, “So, What’s the Point? An Introductory Discussion on the
Desired Outcomes of Arts Entrepreneurship Education,” in Disciplining the Arts: Teaching Entrepreneurship in
Context, ed. Gary D. Beckman (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little?eld, 2011), 177–84. Ruth Bridgstock, “Not a Dirty
Word: Arts Entrepreneurship and Higher Education,” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 12, no. 2–3 (2013):
122–37.
18
Laszlo and Krippner, “Systems Theories,” 47–74.
19
Arthur Koestler, The Ghost in the Machine (New York: Macmillan, 1967); Stamps, Holonomy, 8.
20
Stamps, Holonomy, 7.
He further explains holons as:
“Intermediary structures on a series of levels in ascending order of complexity,
each of which has two faces looking in opposite directions: the face turned
towards the lower levels is that of an autonomous whole, the one turned upward
that of a dependent part. This dichotomy is present on every level of every type
of hierarchic organization, and is referred to as the ‘Janus phenomenon’.”
21
Hierarchies are often characterized by a chain of command ?owing directionally from the top
down; thus, entities on lower levels have very little communication or in?uence on or with
higher levels.
22
Contrastingly, holarchies have a bidirectional command chain. Unlike
hierarchies, holarchies contain horizontal channels of communication and in?uence. In a
holarchy, an entity from any level can a!ect and in?uence other levels, in any direction, both
vertically and horizontally. Consequently, there is no superiority of importance within the
system; all holons in the holarchy are vital to the optimal functioning of the structure.
Realizing General Systems Theory in the Meta-Praxis
The Artist’s Meta-Praxis can be envisioned as a framework operating similarly to
Koestler's Self-Regulating Open Hierarchic Order. By adapting Koestler’s language used to
de?ne his ideas of holarchies and holons, it is possible to describe the application of these
concepts in a new academic context while simultaneously arguing for the validity of the Meta-
Praxis framework. To be extremely clear, the following ideas and language are original to
Koestler; this article merely adapts his language to the framework.
23
META-PRAXIS IN GREATER DETAIL
De?nitions and Structural Design of the Framework
Structurally, the Meta-Praxis consists of multiple holons that can be isolated into
individual components. When combined, however, they transform into a multiple-leveled
framework, creating a holarchy of parts within parts. Three vertical levels form the depth of
the structure, and three horizontal components on any given level comprise its span.
1
st
level holons are:
•
Meta-Intellect
•
Artistic Action — in any discipline or sub-discipline (i.e. classical guitar)
24 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
21
Arthur Koestler, “Beyond Atomism and Holism: The Concept of the Holon,” in Beyond Reductionism: New
Perspectives in the Life Sciences, edited by Arthur Koestler and John R. Smythies, (London: Hutchinson, 1972), 197.
22
Stamps, 8.
23
Paraphrased version adapted from Koestler, “Beyond Atomism and Holism.”
•
Entrepreneurial Action
Level 1 holons, in combination, serve to reconcile the atomistic and holistic activities of artists.
2
nd
level holons are:
•
Technique
•
Practice
•
Divergent Thinking
Level 2 holons are inherently behavioral in nature, incorporating routines of acquired skills
and displaying rule-governed behaviors.
3
rd
level holons are:
•
Theoretical Knowledge
•
Applied Knowledge
•
Domain Knowledge
Level 3 holons are acquired and incorporated by those of Level 2.
The Meta-Praxis framework is a way of thinking, perceiving and acting, involving both
the cognitive and the physical. Figure 1 illustrates the paradigm’s structure; ?gures 2, 3, and 4
show each component’s subsystem. Additionally, Figures 2, 3, and 4 display each subsystem’s
sub-layer. Figure 5 illustrates both the paradigm’s structure and subsystems.
To interpret this framework, one must 1) consider this model in three dimensions, 2)
envision a constant bidirectional ?ow of information and skill application between the
components, and 3) take into account a guiding force that will govern the system. The reader is
cautioned not to consider this a “grand model of artist cognition” but rather a way to visualize
(rightly or wrongly) what appears to be important to an artist and where art and
entrepreneurship might occur in this system. To reiterate, this model is presented only as one
possible way to understand how an artist might think and where entrepreneurship education
would ?t into this model.
25 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 1
26 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Figure 2
27 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 3
28 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Figure 4
29 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Figure 5
30 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
The Governing System: Meta-Intellect & Creativity
The Meta-Intellect (or “big picture intellect”) is an all-encompassing, ?uidly governing
intellect; as such, it is the command center for the management of knowledge and action. It
perceives, analyzes, discerns, anticipates, critiques, interprets, judges, and guides. Enabling
e#ciency, the Meta-Intellect illuminates and prioritizes tasks or skills, di!erentiating activities
that are a means to an end and those that are ultimate ends. Additionally, it organizes a
staggering amount of information, knowledge and skill needed for one to be—in this case—a
successful artist and entrepreneur. The Meta-Intellect, as the command center of knowledge
and action, fosters high levels of expertise critical to the successful functioning within the
multiple domains of the Meta-Praxis.
Cognitive psychology can help explain and validate the suggested Meta-Intellect
concept. Fayena-Tawil, Kozbelt, and Sitaras abstract metacognition thusly:
“Expertise is the perceptual and behavioral ability to work with ‘the big picture’
in solving a problem. Having a sense of ‘the big picture’ is also relevant to
understanding how individuals monitor progress and engage in metacognition,
that is, re?ection about one’s own thinking. Metacognition involves actively
monitoring and regulating one’s own cognition and behavior to achieve a goal.
Metacognition plays very important roles in creativity. For example, eminent
creators appear to deliberately engage in metacognitive processes like
consideration of task strategies, self-instruction, time management, self-
monitoring, and self-evaluation. Better problem solvers are also more adept at
metacognitively monitoring their progress.”
24
Within the domains of artistic and entrepreneurial action, the necessity of expertise, problem
solving, and a sense of the “big picture” seem obvious. Additionally, processes like
consideration of task strategies, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring, and self-
evaluation are essential. Thus, the role of the Meta-Intellect is to direct these metacognitive
processes throughout the entire system of the Meta-Praxis.
25
Meta-Intellect controls the rules, strategies, integrative and self-assertive tendencies,
triggers, scanners, regulation channels, shifts from mechanical rigidity to freedom of mind,
and the regenerative processes within the Meta-Praxis holarchy. Likewise, the Meta-Intellect
a!ects horizontally the holons of any speci?c arts discipline and Arts Entrepreneurship, as
well as vertically the holons of Divergent Thinking, Technique, Practice, Theoretical
Knowledge, Domain Knowledge, and Applied Knowledge. Theories of the system determine
the rules of the game and strategy determines the course of the game. Meta-Intellect selects
strategic maneuvers within the Meta-Praxis by activating Divergent Thinking, which requires
the involvement of Domain Knowledge and Applied Knowledge. Contrastingly, the rules of
31 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
24
Frieda Fayena-Tawil, Aaron Kozbelt and Lemonia Sitaras, “Think Global, Act Local: A Protocol Analysis
Comparison of Artists’ and Nonartists’ Cognitions, Metacognitions, and Evaluations While Drawing,” Psychology
of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts 5, no. 2 (2011): 135–45.
25
Kelly G. Shaver and Linda R. Scott, “Person, Process, Choice: The Psychology of New Venture Creation,”
Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice 16, no.2 (1991): 23–45.
the game are determined by Theoretical Knowledge and Domain Knowledge. These rules
a!ect and in?uence the strategic decisions of the Meta-Intellect. Functionally, the interplay of
behavior between holons of each level account for the coherence, stability, and speci?city of
the entire Meta-Praxis.
Artistic Action
Although an artist operating within any arts discipline could be inserted into the Meta-
Praxis, this article will employ a classical guitarist as a speci?c arts discipline in the model (See
Figure 3). Classical guitarists utilize a variety of skills to master their instrument: facile
technique and a compelling sense of musical interpretation are certainly critical, but cognitive
power, enhanced through divergent thinking, is also necessary. A classical guitarist relies
heavily upon Divergent Thinking during the process of determining ?ngerings for complex
musical passages as the aesthetic quality of the music—whether superior or inferior—is
greatly a!ected by the ?ngerings chosen. Therefore, the incorporation of Meta-Intellect
guiding Divergent Thinking during this process is vital to determining the degree of technical
ease or di#culty within a work and, ultimately, the musical result.
However, in order to achieve expertise in ?ngering choices and musical control, the
guitarist must develop a thorough knowledge of music, the instrument and e#cient practice
regimens. An example of Domain Knowledge is a guitarist possessing an understanding of
each of these categories: 1) the instrument’s design and operation, 2) music and how it is
generated on the guitar, and 3) practicing—both how it works broadly and how it is e#ciently
executed on the instrument. Knowing the necessary technique, music, practicing, and thinking
theories are examples of Theoretical Knowledge. It is at this point that the Meta-Intellect
governs the process by guiding the strategic choices through Divergent Thinking.
26
Theoretical Knowledge determines the rules of the game, and the Meta-Intellect determines
the optimal choice using both Domain Knowledge and Divergent Thinking. The decision is
then put into action through Applied Knowledge to bring about the desired e!ect.
The ?eld of cognitive science can help to validate these suggested processes within the
Meta-Praxis. Francis Heylighen and Clément Vidal suggest the following:
“One of the key insights of the new cognitive science is that cognition is
necessarily situated and embodied. This means that a cognitive system, such as
the human mind, is always interacting with its environmental situation via its
bodily sensors (eyes, ears, touch…) that perceive, and e!ectors (hands, vocal
chords…) that produce actions. The complexity of the real world is dealt with
not by manipulating an abstract internal representation, but by manipulating
32 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
26
See Chapter 4 of the author’s dissertation for a detailed analysis and explanation of how learning the classical
guitar fosters divergent thinking ability. Gangi, Jonathan J., “Arts Entrepreneurship: An Essential Sub-System of
the Artist’s Meta-Praxis” (DMA diss., University of South Carolina, 2014).
the world itself, i.e. by performing actions and monitoring their results via
perceptions.”
27
This type of cognition articulates the required actions of the Meta-Praxis, and as such, the
model can move from pure assertion closer to a grounding in cognitive science. Classical
guitarists manipulate their world (or domain) by interacting with their environment via bodily
sensors (eyes, ears, touch), e!ectors that produce actions (hands), and a monitoring of the
musical results. For example, after choosing ?ngerings for a musical passage, guitarists test the
choices by performing the music, listening to the results and making necessary adjustments to
achieve the desired results. Similarly in performance, guitarists must monitor their playing
and respond accordingly in order to realize their musical interpretation according to their
musical or artistic intentions.
Entrepreneurial Action
The same elements utilized within Artistic Action by a virtuoso classical guitarist are
required in Entrepreneurial Action. An e!ective entrepreneur will likely bene?t from Domain
Knowledge, whether the domain is Theoretical Knowledge about entrepreneurial Technique,
Applied Knowledge towards Technique, or how to think creatively in order to simply recognize
a “better way.” These areas of knowledge in?uence entrepreneurial Technique and Practice,
which advance through Divergent Thinking.
Behaving as an entrepreneur requires expertise, problem-solving skills and the
incorporation of Divergent Thinking, all of which can be done in an artfully creative manner.
Like artists (as mentioned previously), entrepreneurs are able to manipulate their domain by
interacting with their environments via bodily sensors that perceive and e!ectors that produce
actions and monitor results. For example, entrepreneurs may use Domain Knowledge to
achieve a better understanding of a market or industry they wish to utilize. Once established,
the Meta-Intellect guides Divergent Thinking to determine, using Theoretical Knowledge, an
optimal strategy for creating a new product/service or innovating an existing product or service
to increase the value to the market. After the new product/service is introduced, entrepreneurs
monitor the results of their e!orts.
Entrepreneurs engage in metacognitive activity to evaluate all aspects of the venture,
including Theoretical Knowledge and Domain Knowledge, the way in which these become
Applied Knowledge, as well as Technique, Practice, and Divergent Thinking. When
modi?cations are made based on preliminary results, entrepreneurs often employ perceptual
triggers, scanners, and feedback loops to evaluate the e!ectiveness of their entrepreneurial
technique, problem solving skills, creativity and innovation to achieve the desired results of
their practice. These actions can be viewed as identical to those of artists, as the only
signi?cant di!erence between an artist and an entrepreneur in this context is the creation and
development of di!erent “products” in di!erent domains. It appears then that many of the
33 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
27
Francis Heylighen and Clement Vidal, “Getting Things Done: The Science behind Stress-Free Productivity,”
Long Range Planning 41, no. 6. (2008): 585–605.
elements involved in the intellectual and creative processes of artists and entrepreneurs can be
described as similar, if not identical.
Throughout the entire Meta-Praxis, these cognitive and physical activities cannot be
separated. Channels of communication and synthesis ?ow constantly and multi-directionally
between each level of process within any and all of the components. Technique in?uences
Practice, which is in?uenced by Divergent Thinking. Divergent Thinking is in?uenced by
practicing techniques of thinking and by learning about theories of thinking. Further,
Technique is in?uenced by thinking about theories of technique, and Practicing is in?uenced
by thinking about theories of practicing. Applied Knowledge of one area to another is the glue
that binds all of these processes together and provides cohesion.
28
Similarly, entrepreneurial
action and artistic action, directed by intellectual action, form a synergetic relationship.
PROFESSIONAL ARTIST SURVEY
Purpose
Although the Meta-Praxis as a theoretical model is grounded in cognitive and systems
science, querying professional artists can initially test the framework. The author conducted
an informal survey to investigate the processes and skill sets used in the larger context of the
participants’ careers as an initial attempt to demonstrate the hypothesized Meta-Praxis theory.
Results of the survey demonstrate a linking of the theory with practice, thus providing a basis
to illustrate that ?scally solvent arts entrepreneurs use many—if not all—of the elements
contained within the Meta-Praxis framework.
Method
Participants chosen to complete the questionnaire are working artists. Requiring
participants to be self-employed allowed for authenticity and credibility in the sample.
Further, all survey questions were developed using the theoretical foundations of cognitive
and systems science. Purposefully, each artist was unaware of the Meta-Praxis framework to
avoid any bias.
29
Participants
Participant 1 - Painter: Primarily self-taught, with some university training in art and art
history; exhibits original works at prestigious juried arts fairs and shows nationwide.
34 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
28
Envision the process described while referencing Figures 1-5.
29
See Appendix A for the questionnaire. Participant 1 provided written survey answers, while Participants 2 and 3
answered via phone interview, therefore most of the quotes for Participant I are verbatim, with only a few
paraphrased sentences for continuity’s sake. All quotes by Participants 2 and 3 are paraphrased, not direct quotes.
Note: Participant 2 is not the author.
Participant 2 - Guitarist: Classically trained founder/artistic director of an international
guitar festival and director of a guitar school; performs nationally and internationally in
addition to composing for movies, theater, radio, television, and documentaries.
Participant 3 - Dancer: Classically trained founder/artistic director of a dance theatre
touring company; choreographed works for Momix, Ballet Arizona, Verb Ballets, Ballet
Theatre of Ohio, Dancing Wheels, numerous universities, and pre-professional programs.
Responses Pertaining to Intellectual Action
Determining What to Work On, When
All three participants clearly focused on long term planning. This includes how they
determine when and what to work on and a concern for the ‘big picture” of their business and
career. Participant 1 indicates that new paintings are created to replace pieces sold:
“I work on paintings to replace the same thematic pieces that I have recently
sold. My paintings are prioritized in order to replace inventory, whatever
streamlines that is the priority.”
Organized by theme, new work is prioritized according to thematic areas needing
replenishment.
Participant 2 constantly focuses on long-term student retention and new student
acquisition as the highest priority:
“Maintaining high enrollment for capital ?ow is crucial for my business, and
staying ahead of the game regarding enrollment requires ongoing, ahead of
time planning.”
For this participant, new student recruitment targets elementary, middle, and high schools,
although priority is placed on elementary and middle schools, because younger students are
better retention candidates.
Participant 3 prioritizes work based on achieving the long-term goal of increased
visibility and impact within various communities, in addition to engaging audiences
throughout multiple geographic regions:
“I determine when and what to work on based on grant deadlines and other
funding concerns. Additionally, I create work to push artists to get better at their
artistic skills, as well as communicating through their art to have a high impact
on our audiences/communities.”
35 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Monitoring Progress
Participant 1 keeps a daily log of each painting sold, how many paintings of each theme are
sold and the markets yielding the highest volume of sales:
“I daily monitor my progress in my business’ keeping a log of each painting I
sell, how many paintings of each theme were sold, and which markets have
been best to sell in.”
Additionally, daily goals are set for which new paintings to create. Likewise, Participant 2
states:
“I always consider what pedagogical materials and repertoire students like and
try to keep their interest by giving them a variety of musical styles to practice
and perform. By doing so, not only are the students happy, but, more
importantly, the parents are happy, resulting in long-term student retention.”
Participant 3 monitors the complete scope of the dance company, including artists, board
members, budget concerns, grant applications, tickets sales, community impact, and
competition analysis:
“At least once a week I try to meet with everyone involved in the dance company
to monitor the progress of each aspect of the organization.”
Divergent Thinking
Participant 1 views divergent thinking as especially critical to realizing the aesthetic goal /
vision of each painting. It is also used when interacting with customers to determine what will
connect with the target audience and correctly assess their feedback:
“Creative thinking is the soul of my business. There are many times where I will
talk with other artists, especially my wife and children, about paintings. My son,
who is also a painter, many times will engage me, and we will discuss our vision
and goals for di!erent paintings we hope to accomplish.”
For Participant 2, divergent thinking is the starting point of practice, performance, and
teaching:
“For me, everything I do is always going to begin with creativity; the more I use
it, the better I get at thinking creatively in all aspects of my art and business.”
Whether the task is composing music or developing new business strategies (such as
incentivizing current students to recruit new students) divergent thinking is essential and must
be carefully cultivated through constant use and application. Similarly, Participant 3 uses
divergent thinking in all career aspects, including the creation and presentation of new works,
assessing and surpassing other competing organizations, and the management of assets and
resources:
36 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
“Creative thinking is vital to everything I do, both on the artistic side and the
business operations side. I try to create new work and present it in new spaces,
using new ways to market and develop audiences. Creativity is critical for me to
place art in a new context.”
Answers Pertaining to Artistic Action
Role of Technique and Practice
Participant 1 delineates that technique and practice are what de?ne skill level, which in turn
allows the artist to achieve the aesthetic goal/vision of a painting:
“In my artistry, technique and practice are what de?ne my skill level, and
ultimately help me to satisfy my aesthetic vision.”
When practicing for performances, Participants 2 and 3 always have goals and prioritize
practice session content according to the requirements of upcoming performances. For
Participant 2, possessing a strong technique is critical as each performance is selling a product.
Technique directly a!ects the product’s quality:
“When I perform on stage, I am selling a product, so technique is very
important. I need to know what I am good at and how I will present to an
audience. So, I evaluate my technique to be sure I can present my product well.”
Participant 2 also indicated that technique is tremendously important when working
through injuries such as focal dystonia.
Participant 3 notes that technique and artistry are vital to a quality product and
performance and are directly linked to the ultimate success of the arts business:
“Technique is vital to artistry, and there is a strong link from technique and
artistry to the success of the dance company, but technique is not the only thing
— depending on context—sometimes connecting with and engaging the
audience is more important.”
Importance of Environmental Situations
Participant 1 draws upon rural landscapes for inspiration, re?ecting the artist’s work
environment. An art show environment is crucial for Participant 1 because:
“My actions are based on my audience’s response to my work. I monitor closely
whether I have succeeded in communicating based on their feedback.”
Participant 2 says that knowing the environment of speci?c performances is vital:
37 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
“I always pick repertoire for the audience I am playing for and try to be smart in
the way I program concerts; using innovative repertoire sometimes requires that
I create new arrangements.”
This is the same for Participant 3, who also uses innovative repertoire targeted to the
preferences of speci?c audiences. Never would a program be performed without taking into
account the target audience:
“I must be aware of my environment artistically, by having an awareness of
trends in choreography, gauging what works and what doesn’t compositionally,
and keeping up with trends to stay in tune with other choreographers’ work. I
also have environmental considerations pertaining to performances, and it is
crucial for me to ?nd innovative venue locations.”
Seeking out and utilizing new performance venues serves to provide new ways of
communicating, engaging and connecting with audiences.
Answers Pertaining to Entrepreneurial Action
Role of Technique and Practice
A foundational entrepreneurial technique for Participant 1 is the ability to comfortably talk
with clientele at arts venues. For this participant, talking is the primary impetus for sharpening
business acumen, perspicacity, and skill:
“To build my art business I needed to ?rst be able to comfortably talk with my
clientele, have the drive to constantly improve the product, and to be realistic
about my goals.”
Participant 2 states:
“I don’t see a di!erence between my art and my business, it all melds together.
So it is important for me to have the full scope of skill sets needed in all facets of
my business.”
Some of these skill sets include the ability to communicate and articulate the value of their
artistic products to their markets. Human interaction (i.e. asking questions and seeking out
advice from mentors and experts) is another important technique for all participants.
Participant 3 acknowledges:
“I must be real and honest with people when talking about my business and why
it matters, should be funded and why performances should be attended. I found
that talking to someone like you are [simply] just two people sharing what is very
important and e!ective as a technique when talking to artists, board members,
and audiences/communities.”
38 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Importance of Environmental Situations
Of critical import for success, Participant 1 must be positioned in the environment of small
arts venues/events. This domain provides opportunities to personally meet clientele, which
serves as a precise measurement of successful communication through the artwork to the
target customer:
“My communication with my clientele at various small art venues where I sell
my work is what sharpens my skills. In this environment I can personally meet
with clientele, and this serves as a perfect measurement of my success with my
audience.”
Maintaining an awareness of one’s environment is essential for Participant 2, who is always
looking for opportunities within a domain:
“I am very willing to do other things besides my art, and this has been very
bene?cial for me.”
For example, Participant 2’s guitar school is housed on the second ?oor of a tennis club. Within
that environment, an opportunity was recognized for both the tennis club and the guitar
school. A mutually bene?cial agreement was reached involving an exchange of labor on
Participant 2’s part (creating advertisements for the tennis club) while the tennis club owner
?nanced the purchase of the advertising mechanism and allowed Participant 2 to include
marketing materials for the guitar school. The TV screen was displayed in a prime location,
near the ?rst ?oor entrance, serving to inform clientele of tennis club events and guitar school
events on the second ?oor, resulting in increased business for both the guitar school and the
tennis club.
The non-pro?t arts sector environment is crucial to consider for Participant 3,
especially the actions of similar dance companies:
“I must be aware of the artistic climate that I am a part of, including knowing
what other arts organizations are doing that are similar to mine. The more
aware of my environment I am, the better I can know what has worked or not
worked for another company and this helps me to get and keep a competitive
advantage.”
As the dance company’s director, competitive advantage can only be maintained by possessing
an awareness of the environment and what has failed or been successful for competing arts
organizations regarding grant funding, choreographic trends, and repertoire/programmatic
choices. Equally important within this climate, Participant 3 must have an understanding of
key business/marketing trends relating to community visibility, engagement, and audience
loyalty, because these are critical to maintaining a competitive advantage within a target
market.
39 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
Analysis
Sub-discipline speci?city seems irrelevant concerning the ‘big picture” of each artist’s
business and career, as each participant indicated a signi?cant focus on long-term planning
concerning their arts “products” and how they determine what to work on when. Clearly,
Divergent Thinking is incorporated in all aspects of the participants’ arts businesses, along
with the use of Theoretical Knowledge, Domain Knowledge and Applied Knowledge.
Divergent Thinking, then, may be viewed as a primary element of an arts entrepreneur’s
business venture. There is a knowledge transfer occurring as Divergent Thinking is
consistently used in the artistic domain, resulting in creative ideas over?owing into other
aspects of the business. Further, with sustained Divergent Thinking practice, high skill levels
of creative thinking emerge in all facets of artistic and business experience.
As indicated previously, the Meta-Intellect is an all-encompassing, ?uidly governing
intellect. As such, it is the command center for the management of knowledge and action.
Exempli?ed by the self-described actions of real-world professional artists, the Meta-Intellect
organizes a staggering amount of information, knowledge, and skill needed for one to be a
successful artist and entrepreneur. Professional practice reported by these artists demonstrates
the use of metacognition to determine the following: what to work on and when, priority of
activities, di!erentiation between actions that are means to an end vs. the ultimate end, the use
of task strategy, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring, self-evaluation and the
organization of knowledge, information, and skill needed to be a professional artist. All of
these elements listed are descriptors of how the Meta-Intellect functions and are clearly
incorporated by professional artists.
Additionally, interaction with customers (i.e. the environment) and monitoring actions
via perceptions is crucial in these endeavors. Once again, this highlights the importance of
interacting with environmental situations, performing actions, and monitoring results via
perceptions. This exempli?es the processes and skill sets outlined by the Meta-Praxis
framework, which are perhaps vital to the success of an arts entrepreneur as demonstrated by
the three survey participants. Each indicated the importance of human interaction and
emphasized that asking those successful in other domains for advice/help is essential for
success. Perhaps most importantly, these successful arts entrepreneurs view “non-arts” speci?c
skill sets (i.e. business skills) as complimentary to and synergetic with the artistic process, not
detrimental or antithetical.
For the participants, there is no distinction between Entrepreneurial Action,
Intellectual Action, and Artistic Action, as all three domains of action are melded together into
one experience. Cultivating skills in other facets besides their speci?c art seems critical to
sustaining their arts businesses, as evidenced by their responses. These examples clearly
articulate the bene?ts of these meta-cognitions and behaviors, thus serving to empirically
support the theoretical notions of the Meta-Praxis framework. Further, this informal survey
shows that the components of each holon in the Meta-Praxis holarchy are not solely
theoretical, but inherently emerge within the broad scope of a professional artists’ career. Note
that the goal of the model is to codify and systematize these processes in a formal manner,
suggesting that the framework could serve to help artists become aware of how both
Entrepreneurial Action and Intellectual Action are vital to their task. For the emerging arts
40 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
entrepreneur, understanding the Meta-Praxis could facilitate the goal of being a successful
professional artist.
CONCLUSION
As a conceptual tool, an application of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis may be of bene?t to
students, faculty, curriculum designers, and administrators by helping them, as Hope
suggested, “… make connections between what [art] is and knows and what business is and
knows and what entrepreneurship is and does.”
30
For artists serious about making their art
their career, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis framework may be indispensable. Each survey participant
— all successful professional artists — validate this claim by intimating the absolute necessity
of Entrepreneurial Action and Intellectual Action to their careers.
The Meta-Praxis identi?es the skill sets necessary for Entrepreneurial Action, showing
that artists are already using them in their areas of expertise. Again, each survey participant
demonstrated synergies between Artistic Action and Entrepreneurial Action and further
indicated that no distinctions exist. Therefore, the model is valuable for artists, as it articulates
how non-arts knowledge can strengthen artistic endeavors. By expressing the required
multidimensionality needed to create a viable career through their art, the Meta-Praxis
liberates artists to view “non-arts” (i.e. business) tasks and skills as bene?cial and essential to
their artistry. This enables them to know that when not in studio, rehearsal, or practice room,
they are still operating as professional artists.
For arts entrepreneurship curriculum designers, the Meta-Praxis framework could be
invaluable to their task, as it outlines a viewpoint contextualizing behavioral patterns of
Entrepreneurial Action within the broad scope of a professional artist’s career.
31
The Meta-
Praxis identi?es the skill sets necessary for entrepreneurial action, demonstrating that some
artists are already leveraging these skills in their areas of expertise. Curriculum designers can
build upon this framework by drawing additional parallels between artistic and
entrepreneurial processes, behaviors, and actions. Doing so will further enable artists to
recognize the artistry within the entrepreneurial approach, empowering them to think not
only artistically and divergently, but also in how they entrepreneurially recognize and exploit
opportunities.
Lastly, the Artist’s Meta-Praxis is an answer to Sam Hope’s call for:
“An orientation to big picture facts, issues, and choices…especially with regard
to the relationship among content, concept, and context, between fundamental
knowledge and skills…and connection and synthesis.”
41 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
30
Hope, “Entrepreneurial Action.”
31
Shaver, and Scott, “Person, Process, Choice,” 23–45.
Having demonstrated the relationships between content, concept, and context when engaging
in Artistic Action, Intellectual Action, and Entrepreneurial Action, the framework provides
explanatory power, both in minute detail and broad categories, regarding the totality of how
an arts entrepreneur’s system could function. Perhaps most importantly, this model
demonstrates how artists could channel creativity, imagination, and Divergent Thinking into
Entrepreneurial Action to generate and communicate artistic value. Thus, the Artist’s Meta-
Praxis is a step towards framing entrepreneurship as critical to the artist, arts training, and
even art itself. Consequently, Entrepreneurial Action can serve as a key catalyst in ful?lling
artists’ professional goals.
42 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
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45 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
APPENDIX A
PROFESSIONAL ARTIST QUESTIONNAIRE
Intellectual Action Questions
Regarding the “big picture” of your arts business and career, please describe:
o How you determine what to work on and when
o How you prioritize activities
o How you di!erentiate between actions that are means to an end, vs. your
ultimate end/goal
o How you organize the knowledge, information, and skill needed to be a
professional artist
o How often you monitor your progress in all facets of your business, artistic skill,
thinking, and behavior relating to launching/achieving and sustaining your arts
business
o How you use task strategy, self-instruction, time management, self-monitoring
and self-evaluation
o How important creative/divergent thinking is to your goal of sustaining a
successful arts business, and in what speci?c areas/ways do you use this type of
thinking
Artistic Action Question
Regarding the skills needed as an artist, please describe:
o The complete scope of skills needed to create/produce your art
o The role of theoretical, domain, and applied knowledge
o What is needed for expertise, and how do you determine if you are an expert
o The role of technique, practice, and creative/divergent thinking
o How you interact with environmental situations of any kind
o The importance of performing actions and monitoring the results via
perceptions
46 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Entrepreneurial Action Questions
Regarding the skills needed as an entrepreneur, please describe:
o The complete scope of skills needed to build/sustain your business
o The role of theoretical, domain, and applied knowledge
o What is needed for expertise, and how do you determine if you are an expert
o The role of technique, practice, and creative/divergent thinking
o How you interact with environmental situations of any kind
o The importance of performing actions and monitoring the results via
perceptions
47 Arts Entrepreneurship : An Essential Sub-System of the Artist’s Meta-Praxis
48 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
JAMES D. HART
Southern Methodist University
“Acting as the ideology of business avant-gardism, the entrepreneurial myth has
become the context within which conventional wisdom about entrepreneurship has
been in?uenced.”
1
he hero journey is a process of departure, initiation and return. At the beginning of the
tale, a void is created and it becomes the job of the hero to ?ll the void, which can
manifest in any number of forms: emotional, communal or otherwise. For the hero,
the adventure is a going into the unknown, adapting to the demands of change and
facing one’s own fears and doubts.
2
The Hero Journey Structure (HJS) is a key to the vastness
of myth itself, which many modern audiences associate with the popular “The Power of Myth”
series on PBS featuring Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers. However, the HJS framework is not
49 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
1
Omid Nodoushani and Patricia Nodoushani. “Second Thoughts on the Entrepreneurial Myth.” The International
Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 1, no. 1 (2000): 9.
2
For example: a familiar “adventure” is where the hero slays his / her existential nemesis (in the guise / metaphor
of a dragon) and obtains an elixir, ?lling a void experienced / exposed at the beginning of the tale.
T
To both address the “starving artist” stereotype and develop a working curricular model for the arts
entrepreneurship classroom, conventional thinking suggests that “arts technique alone is not
enough” and the “incorporation of entrepreneurial techniques is necessary.” However, these
traditional training modalities alone lack a means whereby artists can mentally, emotionally and
otherwise understand the experience of active arts entrepreneuring. This article examines the Hero
Journey Structure in three modalities and offers a framework to connect the Structure to the act both
theoretically and in the classroom.
z
Copyright © 2014, James D. Hart
Campbell’s as he simply articulated a universal present in many mythological constructs.
3
It is
a structure possessing broad application—from bettering one’s ability to communicate a story,
such as a pitch, to providing an arts entrepreneur a lens (or framework) to navigate unknown
market waters. Ultimately, the structure teaches how to develop self–assurance and courage as
the journey is ultimately one of self-discovery. As more programs incorporate such tools into
arts entrepreneurship curricula, educators can help emerging arts entrepreneurs heroically
structure their lives, ventures and entrepreneurial actions.
MERITS OF THE HERO JOURNEY STRUCTURE
For arts entrepreneurs, the HJS provides a lens where one can view the challenges
encountered when building a business: acquiring funding, creating a functioning business
model, designing revenue streams and/or allying with a board of directors, etc. The HJS
teaches how to “stay in the game”—a necessary skill in order to “win.” Like any entrepreneur,
the arts entrepreneur builds social and economic micro-cultures and employs participants
who look to the entrepreneur to “make it all work” for the sake of continued employment and
venture sustainability. Such challenges partially embody the heavy responsibility of
leadership.
A roadmap of sorts is o!ered with the hero journey, replete with its paradoxical ?uidity
and seemingly intangible map. Eric Ries suggests that “...startups are designed to confront
situations of extreme uncertainty” and in the HJS, we ?nd a useful map or “tool” to address
these challenges.
4
It is the hero’s duty to carve a path of their own, with their lived storylines
best understood in retrospect.
5
Perhaps best articulated by Morong, “Heroes and
entrepreneurs are called to and take part in the greatest and most universal adventure that life
has to o!er: the simultaneous journey of self-discovery, spiritual growth, and the personal
creativity they make possible.”
6
Thus, heroes do not pursue pro?ts and pro?ts alone, for theirs
50 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
3
The terms “Hero Journey” and “monomyth” are considered interchangeable. However, this article will use the
term “Hero Journey Structure” or HJS exclusively. Note that “Monomyth” is a term that Campbell borrowed from
James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake.” Campbell’s use of the term refers to a singular myth where “A hero ventures
forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered
and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow
boons on his fellow man.” Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, The Power Of Myth (New York: Doubleday, 1988) 23.
Campbell further clari?es, adding “The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a
magni?cation of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation--initiation--return:which might be
named the nuclear unit of the monomyth.” Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces (Novato, CA: New
World Library, 2008), 23.
4
Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation To Create Radically Successful
Businesses (New York: Crown Business, 2011), 28.
5
Note that early stages of the adventure may appear late in a storyline and is explored below through Hamlet.
6
Cyril Morong, “Mythology, Joseph Campbell, and the Socioeconomic Con?ict,” Journal of Socio-Economics 23, no.
4 (1995): 370.
is an inherent act of service though personal heroism.
7
It has been the author’s experience that
in the act of service, one can become necessary. Through the act of entrepreneurial service,
jobs and culture are created, cash ?ows, needs are ful?lled, impact is realized and economies
are stimulated.
WHAT ARE HEROES?
For purposes of this article, a hero is de?ned as one who is willing to sacri?ce their own
desires or interests in service of another or others: Indeed, “They believe a better world is
possible and are willing to surmount incredible odds to achieve it.”
8
Hero’s may serve a
meaning or passion, a desire, an audience, a customer base or donor. Critically, the key is in
serving something larger than themselves in the context of their humanity. Again Morong’s
work provides guidance: “The entrepreneur, however, is seen as a hero, not a saint. The
adventure involves both creation and destruction. Negative aspects of the entrepreneurship
such as business failure and job destruction are just as real as the positive aspects.”
9
There are types of heroes (?re?ghters, for example) who purposefully and intentionally
set out to adventure in heroic action. Other heroes suddenly ?nd themselves unwittingly in a
heroic act—like the stranger who pushes a child out of the way of the moving car, only to
subject their own body to a speedy blow. Sometimes, heroes do not know that they play such a
role and may never stop to even think about their actions. A parallel can be found in
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in the character of Malvolio as he says, “Some are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” (2.5.145–46)
Almost collectively—given the seemingly universal appearance of myth and story—we
recognize heroism. Further, we appear so fascinated and attracted to heroic stories that we
consume them regularly through ?lm and novels: heroes overcoming obstacles and achieving
self-e#cacy, becoming initiated through hardship and returning to serve another or others. We
have lived with, and been fascinated by stories of heroes (both large and small) in every culture
of the world, perhaps forever.
10
51 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
7
The act of service in an arts entrepreneurship context may typically be envisioned as working with or founding a
non-pro?t or social entrepreneurship endeavor. However, there are many types of service acts and—ultimately—
service becomes a matter of perspective. An actress may view her paid performance as an act of service to her
audience or a painter can create a painting with a donor in mind.
8
Kathyrn Janda and Marina Topouzi, “Closing the Loop: Using Hero Stories and Learning Stories to Remake
Energy Policy.” Proceedings of the 2013 ECEEE Summer Study on Energy E"ciency in Buildings, (2013): 231. Accessed
February 2, 2014.http://proceedings.eceee.org/visabstrakt.php?event=3&doc=1-406-13.
9
Morong, The Creative-Destroyers.
10
Rank suggests that “The prominent civilized nations--the Babylonians and Egyptians, the Hebrews and Hindus,
the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, as well as the Teutons and others--all began at an early stage to glorify
their national heroes...” See Otto Rank, The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959), 3.
Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychoanalyst, theorized a “collective unconscious” that
may explain this fascination:
“The collective unconscious - so far as we can say anything about it at all--
appears to consist of mythological motifs or primordial images, for which reason
the myths of all nations are its real exponents. In fact, the whole of mythology
could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious.”
11
For Jung, the collective unconscious unites all persons.
“The psychologist who has best dealt with these, best described and interpreted
them, is Carl G. Jung, who terms them ‘archetypes of the collective
unconscious,’ as pertaining to those structures of the psyche that are not the
products of merely individual experience but are common to all mankind. In
this view, the basal depth or layer of the psyche is an expression of the instinct
system of our species, grounded in the human body, its nervous system and
wonderful brain.”
12
Hayman clari?es, stating that “He (Jung) de?nes archetypal images as those with an archaic or
primordial character, corresponding to familiar mythological motifs.”
13
EVOLVING STRUCTURES
The hero journey structure (as a storytelling or other literary technique) is akin to other
techniques used in arts practice—it can vary and adapt. Stanislavski Technique, well known in
theatrical training is an apt example.
14
Variants include Uta Hagen’s technique, Meisner
52 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
11
Carl Jung, The Structure And Dynamics of the Psyche (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969).
12
Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By (New York: Viking Press, 1972), 210. Note that the concept of a collective
unconscious is controversial, even in circles friendly to Campbell’s ideas. Rank writes “The problem of ‘elemental
ideas’ (and their continuing in?uence in modern life) is one that concerned Jung and his disciples; it has led to
their famous—if controversial—theories of the ‘archetype’ and the ‘collective unconscious’.” Rank, The Myth of
the Birth of the Hero, 8n. See also Richard Noll, The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement, (New
York:Touchstone, 1997).
13
Ronald Hayman, A Life of Jung (New York, W.W. Norton, 1999), 122-23. A working knowledge of archetypes can be
found in Carol Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help us Find Ourselves and Transform our
World. (New York: Harper Collins), 1991. See also: Margaret Hartwell and Joshua C. Chen, Archetypes in Branding: A
Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists. (Cincinnati, OH: HOW Books, 2012) and Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams,
Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature (New York: Penguin, 1990). These
archetypes can be thought of as the “cast of characters” one ?nds in tales. Some examples include the Orphan,
Caregiver, Warrior, Wizard and Hero. Each of us has the potential to play or manifest archetypes within our own
lives, as well as in our art and business. We may also ?nd ourselves enacting archetypes in the lives of others, as
many play the role of mentor or caregiver, if only to those within our own families. Robbins abstracts the
importance of archetypes in a larger sense: “According to archetypal psychologists, we are each on di!erent heroic
quests throughout our lives as we mature and transform ourselves.”
Ruth Ann Robbins, “Harry Potter, Ruby
Slippers and Merlin: Telling the Client's Story Using the Characters and Paradigm of the Archetypal Hero's
Journey,” Seattle University Law Review 29, no. 4 (2006): 779.
14
See Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares (New York: Routledge, 2013).
technique, Stella Adler’s technique and Earle Gister’s method among others.
15
The same holds
true for Campbell’s HJS. Christopher Vogler’s popular book is used by many screenplay
writers to understand mythic structure in storytelling and includes a variant of Campbell’s
original HJS.
16
Chart 1 compares Campbell’s original HJS with Vogler’s adaptation and is used
to illustrate how the HJS (and its adaptations) are paralleled by arts entrepreneurs.
17
The
reader is reminded that the Stanislavski variations possess the same underlying principles of
the original technique.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces,
(Campbell’s original) HJS)
Vogler’s HJS variation: Arts Entrepreneurship Parallel:
World of Common Day Ordinary World Pre-vision
Call to Adventure Call to Adventure Vision
Refusal of the Call Refusal of the Call Saying “No”
Supernatural Aid Meeting the Mentor Mentorship
Crossing the ?rst Threshold
Belly of the Whale
Crossing the ?rst Threshold Decision to Action
Road of Trials
Tests, Allies & Enemies Challenges, Collaborators,
Competition
Approach to the Inmost Cave Prepping to Launch
Meeting with the Goddess
Woman as Temptress
Atonement with the Father
Apotheosis
Ordeal Startup to Launch
The Ultimate Boon Reward Customers
Refusal of the Return
The Magic Flight
Rescue from Within
Crossing the Threshold
The Road Back Product Adjustment
Return Resurrection Re-branding
Master of the Two Worlds
Freedom to Live
Return with the Elixir Need Ful?llment as an Elixir
53 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
15
See Uta Hagen, Respect for Acting (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, 1973); Sanford Meisner and Denis Longwell,
On Acting (New York: Random House, 1987); Stella Adler, The Art of Acting (New York: Applause Theatre and
Cinema Books, 2000) and Joseph Alberti, Acting: The Gister Method (Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson Education,
2012).
16
Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (Studio City, CA.: Michael Wiese
Productions, 1998).
17
Though this article uses the term “arts entrepreneurs” speci?cally, the principles discussed throughout the work
apply to many of those who “entrepreneur.”
Chart 1
18
THE PARALLEL
There are many parallels between the HJS, Vogler’s variation and how the HJS
manifests and an entrepreneur’s typical experience in an arts context. Chart 1 compares the
three. To further illustrate and better articulate the parallel, I provide a side-by-side narrative
comparison using both an interview with an arts entrepreneur and selections from Hamlet. By
using this more direct narrative presentation, the reader can better parse the individual aspects
of the HJS and how they manifest entrepreneurially. The narrative is structured as follows:
i. describes Vogler’s structure inspired by Campbell
ii. illustrates the arts entrepreneurship parallel
iii. provides the comparable storyline structure from the play Hamlet
iv. o!ers a brief “case study” of former student at The International Theatre Academy Norway
19
Ordinary World / Pre-Vision
i. Ordinary World
The Ordinary World for the hero is that world existing prior to the Call to Adventure. It
is the world the prospective hero knows as their “everyday,” where they encounter the same
stimuli and even the same people at the same time of day. This is their “ordinary world”— but
then something extra-ordinary occurs. A void is created or a need becomes apparent and can
appear in any number of forms. It might be a need within one’s community or could be a
personal void the hero encounters, such as emotional, ?nancial or meaning based. The duty of
the hero then becomes simply, to ?ll the void.
ii. Pre-Vision
For the arts entrepreneur, the ordinary world represents Pre-Vision, which is the stage
prior to having a creative vision for an entrepreneurial endeavor. The arts entrepreneur can
identify this stage in retrospect, as they look back upon their adventures and identify their
respective timelines.
iii. Hamlet’s Ordinary World
54 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
18
Vogler o!ers an interesting comparative chart that is similarly structured to Campbell’s. Vogler, The Writer’s
Journey, 6.
19
The interviewee is an arts entrepreneur/independent artist. By acting in bold and decisive manners, he has
realized opportunity as an independent artist and published author of theatrical plays.
The ordinary world for Hamlet is two-fold: Wittenberg, where he has been studying
with dear friend Horatio and the castle Elsinore in Denmark. Hamlet returned to Elsinore (as
Prince) due to the death of his father, followed by the marriage of his mother to his uncle—
and now king—Claudius.
iv. Case Study Ordinary World
MR: My ordinary world was just being a big ?sh in a small pond and not really taking any risks
creatively or artistically. It was very easy. I went to a small college in Nebraska, where I was born and
raised. And it was very easy for talent to just be enough and not really working too terribly hard and
just letting laud and praise be enough for telling you, “OK, you’ve done enough, you’ve succeeded,” and
not really taking any risks, so to speak, or expanding my paradigms at all. And so it was just very
much the same type of thing where, you know, if there’s auditions for another show in that small
community then if want to do it, I do it, I get the part I want and I do it, and then that’s enough for me.
I guess the ordinary world was never really accepting any challenges that the outside world came to
o#er me at all. Not taking any risks where I’d always wanted to be a published playwright, but hadn’t
really written much in college or after that, really.
Call to Adventure / Vision
i. Call to Adventure
At some point, the prospective hero is presented with a “call to adventure.” This call is
delivered by an archetype called a “herald.” The herald’s function, mythically speaking, is to
bring an underlying potential into the conscious awareness of the prospective hero. It is as
though the herald’s arrival says, “Wake up! It’s time to go into the unknown.”
ii. Vision
Creative vision or opportunity serves as the prospective artist entrepreneur's call to
adventure. It may come as a result of much e!ort on the entrepreneur’s part in an attempt to
?nd inspiration, or could arrive quickly and unexpectedly. Additionally, it may come in the
form of “vision” or opportunity recognition. Vision might be explained as the moment that the
arts entrepreneur ?nds inspiration, a calling, a picture in their mind’s eye of what could be; it
brings into focus a picture or sense of potential for the artist entrepreneur, should they say,
“Yes.”
iii. Hamlet’s Call to Adventure
King Hamlet (Hamlet’s recently deceased father) appears to Hamlet and friend Horatio
as a ghost who tells of how he was recently murdered by his brother Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle),
thus usurping the throne from Hamlet. This creates the void in the play. The call to adventure
comes with the ghost of King Hamlet saying:
GHOST: If thou didst ever thy dear father love--
HAMLET: O God!
55 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
GHOST: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (1.5.23-25)
20
iv. Case Study Call to Adventure
MR: My call to adventure came when I was looking at graduation from college in the face. I had
no idea what I wanted to do and I didn’t know where I wanted to go. And my theatre director in college
told me, “Well, you’re talented enough to pursue this more if you really wanted to work hard.” So I
started researching places that I could audition for, for some further education.. I clicked on a Facebook
ad, liked what I saw, I submitted an audition over YouTube. A little while later, the director called me to
interview me a little bit and then he congratulated me on getting accepted into his program. And then, I
guess maybe a month later, he called me back and said, “My mother’s school is in Oslo, Norway and I
want to present you with a challenge and the opportunity of going out there in a couple of months and
spending at least a semester studying abroad there and exploring what that experience would be like.”.
I had never lived outside of the country before, only traveled internationally twice. And I certainly was
not initially planning on graduation that I would move to another country for an extended period of
time. That was de?nitely my call for adventure
Refusal of the Call / Saying, “No”
i. Refusal of the Call
The prospective hero typically says “No” to the adventure; ?rst refusing and
rationalizing reasons for non-commitment, which might include not being interested in the
opportunity presented or vision experienced. Any number of reasons can arise in the mind of
prospective, such as not being ?t for the opportunity or inexperience, yet in the end they
accept.
ii. Saying, “No”
Whether through overcoming fears, training culture or personal doubts, in the end, the
developing artist entrepreneur decides to accept the call to adventure. However, should the
artist entrepreneur continue to refuse such a call, the door of opportunity closes and its
potential is left unrealized by the would-be hero, as opportunity may not return. Campbell
o!ers this encouragement to accept such adventure, saying, “I say, follow your bliss and don't
be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.”
21
iii. Hamlet’s Refusal of the Call
Hamlet refuses the call to adventure throughout most of the tale. This is exempli?ed by
Hamlet not killing Claudius. He has opportunity, but does not want to send Claudius’ soul to
heaven by murdering Claudius as he is absolving his sins (in the excerpt below). This is a clear
example of opportunity denial and a distraction from the goal of avenging his father’s death.
Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
56 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
20
Shakespeare, trans. 1982, 1.5.23-25.
21
Joseph Campbell & Bill Moyers, The Power Of Myth. (New York: Doubleday, 1988), 120.
And now I'll do't.
And so he goes to heaven; (3.3.73–75)
And later, when approaching his inmost cave—what Campbell describes as being in the “belly
of the whale”—the crown prince asks of himself whether to live or die: “To be or not to
be?” (3.4.89) The only reason for living, he concludes, is the fear of something after death.
Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than to ?y to others that we know not of? (3.1.76–82)
In the bedroom scene, his initial e!orts into action are blundered as he kills Polonius
by accident and thus contributes towards Ophelia going mad and, thus, enraging her brother
Laertes. Rather than on a continued path towards killing Claudius, Hamlet aggressively
engages with his mother (Queen Gertrude) as she laments to Hamlet, “Thou hast turn’st my
eyes into my very soul…” (3.4.89) This leads to the reappearance of the Ghost of King Hamlet,
telling Hamlet:
Do not forget. This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. (3.4.112)
In aggregate, we do not have a clear picture of a hero saying, “Yes,” until the end of the tragedy.
But in the end, he accepts the call.
iv. Case Study Refusal of the Call
MR: I was seriously involved with the woman that eventually became my wife and my parents
also had always been very close to me and I never lived very far away from them. And I was so sure
that they were going to tell me, “No, don’t do this. This is too much for you to take on,” that I just
suppressed it for a little bit. I didn’t say anything to anybody. And just had kind of made up my mind, I
wasn’t going to do it because there’s no way I was going to be good enough because I’m from a small
town in the Midwest and culture was telling me that I’m not talented enough and I knew for sure that
my loved ones were going to tell me that I was ludicrous for thinking about doing this at all. I de?nitely
refused it [the call] for a couple of weeks.
Meeting with the Mentor / Mentorship
57 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
i. Meeting with the Mentor
A mentor ?gure, as typically presented in folktales and movies, is often depicted as a
wise old man with a beard, such as in Star Wars with Ben Kenobi, Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
and Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But a mentor can come in any
form, sex, personage or ?gure. Mentors represent ?gures who know more than the hero and
can advance the cause of ?lling their gap or void by equipping them with knowledge, skills
and special tools through a mentoring relationship. In Star Wars, Obi Won gifts Luke
Skywalker a light saber, which he uses as he develops into a Jedi and enacts great good,
creating signi?cant impact for the rebel forces he comes to serve. In Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows, Harry is gifted an invisible cloak, which was once his father’s; it was gifted by
his old bearded headmaster Dumbledore. Robert Bly opines that “In ordinary life, a mentor
can guide a young man through various disciplines, helping to bring him out of boyhood into
manhood.”
22
Thus, the function of this archetype is to better equip our hero, to prepare them
for the rigors and challenges that lay in store in the yet unknown chapters of their adventure.
ii. Mentorship
No arts entrepreneur creates his or her entity alone.
23
Mentors can be found all around
us if we are humble enough to ask and receive their guidance and wisdom. Mentors provide
information and tools that enable the arts entrepreneur to better their chances of ?lling the
void they perceive at the beginning of their process.
iii. Hamlet’s Mentor
The Ghost of King Hamlet serves as Hamlet’s mentor ?gure. According to Campbell,
the mentor gives the hero a psychological center.
24
King Hamlet’s ghost does so by telling
Hamlet what has transpired and encouraging him to take action to kill Claudius. In multiple
scenes, we see Hamlet’s father’s ghost guiding the prince, insisting that Hamlet leave his
mother alone and kill Claudius. Evidence is seen of this mentor relationship when Hamlet
responds to his father, telling him to listen, with Hamlet responding, “Speak, I am bound to
hear.” (1.5.6) Moreover, one can assume an o!stage mentorship between the previously living
King Hamlet and his crown prince son, Hamlet.
iv. Case Study Meeting with the Mentor
MR: I did encounter some mentor ?gures. The one person I did tell was my theatre director in
college and he kept pushing me to do it. He said, “... you’re not going to grow until you are in situation
where you are with people that are better than you. And you are not going to grow and hone your craft
until you get teachers that are better than me and teachers that are more than me.” And between that
and having a very inspirational conversation with [the school’s director] over the phone about his
58 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
22
Robert Bly, Iron John: A Book about Men. (New York: Random House, 1992), 233. It should be noted that Bly’s book,
“Iron John” is a “Book About Men.” Heroes can, of course, be female.
23
Many entrepreneurs need help in their process of realizing visions of scope, which may come as a result of
working with collaborators through an incubator, with venture capitalists, a board of directors, someone who has
more experience than the entrepreneur (a mentor) or through some other means of advising, such as a board of
advisors.
24
Campbell and Moyers, The Power Of Myth, 146.
program, that convinced me as far as the mentorship side of the hero journey. That was where I
received that portion of getting—I don’t know—getting pushed o# of the fence, so to speak.
Crossing the First Threshold / Decision to Action
i. Crossing the First Threshold
To cross a threshold is to pass from one region to another; it is a changing of
environments. In the United States, a groom sometimes carries a bride over the threshold of
their home following marriage. A modern interpretation can suggest exiting one world
(perhaps living apart as individuals) and entering a new world (living together as a married
couple). In the hero journey, this denotes the moment the hero crosses from decision to action
—from the ordinary world to a new one. One also commonly ?nds threshold guardians, i.e.,
those ?gures that prevent a hero from experiencing (and/or succeeding at) the adventure.
ii. Decision to Action
When an arts entrepreneur decides and says “Yes” to the adventure before them,
(making a vision into a reality) equivocation is eliminated. Taking the ?rst steps towards
?nding collaborators, fundraising, creating an venture plan or amassing resources is when one
enters the realm of adventure (has said “Yes”). Once crossing from their ordinary world—that
world prior to vision—an arts entrepreneur enters the new, special world of the market, which
is much like a forest, a common symbol and setting in adventure literature. Forests (like
markets) can be dangerous and even at times ferocious, but can also hold treasures.
iii. Hamlet’s Threshold Crossing
Hamlet’s ?rst moment of considerable action towards avenging his father’s death comes
when he accidentally kills Polonius, thinking it to be King Claudius. Instantly, Hamlet crosses
the threshold from merely musing about the “call” into acting on the “call.” This act is one of
the two primary reasons for Ophelia crossing her own threshold towards madness: ?rst, her
love of Hamlet is forbidden, as she is not a royal, and second is the death of her father at the
hands of her love. Killing Polonius thrusts Hamlet into a special world, which in the play
denotes a story turn: the pre-killing of Polonius and post killing. In this new, special world,
Hamlet’s life is actively sought by the shadow ?gure King Claudius, as he seeks to secure his
usurpation of Hamlet’s place upon the throne.
iv. Case Study Crossing the First Threshold
MR: Well de?nitely moving to Norway. I think crossing of the threshold is moving to a di#erent
country. Diving into a di#erent culture where everyone is speaking a di#erent language and learning a
new governmental style and new educational style. And going into the conservatory lifestyle. I had
been a product of public education and then gone to a private liberal arts college in the middle of
Nebraska. That’s completely di#erent than going into a conservatory setting where you are completely
focused on honing your craft in one particular area, as well as doing that in the structure and context of
a completely di#erent country.
59 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
Tests, Allies and Enemies / Challenges, Collaborators and Competition
i. Tests, Allies and Enemies
The hero encounters trials and tribulations in their adventures and comes to know allies and
enemies. Much like Newton’s third law, the hero experiences trials and tribulations because of
the “pushback” he/she receives as a result of having entered and engaged the special world of
adventure.
ii. Challenges, Collaborators and Competition
Just as heroes encounter fellow travelers on their adventures, arts entrepreneurs gather
contacts through networking. Entrepreneurially speaking, “allies” can be viewed as our
network and “enemies” as competition. It is important to note that “enemies” need not be
thought of in a negative context. Competition can serve as a motivating factor, one that can
encourage innovation and betterment for consumers and audiences.
iii. Hamlet’s Tests, Allies and Enemies
Prince Hamlet does not have many allies. He ?nds his best ally and friend in Horatio.
Describing enemies for Hamlet, one ?nds many, chief of which is his uncle, King Claudius.
The usurping king embroils numerous others to conspire with him, including Polonius,
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and later Laertes. Hamlet’s tests involve evading certain death in
England and persevering, despite the King’s e!orts to kill him. He wrestles with the passing of
his love, Ophelia, and his mind struggles with whether to live or die with, “To be or not to
be.”
25
iv. Case Study Tests, Allies and Enemies
JH: Did you encounter any tests, allies or enemies in the process?
MR: Yes. So ironically at TITAN, The International Academy of Norway, when I ?rst got there,
there was an educator who I thought I was going to hate. I wasn’t really connecting with his passion at
all. And I wasn’t internalizing the challenges that he was throwing my way as a challenge. I was
internalizing them as, “He’s picking on me because I’m the American student.” And throughout a little
bit of arguing, a little bit of public debate in class that probably wasn’t very respectful, and throughout
the experience of actually completing the challenging work that he was presenting me with, I realized
that not only was he challenging me to grow farther than I thought I could grow, he also became the
biggest mentor to me in my experience there. So I think there’s something to be said about realizing….
You have to cognitively realize beforehand that there is going to be adversity that hits you. Some of it
will be self-in?icted, some of it will be from outside. But if you’re not experiencing the adversity, then
you’re not being challenged and you’re not going to grow.
JH: Did you meet any allies?
60 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
25
(Shakespeare, trans. 1982, 3.1.56)
MR: De?nitely met allies. It was wonderful t to build friendships with people at the school itself.
If you’re not familiar with the conservatory lifestyle, especially in the performing arts realm, you’re in
school eight or nine hours a day with these people and then you’re in rehearsals afterwards with these
people. And so you can’t help but build relationships with people there in order to thrive and for your
work to be successful.
JH: What about enemies?
MR: Oh, man. I de?nitely made some enemies there. I’m a very passionate individual and I’m
very quick to share my opinion. So, I alienated a few students...
Approach to the Inmost Cave / Prepping to Launch
i. Approach to the Inmost Cave
At this stage, heroes are further challenged and are ?guratively “in the wilderness.”
This is the stage in the HJS where the hero approaches the heart of the new world. It can be a
stressful time, as one may be wrestling with their fears and doubts prior to market launch.
Campbell o!ers a structural heading he calls, “The belly of the whale.” This stage is,
symbolically or literally, a time of darkness where there appears to be no light and the hero is
being devoured by their environment. But ultimately, those heroes that survive this stage re-
emerge as something di!erent—changed by the experience, transformed and more able to ?ll
the void.
ii. Prepping to Launch
From an entrepreneur’s perspective, this moment represents the preparation prior to a
venture’s launch, where there is typically a ?urry of activity, planning and e!orts exerted. It is
time to prepare for the unknown and muse about what lies in store with the launch of one’s
vision. This can be a highly stressful period as the entrepreneur comes face to face with the
realities of the risks they assume in addition to their own fears.
iii. Hamlet’s Approach to the Inmost Cave
The “mousetrap” or “player” scene, found in act III, scene II, represents the stage of the
“Approach to the Inmost Cave.” Hamlet seeks to trap the mouse (his uncle) by gaining proof of
his guilt through the re-enacting of the murder scene, as described by the Ghost. We see this
exempli?ed as Hamlet says:
“I'll have grounds.
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King. (2.2.599–601)”
iv. Case Study Approach to the Inmost Cave
MR: After I had written something that I was really proud of, and I thought maybe it was going
to be good enough to be published, my wife had to talk me out of throwing it away before I showed it to
anybody.. So, a lot of the anxiety that came before stepping up to the challenge to slay my dragon was
61 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
just from the standpoint of, “Do I really have the fortitude and the guts to have a thick skin if people tell
me my work sucks? And do I have the guts to even send my work out there to have people look at it?”
Because up until this point I had never really had too many people tell me that what I was doing
wasn’t good enough or it wasn’t good at all. And it’s a very harsh reality when you’ve created this baby
and you need, in order for it to get to the next step, you need somebody else to say, “I think it’s OK.”
That’s a very vulnerable position to be in at the very ?rst time.
Ordeal / Startup to Launch
i. Ordeal / Startup to Launch
As the hero grows near to achieving their goal, yet another challenge presents itself,
which is far greater in scale than all of the previous challenges. This requires that the hero
utilize their full range of acquired abilities, skills and strengths as they will be pushed to the
limits of their talents. It is at this moment, that they face their “dragon.” It is here that the hero
is either overcome or they overcome. Engaging the “dragon,” one comes to face their fears and
doubts. In doing so, they face an extrinsic manifestation of an intrinsic realization.
ii. Startup to Launch
For the arts entrepreneur, the entire process from startup to launch is “The Ordeal.”
The arts entrepreneur is likely ?ghting their “dragon” as they encounter numerous obstacles
throughout the process. Funding sources can dry up, collaborations can fall apart , etc., that
dampen the entrepreneur’s e!orts and threaten the stability and viability of the venture.
By killing one’s “dragon,” the arts entrepreneur acts through their fears and doubts.
Doing so, they can act out of their own desires and interests, rather than what they think they
“should do” based on social morals, which enables an artist’s potential to ?nd their unique
creative voice. In doing so, they come to know their audience, company and customers. When
the “dragon” is slain, the hero has an opportunity to claim the elixir (the treasure that will ?ll
whatever void is expressed in the story).
For the arts entrepreneur, the elixir might represent a community need addressed or
met. It could mean pro?tability and the securing of jobs created for those assisting in the
adventure. Artistically speaking, it could represent a graphic artist contracting with a large
client or a visual artist having a successful gallery opening. For a self-publishing author, it
could represent a milestone in sales.
62 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
In hero literature, the elixir can mean or symbolize many things, but ultimately, the
treasure of one’s hero journey is a deepening self-awareness.
26
The demands that arts
entrepreneurship places upon the entrepreneurs themselves are so great that they typically
undergoes a transformation in the process from vision to pro?tability and sustainability—they
change as their concept and business emerges.
iii. Hamlet’s Ordeal
Laertes challenges Hamlet to a fencing contest. Prior to Hamlet’s arrival, King Claudius
conspires with Laertes to apply poison to the weapons. (the goal is for Laertes to wound
Hamlet during the match). For good measure, Claudius poisons the wine with which he
intends to toast Hamlet—Hamlet presumably drinking from the cup with the toast. Laertes
cuts Hamlet with the poisoned blade and Hamlet returns the favor. Shortly after having
accidentally drunk from the cup that Claudius has tainted, the queen says, “The drink, the
drink! I am poison’d.” (5.2.316) Hamlet is enraged, calling for the doors to be shut. Laertes,
realizing that he and Hamlet are e!ectively dead, laments and confesses to poisoning Hamlet
and tells of Claudius’ treachery. With the Queen mother, Laertes and Hamlet simultaneously
dying, Hamlet takes his sword and ends King Claudius’ life. He stabs him and forces Claudius
to drink from the poisoned goblet.
iv. Case Study Ordeal
MR: I guess my dragon was going to be just my own personal anxiety of feeling like I wasn’t
going to be able to get past the fact if somebody told me “No.” Because I believe that the hero journey is
something that does manifest itself in people’s lives, I knew that the adversity was going to come. And so
the big dragon, so to speak, for me inwardly was this dragon of, “Am I going to have the balls to be able
to pick myself back up after the adversity knocks me on my ass?” And then I guess the proverbial
dragon that was contributing to me outwardly was just the whole industry entirely of the publishing
world. It’s gruesome, it’s not working ever as fast as you want it to, and “No” is going to be an answer
you hear a lot, and yadda, yadda, yadda, it’s just a whole big ordeal.
Reward / Customers
i. Reward / Customers
The hero journey is a process of individuation; thereby, the elixir often comes to represent self-
knowledge, which is the larger point of adventuring in the ?rst place. The hero goes through a
process of trials and tribulations that, in turn, better prepare and enable the hero to ?ll the
void articulated at the beginning of their process.
63 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
26
In classroom context, I de?ne “self-awareness” as ?nding a sense of one’s personal meaning and passion
through an active awareness of their environment. My students are encouraged to re?ect upon their own life
stories and to identify ?gures (possible archetypes) serving as mentors, allies and shadow elements. Furter, they
are asked to identify key moments that serve as markers or transitions in their lives, noting who was there, and to
become aware of those motivating urges that stimulate them to want to take action—including when they are
enacting an archetype. This awareness is what can be brought back to their community to ?ll a need, as found in
the Hamlet example.
ii. Customers
Having customers is critical for any for-pro?t venture’s sustainability. But more lasting,
the hero entrepreneur, due to the adventure itself, gains a deeper understanding of
themselves. The artist entrepreneur’s reward for overcoming many trials and tribulations are
many and include the realization of their creative vision or personal meaning. Perhaps it
comes in the form of pro?ts or the impact of their non- or for-pro?t social entrepreneurship
endeavor. For some, the reward may be the realization of a creative lifestyle or any number of
other “wins” as the arts entrepreneur seeks to ?ll the void.
iii. Hamlet’s Reward
Hamlet discovers his reward prior to the Ordeal. The elixir comes in the claiming of his
title, where he does, as Polonius advises to Laertes in act one, scene three:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.” (1.3.78)
This happens in the Ophelia burial scene, where Hamlet says to Laertes, “This is I, Hamlet the
Dane.” (5.1.250–51) For the ?rst time in the play, we see the thoughtful prince claim his rightful
position and title. He has decisively claimed the elixir of self-knowledge.
iv. Case Study Reward
MR: My work has been published, which is very exciting. And it has unleashed me to write even
more because the ?rst thing I had published, I didn’t write anything after that. I don’t know if that was
the right decision to make or not, but that was the choice I made— I was going to wait and see what
happened with that to see if this was worth pursuing or not. And so after you get that ?rst thing
published, it was kind of unlocking the door to me just blasting through it and writing a whole lot more.
And it’s become something that I ?nd therapy in, it’s become something that I thoroughly enjoy and this
is what I spend every free moment that I have doing when I can.
The Road Back / Product Adjustment
i. The Road Back / Product Adjustment
A return is vital in the hero process, as the adventure’s purpose is to ?ll the void or gap
experienced at the beginning of the story. The process is one of large-scale change: the vision
changes, the entity grows and changes, peoples’ roles change and the demands of the market
are in constant ?ux.
There is always the possibility of continuing to seek adventures, to keep going forward
into new opportunities, to not return and ?ll the void. However, it is the duty of the hero to
return with the elixir and provide it for the ?lling of the void that was found in the beginning,
for without ?lling the void, there is no heroic act.
64 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
ii. Product Adjustment
The road back for the artist entrepreneur involves taking feedback and their ?ndings
from market engagement and going back to the lab or the drawing board. As a result of having
gone into and through the special world of the market, the artist entrepreneur has the
opportunity to develop and to bring the relevant ?ndings back for readjustment, re-market
entry and the ?lling the void. Thus, re-entry is a market re-entry with a re?ned concept,
business model, product or service.
iii. Hamlet’s Road Back
During the play, Hamlet leaves for a time, when he is shuttled o! to England for
assassination by his uncle Claudius. However, Hamlet turns circumstances upon Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern, who are escorting him on the voyage, which leads to their mutual demise.
Hamlet’s Road Back is his returning to his Denmark. As the hero journey structure is a ?exible
one, the Road Back occurs before the Reward in this example.
iv. Case Study The Road Back
MR: Totally. I was told, “No” twice before I was told, “Yes.” So that was a whole other process of
picking myself back up and trying to ?gure out, “OK do I really want to send this to someone else now?”
And then also there’s this little bit of, at least in my life, you get this thing that you’ve always said
you’ve wanted to do. And from the time I was 16, I’m 26 now, I said, “I would love to be a published
playwright.” I didn’t know when it was going to happen, I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do it,
but I knew I wanted to be a published playwright. Well, at the age of 25, all of a sudden I achieved that
—way earlier than I thought I was going to. And you get that initial excitement of, “It’s happened,”
and then you get your proof in the mail and you see it and then you get your ?rst shipment of the
scripts in and everything and then you realize people are going to do your show and you get excited
about that.
And then after all that dust settles, you realize, “I’m still the same person.” and this really
wasn’t as much of a transformational experience as, say, getting married. You know, it wasn’t like this
big spiritual epiphany came to me, it wasn’t like all of the sudden my doorbell was ringing with
millions of people needing something from me because I ventured into this whole big new world. It was,
“I’m a published playwright. I’ve got this accomplishment now.” But it takes even more gumption and
even more creative e#ort and even more work to say, “That one creative endeavor isn’t enough, I want
to try to stretch myself and do more.”
Resurrection / Rebranding
i. Resurrection / Rebranding
For the hero, the stage of resurrection is one of being re-born. Having sometimes
sacri?ced so greatly, they experience a metaphorical or literal death, which transforms the
hero. Examples can be found in mythic traditions around the world.
ii. Rebranding
65 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
To rebrand is to re-de?ne the image of one’s company and how the public may come to
view it. Knowing that markets provide feedback and will express its demand, arts
entrepreneurs have an opportunity to re?ect on their creation. At this stage of the adventure,
the arts entrepreneur can further alter what their creation in service of those impacted by the
entrepreneurial vision. However, if one is serving an audience, it likely serves the interests of
the arts entrepreneur to alter their vision for the market, if sustainability is also a goal.
iii. Hamlet’s Resurrection
Hamlet was usurped for the throne. By acting decisively and killing Claudius, Hamlet
restores his birthright to the throne of Denmark. Hamlet’s voice continues on, we presume,
through the actions of Prince Fortinbras of Norway, post play.
iv. Case Study Resurrection
MR: I have become a whole lot more comfortable in my own skin throughout this whole process.
I had never had a problem interacting with people, but this whole resurrection of sorts has become a
whole lot more of an empowering and liberating experience for me to unleash my creative freak ?ag. I
grew up in a very strong evangelical nutshell and I still hold on strong to my faith, but my faith does
not look like the faith that people back home expect me to have. And it was a lot easier to just try to
“people please” and silence myself than it is to say, “This is my freak ?ag, deal with it, and I’m going to
pursue it.” And so when you get that validation of, “OK, what I’m doing is worthwhile and what I’m
creating is powerful and what I’m creating is something that other people see value in,” that provided
me with a little bit of validation to say, “You know what? I’ve got the thick enough skin to hear no and
I’ve got the thick enough skin that I can show my passion in a much bolder way now,” and not worry
about people internalizing it the wrong way.
Parallel: Return with the Elixir / Need Ful?llment
i. Parallel: Return with the Elixir / Need Ful?llment
At this stage, the hero enters the ?nal stage of this particular adventure before another
begins. Campbell describes the juncture thusly:
“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has
been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience
available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes o! on a
series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or
to discover some life-giving elixir. It's usually a cycle, a coming and a
returning.”
27
The goal of a hero adventure is to ?ll voids and to do so with the elixir obtained. To return with
the elixir is to serve one’s community needs.
ii. Need Ful?llment
66 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
27
Campbell and Moyers, The Power Of Myth, 123.
From an artistic entrepreneur’s perspective, this might represent the needs of a
community served by a 501(c)3, for-pro?t or social entrepreneurship endeavor. It can represent
the completion of a novel by a writer who serves an eager and loyal audience. Further, it may
be found in the form of a graphic artist who completes a remarkable and e!ective logo for use
by an emerging company or through the addressing of a community’s needs through a
particularly e!ective dance or theatre performance. It may be represented by any number of
expressions that serve to ?ll a void, with the “void” representing something larger than the
hero alone.
iii. Hamlet’s Return with the Elixir
With the avenging of his father’s death, Hamlet rights the wrongs of usurpation, and for
a brief moment before his death, Hamlet is in the position of King. Some of his dying words as
king are:
“But I do prophesy th’election lights
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.” (5.2.360–61)
Throughout the play, there is a subplot involving young Fortinbras, crown prince of Norway. In
the play, much of Norway’s lands were lost (o!stage) to King Hamlet in a ?ght between the
seniors. Prince Fortinbras, like Hamlet, seeks to right a perceived injustice, but Fortinbras is
more able than Hamlet. Prince Fortinbras successfully amasses an army of soldiers and ably
navigates them to castle doors of Elsinore by the play’s ?nal scene. This is the ruling ?gure that
perhaps Shakespeare intends to rule Denmark (o!stage and post-play). Indeed, Fortinbras is
the character Shakespeare perhaps envisions to be the antithesis of the rot of Denmark, of
which Hamlet is a part. Fortinbras is all that Hamlet is not: decisive, impulsive and action-
based. With the deaths in the court of Denmark, all that “…is rotten in the state of Denmark”
dies with the court and there is hope for healing Denmark (and Norway) through Fortinbras.
(1.4.90) With this void ?lled and the rot removed from Denmark, the tragedy ends.
iv. Case Study Return with the Elixir
MR: I work a lot with college students in what I do outside my writing. And so literally my
world right now is just writing my creative pursuits and working with college students. And it has
been… something that I’ve been able to share with people is this concept of telling them, you know, The
hero’s journey has been very real in my life; it’s very real in their lives, but it’s seeing it through that
paradigm. It empowers the younger people that I work with to say, “Yes,” as well. And so I guess this is
more of feeling more comfortable sharing my story with other people so they can feel more comfortable
sharing their own story. And so it seems to be more of that elixir I’m sharing is that concept of “Feel
empowered to share anyway.”
THE HERO JOURNEY STRUCTURE SUMMARIZED
67 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
Once a person has a creative vision for an entrepreneurial endeavor, they may struggle
with whether or not to commit to action. If the adventure is accepted and progresses from
decision to action, the entrepreneur enters the realm of the market. The market can be a
volatile place ?lled with tests, trials and tribulations. It can also present allies, enemies and
opportunities. Prior to market launch, there will likely be a ?urry of activity in preparation.
Once launched, the market will inform. It will communicate what it does and does not like and
what is and is not working. The entrepreneur typically takes such ?ndings and returns to
recon?gure and even rebrand. Doing so, the hero entrepreneur creates potential for a more
viable business and comes to serve.
Considering the adventure-like quality of heroic exploits into arts entrepreneurship, we
can look to the time-tested structure of the
hero journey, as articulated by Campbell and
later adapted by Vogler, to enable perspective
and perseverance in the process of being an
arts entrepreneur. When facing great
obstacles, students can view such challenges
as thresholds with their accompanying
guardians. Through such a lens, we can
recognize, celebrate and work with our allies/
network. At the same time, we are mindful of
the competition that threatens to end our
adventures. The entire process of arts
entrepreneurship may be viewed through the
lens of the hero adventure. Morong supports
this point: “Showing how the entrepreneur is
like the universal hero in mythology might
help to show that there is a chance for
spiritual and creative ful?llment and self
d i s c o v e r y i n c a p i t a l i s m t h r o u g h
entrepreneurship.”
28
One may even choose to live AND venture heroically, viewing one’s own
life journey and art as a series adventures.
A Need for Heroes
Adventure stories are a popular literary genre, as it seems we identify with the
struggles, trials and tribulations of the heroes and empathizing with the sacri?ces they accept.
Heroes are admired for their endurance, their will and su!ering as they face fantastic odds and
assume signi?cant risks. We also admire heroes because life has no shortage of struggles to
face, risks to assume and challenges to overcome. Those who serve something more than
themselves become necessary and are recognizable. We have no shortage of such visionaries in
contemporary society such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who impacted our world and how we
68 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
28
Morong, The Creative-Destroyers, 2.
communicate, listen to music and compute. One might say that they served a world-wide
community through their personal adventures.
Every community needs its youth to gain experience in the larger world and return that
value to the community. When an arts entrepreneur selects their audience and creates with
the audience’s interests in mind, the arts entrepreneur is committing an act of service. When
one is serving someone or some group, when one’s focus goes from self to another or others,
that individual has the potential to become necessary to those they serve. Being necessary
often leads to pro?tability, mutual need ful?llment and sustainability of the arts entrepreneur
and their entity.
Knowing such a structure, which is ancient and yet still relevant, and having it as
guidance, one gains perspective and a lens through which to navigate the adventures of arts
entrepreneurship. Such knowledge can lead to an understanding of how to build meaning into
one’s own career, visions and creative entities. The HJS gives the artist—who (at least
stereotypically) has an intuitive understanding of meaning—a structure to maneuver through
the process of realizing meaning and passion in the world. With the service-act of the artist
entrepreneur, economies are stimulated, jobs are created and impact is realized. Meaning is
also realized in the artistic entrepreneur’s own process and life.
Teaching with the Hero Journey
In my own classroom, we begin with the HJS, using the parallel found in this article.
We then explore various archetypes, the “cast of characters” of the hero journey, and their
relationship to stories. As a course assignment, students interview three working arts
entrepreneurs, attempting to determine whether and how the stories of their processes of
entrepreneurship parallel the hero adventure structure. The students then create an analysis
of their three interviews. Their interviews are published on the SMU department blog under
the project heading, “Heroes Among Us.”
I teach six key factors of Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure to inspire
development of heroic artistic entrepreneurs:
1. The HJS is addressed and understood in each stage.
2. A working knowledge of archetypes is developed.
3. Students develop a suitable self-awareness to recognize a heroic journey structure and
archetypes that may manifest in their own adventures.
4. They gain an understanding of service.
5. They bring their individual talents and skills to the market (they share their “elixir”).
6. Students develop a lens and perspective to navigate the obstacles of arts
entrepreneurship.
69 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
How individual educators present these structured areas can be as diverse as hero
adventures are varied in circumstance and scope. A full semester or more can be used to
explore the mechanics and varied stages of the structure. Yet where the students make a
lasting and valuable connection is in relating the hero journey structure and archetypes to
their own lives. This is done through the analysis of original interviews with arts
entrepreneurs. Students are able to draw their own conclusions as a result of their own
analysis, which makes for a “discovery” of knowledge. Their discovery is made as a result of
perceived patterns in the happenings of others’ lives and processes, and consequently, their
own. As educators, we can aid students in identifying heroic ?gures that exist in their own
communities and in my classroom, I ?nd they typically identify many.
CONCLUSION
Both Campbell’s and Vogler’s work, especially in relation to the hero adventure, o!er a
myriad of uses for the artist, entrepreneur and arts entrepreneur. We can help our students to
view their entrepreneurial adventures as heroic exploits and in doing so, they may become
heroic arts entrepreneurs. In serving others’ needs, one becomes necessary, and being
“necessary,” as an artist, can lead to pro?tability. Universities training arts entrepreneurs by
o!ering the techniques o!ered in this article gain because of their successful and impactful
graduates who make their way in the world as heroic arts entrepreneurs.
70 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
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Acknowledgements: Dean José Antonio Bowen, Paula Jan Hart, Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart,
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72 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
The Liminal Freelance Landscape: Geography,
Proximity and Community
LAINE GOLDMAN
Tilburg University, Netherlands
You have to be able to function as if you are on the frontier again. There’s no backup.
The twentieth century was all about moving from the rural—spreading out and
centralizing in the city. That’s now breaking down. People are pulling back out to
work in exurbs or small towns like where I am – and staying connected to a big city
for the purpose of coming together every so often for face time or to sell a new client.”
rrr Bill Cavanaugh
ather than being marginalized, freelancers are now being institutionalized within
the business structure. As the job market morphs into a new model free of perks,
offices, insurance or the promise of a steady paycheck, it is important to study how
freelancers navigate this shifting workforce culture. Film, television, music, video
gaming, advertising and Internet-driven industries regularly employ contract workers and
this phenomenon is growing across all business sectors. Professionals with varying skills
come together for relatively short periods of time, contribute to a project, then leave. Some
production and creative teams retain the same loose-knit network for years.
1
Eleven project participants, intersecting with many multimedia domains teach us
invaluable commonsense strategies about organizational teamwork—and who works. The
participants’ individual conversations create a composite image of life as a migrant creative at
This article features nationally recognized multimedia artists candidly discussing the shifting
landscape of their freelance work. For these professionals, soliciting clients is intrinsically linked to
their global or local networked community. Therefore, the topography of freelance is not about land
in the same way as geography is not simply about location. Rather, place is about where these
professionals find themselves in relation to the economy, community and other influences that allow
us to understand the relational layering of freelance work. This is a starting point for a conversation
that recognizes liminality, community, and proximity as a way to navigate a more expansive, socially
constructed view of freelance.
z
73 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
1
This article contains excerpts from a signi?cantly longer chapter in Laine Goldman, “The Migrant Creative: U.S.
Media Freelancers at the Border of a Changing Work Culture” (Ph.D. diss., Tilburg University, Netherlands, 2013).
R
Copyright © 2014, Laine Goldman
the border of a changing work culture; these lessons are pertinent for all consultants.
However, participants demonstrate that the liminal tension of waiting for work is reduced
when the freelancers extend their relational web, learn new skills, anchor their body with
energetically calming strategies and frame their career knowing they will engage in many
work styles: full-time, freelance, part-time and many will be simultaneous.
The second part of the article explores location, community and geography as critical
factors when securing work and demonstrates a diversity of participant opinions. The
conversations were di!erent for all of the media arts entrepreneurs regarding the
importance of location and it was contingent on the types of projects. There is no one-size-
?ts-all formula followed with ironclad conclusions. It is not only the entrepreneurs’ body of
work but also their relational connections that foster many of their opportunities. These
shape-shifting connections often start with proximity but also change with time because of
technological improvements in communication.
The migrant creative story is one of early adoption and adaptation of the freelance
work style. It is a story of media freelancers, many with 15 to 30+ years of experience, who are
improvising and reinventing their lives both personally and professionally.The participants,
ranging from a Guggenheim recipient to Emmy winners, are the drivers of inventive projects
across diverse disciplines including documentary work, experimental ?lm, the recording
industry, journalism, the Internet, advertising, reality television, game shows, screenwriting,
radio, and comedy. As Marc Jaffe, a project participant and former Seinfeld writer notes
“Everyone is a freelancer now – they just don’t know it.” It is in this changing work context,
that I invited these colleagues to discuss the shifting landscape of their freelance media
work at the crossroads of technological change.
The participants include: Jimi Izrael, a moderator on NPR’s The Barbershop and author
of The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men (2010); Kasumi, a 2011
Guggenheim recipient; Carol E. Beck, an international video producer for name-brand
corporate accounts like Mercedes Benz, The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, Panasonic and others
while also following her passion for Buddhism by documenting monastic projects for the
Emory-Tibet Partnership in India; Marc Ja!e, a comedian and writer, incorporating both of
these skills in his foundation, Shaking With Laughter, which raises money for Parkinson’s
disease research; Alan McElroy a screenwriter, whose latest screenplay is scheduled to be
produced by X-Men’s Ralph Winter and directed by Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind,
Cinderella Man); Steven Tatar, an Internet designer and former creative head of American
Greetings and entrepreneur currently rebranding Ohio Knitting Mills; Kate Farrell, a reality
television executive producer with WE-tv; Ayad Rahim, a former New York Times blogger and
radio show host focusing on the Middle East, currently in graduate school; Sheryl White a
copywriter for major national accounts; Laura Paglin, a ?lmmaker and documentarian; and
Bill Cavanaugh, an audio mixer MTV, VH1, History Channel, Nova, Discovery and many
others.
74 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
WHERE ARE WE? THE OFF-ROAD CAREER TREKKER
Using the metaphor of travel, the media freelancer would be the off-road trekker on a
career journey. The route is not a predetermined destination but a serendipitous path of
choices and concessions that often offer less in terms of ?nancial predictability and security
but more when it comes to ?exibility and creativity.
The geography of soliciting and ?nding clients is intrinsically linked to their
networked community, whether global or local. Proximity or spatial closeness to clients is a
variable depending on the level of collaboration required. Therefore, the topography of
freelance is not about land; it is where we have landed. Geography is not just about place but
where we ?nd ourselves in relation to the economy, community, family, friends and the
con?uence of in?uences that allow us to better understand the relational layering of
interdependent work. This is the starting point for a conversation that recognizes liminality,
community and proximity as a way to navigate a more expansive, socially constructed
worldview of freelance.
Introducing Liminality as an Anchor in Chaotic Times
Liminal, from the Latin word for threshold, is de?ned in Merriam-Webster dictionary
as “relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition; in-between, transitional.”
2
Anthropologist Victor Turner referred to this liminal condition as “betwixt and between”
when describing a rite of passage in The Forest of Symbols.
3
Freelance is the personi?cation of
a liminal life—working while simultaneously seeking employment. One is in constant
transition, which makes for interesting and exhilarating life. Freelancers are always open to
something new, yet at times this can be terrifying when work is not on the horizon.
This article approaches liminality as the psychological space of being in “limbo” and
then situates the spatial, physical embodiment of this concept as it relates to the media and
freelance experience. The physical is not only about geography but the importance of
bringing a whole-body perspective to work. Many of these participants discuss healthcare
practices that are vital to recalibrating the body in a high-energy creative profession—
especially to counter the liminal experience of restlessness that comes with waiting for work
—while allowing the participants to remain vital, balanced and active.
Also explored is how geography, proximity and community serve to orient and
anchor the freelancer within the liminal landscape. This article advocates an appreciative
stance as one way to positively reframe living with uncertainty; this reorientation allows the
freelancer to consider new scenarios while also engaging emergence. As Henry Miller notes,
“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
"4
75 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
2
Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “liminal.”
3
Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967).
4
Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (New York: New Directions Publishing, 1957), 25.
The Liminal Experience: Somewhere Between Flying and Falling
There is a rush of anticipation and heightened awareness leading to a new job or
project for a freelancer—and a sense a relief when it is complete. Kasumi, an experimental
?lmmaker and Guggenheim recipient, aptly describes this experience: “Freelance is a cross
between ?ying and falling.” Media arts freelancers were already wandering through the
liminal landscape of uncertainty before the ?nancial meltdown.
What is a liminal life? It is the experience of transitioning and changing but not quite
sure where you are going or even how you are going to get there. One is suspended in the
exquisite in-between, feeling the tensional pull of “possibility” on one end and “not
knowing” on the other side. There is a heightened state of awareness when one’s intuitive
antenna is activated and fear is momentarily pushed aside while embracing the uncertainty
of seeking work or completing a new task. A successful freelancer needs to muzzle the fear
or they cannot focus to create either the work or an opportunity. As Deepak Chopra
mentions in a discussion about what is important in life: “I embrace the wisdom of
uncertainty, because if everything is certain, where is the creativity?”
5
Though the original application of the term was brought to life in the ?eld of
anthropology, it has since ?owed to psychology and urban studies, then migrated into a more
interdisciplinary realm. Liminal, a lyrical word, belies the paradoxical life that media
workers and others inhabit. For freelance media professionals, liminality is place that
straddles work and home. They connect with clients both globally and locally, busy creating
the culture they consume and ironically working in an environment that brands lifestyle but
does not always pay a living wage.
Self-employed workers seldom describe themselves as laid-back. There is an
inherent vigilance as they surf for their next job while being acutely aware that the
undercurrent of uncertainty can pull them under. The actual sur?ng, the task of working on
a creative project, is a short-lived experience. The metaphor of sur?ng can romanticize the
free agent experience but it presents a visceral spin on the danger and excitement of working
in a sea of change. This requires emotional balance and the long-term perspective of
remembering that work is cyclical and comes in waves. Marc Jaffe, a comedy writer and
entrepreneur, captures the temporality and long-term perspective required of freelance:
“Because of the nature of the business, you’re a freelancer always. Even when
you have a job, it’s a temporary job. Even if you get a job on a TV show, a
Seinfeld is rare that it lasts for so many years. So many shows last a year or a
couple of episodes and then they’re yanked. It’s not even whether it’s a good
show or not. It’s rare for people to even stay on a show for two or three years. A
producer can change. Everything is a part-time job – it’s your focus for a while.
You have to look at freelance as a whole career and there will be times when I
will have a steady paycheck and times when I won’t.”
76 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
5
Oprah Winfrey, “Oprah Talks to Deepak Chopra,” O, The Oprah Magazine, June 2012, 144.
Everywhere and Nowhere
The University of Chicago’s website on media theory suggests that media is
inherently liminal: “Media may adapt a multitude of forms, even including what can be
considered to be ‘formless.’ As it is both ‘everywhere and nowhere,’ conceptualizing media as
liminal does not seem too far-fetched.”
6
This “everywhere and nowhere” concept can be
further extrapolated to include the media freelancers’ world of working for many clients, yet
not being speci?cally anchored to one. Indeed, this liminal passage is also extended to
include the creative morphing from an unknown concept to an embodied media form. This
phenomenon can also describe how the media freelancer feels in an oversaturated world of
nonstop communication.
Liminal dislocation can also be attributed to the increase of individuals passing
through our lives at a rapid pace due to increased travel and technological advances. This
“intensifying interchange” of evanescent relationships is recognized by Kenneth Gergen:
“One can scarcely settle into a calming rut, because who one is and the cast of ‘signi?cant
others’ are in continuous motion.”
7
It is this continuous movement of accelerated Oz-like
comings and goings that the freelancer recognizes as the part of the job and seeks to
balance; yet these waves of encounters provide moments for connection, creativity and
potential opportunities.
Liminality Challenges Work Organizations and Learning
Freelancers are expected to come and jump into an existing structure and improvise
with a new or existing team. Sue Tempest and Ken Starkey suggest that temporary workers
breathe new life into an organization:
“For organizations, the release from structures that bind too tightly can be positive
for organizational performance, for example promoting innovation as liminal
situations are conducive to transcendence and play. This, in turn, creates a
new image of the temporary worker, challenging organizational
orthodoxies: ‘The liminal person (is) an ambiguous ?gure, capable of
upsetting normative orders and of transcending boundaries by their
continuous entering and leaving.’ ”
8
Another side bene?t for the freelancer is that they are extending their relational web
and learning new practices at each site. The disadvantage is that many ?rms are reluctant to
hire outsiders without the exact experience they are looking for and hesitate to train on the
77 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
6
The University of Chicago, “Glossary: Liminal, liminality.” Accessed September 7, 2012.http://csmt.uchicago.edu/
glossary/2004/liminal.htm.
7
Kenneth Gergen, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life (New York.: Basic Books, 1991), 67.
8
Sue Tempest and Ken Starkey, “The Effects of Liminality on Individual and Organizational Learning,”
Organizational Studies 25 (2004): 509.
job, so freelancers interested in learning new skills are inhibited by hiring specificity. Carol
Beck, herself a production freelancer, notes:
“In Atlanta, 80 percent of the people I hire I’ve known for ?ve years. When I
do have to bring on unknowns, like a low-level production assistant, I get
them from friends. ‘All my PA’s (production assistants) are booked up, who do
you know?’ I never hire anybody who just sends me a resume... That is the
most ineffectual way to get a job imaginable. They need to work for free. It
doesn’t even have to be an internship. They can go to a production
company and say, ‘On your next production I will work for free.’ You cannot
get work experience until you have work experience. Nobody is going to pay
you to test you out.”
Within the socially constructed territory of freelance work, there are no steadfast rules
about what works and who works. All of the freelancers interviewed mentioned the
importance of relational connections and the ability to perform at the high level as
contributing to their career.
Tempest Starkey asks “...how long term goals can be pursued in an economy devoted
to the short term and how mutual loyalties and sentiments can be sustained in institutions
which are constantly breaking apart and continually being redesigned.”
9
The answer is the
power of relational connections as a sustainable force: “It is ongoing relationships and the
sense that a career can be created out of the ?ux of changing projects that provide stable
points of reference, trust, and learning that serve both individual and organization.”
10
As
more jobs become contingent, the power of relationships will challenge our attitudes about
competition and demand more cooperative alliances.
Attention to Balance and Perspective Grounds the Liminal Experience
The notion of liminality can also connect to how it is embodied in the physicality of
the freelancers’ lives. For many participants, the importance of nurturing the body and
taking time for self is critical when one works with the fast-paced frenzy of individuals
passing through your life. Quiet time becomes a touchstone for centering and many
freelancers in this project mention needing recovery time to regroup and regain their
creative vitality. Freelancers recognized long ago that harnessing and balancing their energy
is critical to performance. This idea is slowly gaining momentum as Tony Schwartz (founder
and CEO of The Energy Project) suggests that in business we are witnessing a personal
energy crisis:
“Energy, after all, is the capacity to do the work. In the face of relentlessly
rising demand, fueled by digital technology and the expectation of instant
24/7 responsiveness, employees around the world are increasingly burning
78 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
9
Ibid., 524.
10
Ibid.
down their energy reserves and depleting their capacity.”
11
Schwartz recognizes the growing disconnect between the high energy demand required of
the workforce and the return:
“The vast majority of organizations—and CEOs—have failed to fully
appreciate the connection between how well they take care of their
employees; how energized, engaged and committed those employees are as a
result; how well they take care of clients and customers; and how well they
perform over time.”
12
Freelancers, early on, recognized the physical and mental demands of creative work
and know how to recalibrate, rest, and appreciate their freedom during leaner times. This
“running on empty” phenomenon is a professional liability for the entire workforce, but
deadly for the freelancer who must continually recharge her creative juices while staying
open to new opportunities. As Carol Beck, a videographer says, “The hardest thing about
freelance is ?nding time in the day to be good to yourself—to exercise, to meditate, to make
healthy meals... to do those things you need to maintain balance...”
Here, the idea of liminality can be repositioned in a full body context to include
replenishing one’s emotional, spiritual and physical reservoir as an anchoring device. The
idea of creating a generative work environment is an emerging trend that stellar companies
recognize and incorporate in their culture: offering healthy food, on-site ?tness, ?exible
hours, encouraging community service, providing creative and leadership opportunities
and pro?t-sharing to name a few. Companies such as Google, Zappos, and SAS Institute are
raising the bar for workplace standards and productivity.
13
Precarity Exacerbates Liminality
Working on one job while searching for another or waiting for the check is a
precarious work environment creating a sense of “not knowing.” Additionally, there is a “pull
of possibility” that is sometimes coupled with an undercurrent of impending doom. The
glory days of risk and reward are de?nitely more about risk than reward as people are trying
to adapt to the new digital economy coupled while weathering economic uncertainty.
Before the economic meltdown, the liminality of uncertainty was already a reality
for media freelancers. Now we have the precarity of an unstable economy added to the mix.
There were many freelancers during the development this article that went back to school,
secured a full-time job and developed their own creative projects. Others that have
postponed retirement and continue to work at a frenetic, exhausting pace. Bill Cavanaugh,
79 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
11
Tony Schwartz, “Share this with your CEO.” Accessed July 2012.http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/06/share-this-with-
your-ceo/
12
Ibid.
13
See CNN Money, “List of the Best Companies to Work for,” accessed May 25, 2014,http://money.cnn.com/
magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/50.html; and Tony Schwartz, “The Twelve Attributes of a Truly
Great Place to Work,” accessed October 16, 2012,http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/09/the-twelve-attributes-of-a-tru/
an audio engineer at RazorMix, acknowledges that risk has always been there but it is
increasing in media:
“The fact of the matter is that there’s always been a risk and the risk is
increasing in this business. If you work for a company, you don’t see the risk
elements because you have a steady paycheck. You don’t see the elephant
charging until the boss comes in and says. ‘I’m laying you off.’ You’re not ready
for it. I have to be the guy that chases down the money without pissing the
client off and keeping it friendly. I know what the true ?nancials are. I did a
job in December and they didn’t pay me until May. So that becomes an issue.
You have to chase the work down, do the work, and then you have to chase the
money down.”
Alan McElroy, a Hollywood screenwriter, describes the limbo of living in the space
where the work is ?nished, you’ve been paid, and you’re not sure if and when the project you
created will come to life—while still worrying about when the next job will appear:
“I have nothing in production. Everything is on the ?ve-yard line and nothing
is getting across the goal. If twenty-?ve years ago, I said to myself ‘Guess
what?’ In 2010 you’re going to have a project you sold in a bidding war with
20
th
Century Fox with an Oscar-winning screenwriter said to direct. You’ve got
a script at Screen Gems and the president of production said it was his
favorite script and he was calling about it. You’ve got an NBC pilot. A Fox
Television studio pilot. Everything is in position and guess what? You’re not
making any money. I’ve been paid to write everything. Everything is sitting in
limbo and the clock is rolling. Nothing new is being generated. All those
things are paid up. So you would automatically think: I should be getting work
all the time. I have a lot of people coming to see me for ideas but nothing is
locking in. It’s a weird limbo I’m in.”
The reality for journalists is that rates were radically reduced Jimi Izrael mentions,
“The market in my opinion has devalued about 60 percent since 2003 or 2004.” In the past, it
was primarily journalists who took the heavy hit, but now the workforce compression
extends to those in other freelance media venues. Cavanaugh chimes in with a similar price
reduction of about half even though he is working nonstop. Everyone is looking for a deal
and the sustainability of working as a media freelancer is tenuous and driving the new
precarity. At the same time, it fosters career improvisation in the nonpro?t and
entrepreneurial realm, as demonstrated by these freelancers. There is clearly a shift
emerging, driving freelancers to the nonpro?t or entrepreneurial sector; Jaffe creating a
philanthropic organization Shaking with Laughter and Steven Tatar starting a knitwear
company Ohio Knitting Mills.
14
80 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
14
See “Shaking with Laughter Foundation,” accessed April 10, 2012,http://shakingwithlaughter.org/; and Steven
Tatar, “Ohio Knitting Mills,” accessed February 19, 2012),http://www.ohioknitingmills.com.
The Why of Living with Liminality: An Appreciative View
Why do these people chose to live in limbo when it comes to work? Tatar beautifully
articulates “the why” of his freelance choice:
“People don’t say I want to be a freelancer. You say I like this type of work and
it happens to be work that is not typically employed but treated as contract
service. I’m a freelancer because I got laid off at the end of the huge burst of
an economy. I never really found a job that I was willing to do. I can get a job
– but I don’t want to get one that isn’t aligned with my strengths, my interests,
my passions, my intent and vision for my professional life. That vision is
everybody’s dream – at least creatives. A lot of people don’t bother dreaming
because they said, ‘It’s a job you’re not supposed to like it.’”
The tradeoff for uncertainty and unpredictability is to ?nd work that is emotionally
and creatively satisfying. According to Daniel Pink, this new work ethic is one of “...having
freedom, being authentic, putting yourself on the line and de?ning success on your own
terms.”
15
The liminality of the freelance lifestyle is supplanted by creativity, scheduling
flexibility and autonomy. When securing payments and ?nding work becomes
disproportionately difficult, freelancers start improvising and begin to consider full- or part-
time work, retirement, starting their own business or other combinations. This is expanding
and changing our de?nition of what it means to have a “regular job.”
Although the uncertainty of freelance is di#cult, many participants suggested that a
9-5 position is becoming increasingly less stable. When one is no longer soliciting or
advancing a personal network, it becomes a fast-and-furious “catch up game” when the
position is eliminated. As Cavanaugh noted earlier, “You don’t see the elephant charging
until the boss comes in and says, ‘I’m laying you off.’ You’re not ready for it.” With Forbes’
prediction that one-half of American jobs will be freelance by the year 2020, media arts
freelancers are not complacent; they realize they will be entering multiple work style
con?gurations at the same time.
16
The Liminal Antidote
A good freelancer is always acquiring new skills on the job, living a moderate lifestyle
because they anticipate down cycles, making sure they reenergize after stressful assignments
to prevent burnout, while also keeping up with their network of colleagues, and soliciting new
connections.
Another critical factor when it comes to securing work and reducing liminality is
having a suitable location for freelance or having the relational contacts to ?nd work outside of
your region. The following sections explore the many facets of geography; however, there are
81 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
15
Daniel Pink, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself (New York: Warner Books, 2002), 82.
16
Elaine Pofedlt, “What you’ll need to know to be the Boss in 2020,” Forbes Online, accessed May 26, 2014, http://
www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2012/04/03/what-youll-need-to-know-to-be-the-boss-in-2020/.
no easy conclusions articulated because the participants’ experiences are highly diverse. The
Takeaway recognizes that the freelance driver is primarily relational connections whether the
jobs are globally or locally situated.
COMMUNITY: THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF FINDING WORK WHERE YOU ARE
SITUATED
We can summarize the preceding discussion as follows: a good freelancer always
acquires new skills on the job, lives a moderate lifestyle as she anticipates economic
downturns and reenergizes after stressful assignments—all the while maintaining her
network of colleagues and soliciting new connections. A critical factor when it comes to
securing work and reducing liminality is having a suitable location to freelance or
possessing the relational contacts to ?nd work outside of your region. There are no easy
conclusions formed in the remainder of this article as the participants’ experiences are
vastly di!erent.
Community and relationships, which are at the epicenter of social construction, are
also clearly central to the vitality of freelance work. If freelancers were not engaged in a
conversation with community and enterprise, there would be limited awareness of where
their talents and interests could connect, contribute and make a difference. Even though
freelancers are often perceived as “independent” since they have multiple employers, they
do not work alone. Their actions must be coordinated with others.
Tatar resonates with the idea of coordinated action when he expands the vision of
creativity from an individual process to a relational process—one that incorporates
community.
“You use the word ‘freelancer’ and in my mind I use the term ‘independent
creative.’ In my mind, more than anything else, it’s about community. It’s about
having the bene?t—emotional, professional and sometimes even ?nancial as a
re?ection of oneself. It’s about the creative process. That noise in your head—
not between you and yourself but among people who resonate with me—is
the single most important element.”
It is the participant’s relational connections (a seemingly unimportant discussion in a coffee
shop or a chance encounter) that indirectly pull the freelancer to the next position. They
often use the term “luck” to describe a happenstance moment but freelancers have the
improvisational ability to seize on a situation, alchemize an opportunity and make it their
own. Jaffe remembers the importance of his agent convincing him to see Jerry Seinfeld’s
performance in Cleveland, which prompted a subsequent writing job. It was through
referrals, relationships and making the effort to connect that he started writing for Seinfeld
and then continued to develop his own unique projects from game shows to the Elijah Cup.
17
82 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
17
Michael Heaton, “Comedy Writer Marc Ja!e devises Seder Cup that drains itself,” accessed May 25, 2014, http://
www.cleveland.com/people/index.ssf/2008/03/comedy_writer_marc_ja!e_devis.html.
In coming to terms with his wife’s Parkinson disease prognosis, Ja!e co-created a play
titled Side E#ects May Include. It not only involved his local community in fundraising efforts
but resulted in co-developing an organization (Shaking with Laughter) that raises awareness,
money and support for Parkinson research. (The funds are coordinated with both the
Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation). Here, fundraising efforts
reach the Hollywood community where Jaffe’s friends in the industry extend their “star
value” and contribute time, tickets and personal involvement with his Internet auction. The
highest bid, for $17,500, was a 20-minute minute pitch meeting with Larry David (co-creator
of Seinfeld and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm). The new freelance is about realizing that the
creation of opportunity can take place on a stage other than Broadway or Hollywood; the
ripple started locally in Cleveland and now extends to a more global stage.
The freelance projects these participants engage in usually start with a relationally-
driven recommendation that originates from those who recognize that a freelancer can
perform at a high level. Freelance is predicated on the notion that people want to work with
individuals that can do the job, but also a person that is compatible. Facing long hours and
collaborative intimacy, a media freelancer with exceptional talent and poor relational skills
would not last long. “It is, in other words, not only about being good at something, it is also
about carefully cultivating the image of being good.”
18
The re?ection on the freelancer’s
contribution to the project is often casually unpacked in after-hour social gatherings. As
Tatar notes, “Business is about relationships. It’s face time. Let’s have a drink time. Hanging
out ‘till you get it time.” Seth Godin, a media innovator, also reveals the power of personal
connections:
“The connection revolution is upon us. It sells the moment short to call this
the Internet revolution. In fact, this new era marks the end of the industrial age
and the beginning of something new. The industrial revolution wasn’t about
inventing manufacturing. It was about amplifying it to the point where it
changed everything. And the connection revolution doesn’t invent connection,
of course, but it ampli?ed it to become the dominant force in our economy.
Connecting people to one another. Connecting seekers to data. Connecting
businesses to each other. Connecting tribes of similarly minded individuals
into larger, more effective organizations.”
19
Relationships Matter: “Freelance Is a Team Sport”
Certainly, we are acutely aware of the Internet’s power to transform and change, yet we
are standing at a chaotic crossroad. It presents an opportunity for reinvention and renewal.
What I have discovered with all the freelancers is that relationships matter. It is essential for
innovative individuals to engage others in the creative process in all steps, from concept to
83 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
18
Mark Deuze, “Workstyles in the Media Production Industries: Mapping Media Work” (paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston, Massachusetts, July 31, 2008. Available at http://
citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/1/2/0/pages241206/p241206-1.php
19
Seth Godin, “Stop Stealing Dreams: What is School for?,” accessed March 27, 2012, www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/
stopstealingdreamsscreen.pdf.
completion. As Tatar notes:
“Partnerships are so important. The bottom line is that freelance is not an end
to itself. It’s where you live. It’s like having a one-bedroom apartment. It doesn’t
mean that you sleep alone. It’s still a team sport.”
For most freelancers, there is fundamental trust in the ability of the other project
participants to not only complete the job, but to make it exceptional. This is relational
knowledge of having worked together in the past, knowing their performance skills and level
of commitment.
Bridging A Divergent Community Jumpstarts Discovery and the Economy
Geography, proximity and community are vital in the world of freelance work.
Community is an important driver for discovery as freelancers hear about jobs or potentially
bene?cial situations while on the way to do something else. These everyday conversations
requires nuanced social skills. The following section exempli?es the importance of
secondary connections (called “bridging”), which Richard Florida describes as “...looser ties
that extend across and connect different groups. Bridging activities provide the conditions for
creativity, for the Eureka moment when new possibilities suddenly become apparent.”
20
Clearly, secondary bridging activities often lead to surprising opportunities.
Discovered Gold While Searching for Steel
A bridging moment organically occurred when Tatar discovered a vintage knitwear
company, Ohio Knitting Mills, while he was scouting materials for an art project. He was
also looking for a new community development meeting location in Cleveland when an
acquaintance mentioned that the Mill had signi?cant space. Tatar was a bit surprised to ?nd
the shell of a working knitting mill and arranged a meeting with the owner. The mill was in
the shuttering process and the owner was interested in selling off the remainder of knitwear
stock. The discovery was a pleasant surprise. He remarks:
“We were snooping around. I walked in and there were these old knitting
machines in operation still knitting. There were thousands and thousands of
cones of yarn. They were in the process of packing it up and shutting it down.
But they were still running out a few contracts and orders. There was a skeleton
crew of about a dozen people at the max. It was clearly on its way down. The
vibe was so real. It was old school.”
Tatar envisioned greater branding possibilities for this vintage knitwear collection
(1947-1974), which prompted the rebirth of Ohio Knitting Mills He is seeking a partnership to
84 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
20
Richard Florida, Who’s Your City: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of
Your Life (Toronto: Random House 2009), 124.
further the venture and is poised to produce some limited edition items in the United States.
Tatar opines: “I am all about repurposing in a structural way.”
He is also concerned about reigniting the American imagination to the beauty of
“made in America” and notes:
“The new frontiers are not the Wild West. It’s not the Gold Rush. What can we
discover in the left behinds? What is it in our cities and urban places and our
former industrial places—in the manufacturing—that is beautiful? Yes, it’s
neglected but it’s not something to throw away. This is our soul. This is the
essence of who we are. We need to embrace it—put it back together and put our
future together.”
Although cities and environments shape us in profound ways, this commentary is also an
example of how we shape our community by discovering beauty and opportunity where we
are situated.
CREATIVE FOLKS LIVE EVERYWHERE: CLEVELAND IS NO JOKE
The freelancers involved with this project, all with a long history working in media,
demonstrate the survival instincts, tenacity, relational and improvisational skills needed to
thrive in less than ideal situations. That can sometimes include location. Seven of the eleven
media freelancers hail from Cleveland, Ohio, yet their sphere of in?uence is national and
even international in scope. With a gritty postindustrial backdrop, Cleveland is a community
that offers affordability and culture. It is an underdog location (much like Detroit and other
Rust Belt cities) and a tough place where people provide the color in a frequently steel-grey
landscape. The motto “Cleveland, you’ve got to be tough” is no joke. When media comes to
mind, Cleveland is not ?rst and foremost on anyone’s list as a location conducive for
freelance work. Yet creativity abounds.
Richard Florida’s solution for post-recession future growth is the encouragement of
mega regions: “...the great mega-regions that already power the economy, and the smaller,
talent- attracting innovation centers inside them—places like Silicon Valley, Boulder, Austin
and the North Carolina Research Triangle.” He further opines that the challenge in Rust Belt
cities is “...managing population decline without becoming blighted” and suggests that “the
economy is different now. It no longer resolves around simply making and moving things.
Instead, it depends on generating and transporting ideas.”
21
In my view, we need to move beyond location and view the imagination as a way to
jump-start and fuel the economy. Cities, housing markets, and popular destinations are
always in a socially-constructed ?ux, yet creative individuals can greatly impact a city or
region wherever they are situated. Even the term “Rust Belt” starts with a de?cit discourse
that does not allow one to imagine a richer, more vibrant scenario. Imagination will be the
85 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
21
Richard Florida, “How the Crash will Reshape America,” The Atlantic, accessed September 25, 2012, http://
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2009/03/how-the-crash-will-reshape-america/307293/.
driver of the new economy wherever people are situated and many seem to agree.“Rust Belt
Chic: The Cleveland Anthology”captures Cleveland’s creative appeal:
“America is in the grips of a budding ‘roots movement.’ Desires for the splashy
are giving way to a longing for the past. Many are turning back toward the Rust
Belt and geographies like it to ?nd what they’ve been missing. Rust Belt Chic is
churches and work plants hugging the same block. It is ethnic as hell. It is the
Detroit sound of Motown. It is Cleveland punk. It is getting vintage t-shirts and
vinyl for a buck that are being sold to Brooklynites for the price of a Manhattan
meal. It is babushka and snakeskin boots. It is babushka in snakeskin boots.
It is wear: old wood and steel and vacancy. It is contradiction, con?ict, and
standing resiliency. But most centrally, Rust Belt Chic is about home, or that
perpetual inner ?re longing to be comfortable in one’s own skin and one’s
community.”
22
Hardscrabble cities like Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh are making a comeback not
because they are imitating other popular destinations but because they are “...offering the
promise of a better (cheaper) quality of life—and yes, the ironic pleasures of bowling,
pierogies, and polka—Rust Belt cites truly have become ‘chic.’ “
23
Cleveland is an edgy city
where creativity is thriving precisely because it lacks pretense. It is now enjoying an
entrepreneurial buzz because of a reverse-migration trend (“brain gain”) as “...talented,
educated, creative people are no longer ?eeing the region – they’re ?ocking to it.”
24
The remaining project participants live in the New York City and surrounding Hudson
Valley area, in addition to Atlanta, Georgia. Although this group lives in cities more amenable
to independent media work, they share similar issues and concerns about securing and
getting paid for media projects along with budget, time constraints, and proximity to their
clients. These individual voices create a polyphonic chorus of divergent viewpoints when it
comes to understanding how geography impacts their work. While this article highlights
that creativity lives everywhere, the following themes represent contradictory, multiple
perspectives regarding location.
Location Doesn’t Matter in the Global Arena: Coordination Counts
Kate Farrell and Carol Beck are two project participants who have—and continue to—
work on large-scale overseas video productions. This requires a kind of openness to not only
being able to quickly assemble a crew but also “mutually coordinating” their work styles.
86 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
22
Richey Piiparinen and Anne Trubek, eds., Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology (Cleveland: Rust Belt Chic
Press, 2012).
23
Douglas Trattner, “Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology,” accessed July 30, 2012, http://
www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/rustbeltchic060712.aspx.
24
Details, “The Rust Belt Brain Gain,” accessed April 7, 2012,http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/
201204/rust-belt-revival-brain-gain-think-tank.
According to Kenneth Gergen, et al, this means “trying to communicate across boundaries is
not a matter of simply ‘decoding’ the meaning of the others’ action. Rather, it is a matter of
coordinating actions with them.”
25
Mutual coordination can be experienced in the way
relationships are experienced over time, a sense of knowing and anticipating their
teammates performance styles, understanding the same professional language without
needing to speak, creating a territory of tolerance and respect, and trusting the
professionalism of the team to complete the job even when the demands are extraordinarily
tough.
Carol E. Beck: Working Worldwide From Home
Beck has worked on media planning and production for name brand multinational
corporations such as IBM, General Electric, Coca Cola, The Ford Motor Company, Xerox,
Panasonic, Proctor and Gamble, Home Depot, Honda and others. Her professional expertise
involves managing international logistics in Venezuela, Australia, Budapest, Germany,
Amsterdam, Beijing and India. I teasingly ask if I’m missing anything—she nonchalantly
responds “Japan and all over Europe.”
When working on large productions for corporate clients, the global dimension
requires working with a large, international crew. Beck gives a wonderful example of IBM’s
global investor’s meeting and notes how mutual coordination overrides geography:
“I’ll give you a really good example on how geography doesn’t play. I worked
on a project for an IBM global investor’s meeting. The meeting was taking
place in Bangalore, India. I was here in Atlanta at my desk. The executive
producer was in New York City. My animators were in London. The technical
director was on the ground in Bangalore. I had fabricators working in
Singapore... I sat at my desk in Atlanta until the week before the meeting. It’s
common on these large events that the team gets together from all over.”
Beck enjoys working on overseas projects. She says, “One of my favorite things to do is the
small overseas job. I have worked with my friend Bill for 15 years. We go with a camera
package and pick up a local crew—China, Amsterdam or wherever we happen to be. You
meet fantastic people and it’s really fun working with crews. Crew people are the same all
over the world. There’s a certain mentality and way of being.”
Carol also addresses the level of crew camaraderie after successfully working with an
individual and how that inevitably generates future projects together:
“You’re used to being in the soup and trying to ?gure out how you’re going to do
it. I worked with some guys in Australia—a line producer that I needed on the
ground and a DP (Director of Photography). We had a fantastic time working
together and the other crew people brought on were awesome. At the end of the
87 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
25
Kenneth Gergen, Stuart M. Schrader and Mary Gergen, eds., Constructing Worlds Together: Interpersonal
Communication as a Relational Process (Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2009), 247.
job, we’re like ‘see you, nice to know you—have a good life.’ Then a year later
I’m calling them up saying, ‘Guess what? We’re coming to Australia.’ You know
that people do good work, they’re fun, and when work is over you can go and
have a nice meal together, have a beer, and share war stories. It’s very
relational.”
Mutual coordination on any production or project, whether large or small, requires
respect for the group performance, a strong relational connection and a high level of trust.
Although production participants do not always speak the same language, there is a
prescribed freelance code of ethics and behavior that is universal if you want to stay working.
One of the highest on the priority list is trust: trust that a team member will efficiently and
creatively complete the job, an assumption that it will be at a high professional level and that
colleagues will respect your established client relationship.
PROXIMITY AND RELATIONSHIPS DRIVE FREELANCE: LOCATION MATTERS
Location, location, location
Throughout the interviews, there were two prominent opinions concerning
geography. One viewpoint previously discussed was the idea that mutual coordination,
more than location, is integral in the global production arena. However, on a regional and
national level, it is proximity to the client along with talent and relationships that make a
difference. For many of the project participants, the decision to move away from areas of
commerce was prompted by family concerns. These participants candidly reveal how
proximity intersects with their freelance work.
Steven Tatar: Freelance Relies on Regional Strength as Work Outside the Region is Contingent on
Previous Relationships
For many of the freelancers, location is critical. Tatar’s home base is Cleveland but he is
poised to move if the right situation presents itself. He comments about the importance of
location: “I think it’s huge. So huge. Freelance is locative. It’s a regional strength. Minnesota is
not good at shrimping and New York is not good for steel production. Cleveland is not good
for brand building and services now. It has been better in the past and it was a big
advertising center.”
He acknowledges that work outside Cleveland is contingent on relationships
developed beforehand and mentions:
“Yes, I do work for clients outside of the region. Location matters. I’m of the
opinion that every freelancer who is successful outside of their region is able to
do that because they had a strong foundation to start with which was
relationship based. They didn’t just randomly get discovered by a west coast
company to develop a new brand for a shoe line in New York. That’s why
88 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
community is important—you need community not just for your sanity and to
keep your soul intact. You need your community to build your business and
keep your pipeline robust.”
Marc Jaffe: Geographically Challenged
The irony of the media industry is that Cleveland inspires comedy but is not the
perfect location if you are interested in writing television sitcoms. Jaffe’s view is that
geographical location is central to his line of work:
“Despite the Internet and emails that were kicking in during the 90’s, I was
trying to do things from here. The situation had Paul Reiser with Mad About You
and I was hoping to freelance a script. It took awhile and I ?nally got an
assignment. I was thrilled. As it turned out, the show was going through a bit of
?ux at the time. As the process worked out, the episode never got made because
the arc of the season got changed midway. What I was writing didn’t make sense
for the characters they wanted to focus on which was some other season plot
point. I spoke with Larry and he said, ‘When you’re not here, I need somebody
because things are so ?uid and I need to say, “Hey Marc, come in today”—you’re
in Cleveland and I can’t do that.’ ”
Bill Cavanaugh: Greetings from Elba
Cavanaugh’s thoughts on geography articulate the choice facing media freelancers:
“From a technical standpoint, I could do this anywhere. But you still need face time with
these people. You need to be able to get to them. Because if there’s an issue, I want to be close
enough to come and talk to them and will drop by in the city.” For him, proximity matters—
clearly—yet he articulates a dimension beyond the work:
“Social contact is important. That’s why I still take jobs working in the
remaining studios. I can go two or three times a month into the city so I can be
around humans. That’s where the Elba line came up…just mixing up here and
being by myself. I feel a bit like I’m reading books and waiting to reinvade
Europe. I’m not going to reinvade Europe. I’m not going to reinvade Manhattan
—I never completely pulled out.”
Cavanaugh used to affectionately refer to his home in Rhinebeck, New York, as “Elba,” a
historical reference to the island where Napoleon was banished. Bill talks about the
adjustment:
“When I ?rst moved there, I felt a bit exiled. I had to sell a new model and
would tell clients I could be there in two hours. I can get it to you in twenty
minutes if you send it via the Internet, I can send it back as a full-time
Quicktime movie with picture and everything. You can review it and say ‘Can
you lower the music here?’ That’s what they did. In ten minutes, they would say,
89 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
‘Can you make this change’ and it would be uploaded again. Within a half hour,
it would have gone through all channels and they would say it’s perfect.”
He stresses that proximity still makes a difference because clients have not yet acclimated to
the new studio work method:
“I could be doing this in North Dakota with FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
technology. The idea that I could be in North Dakota would be ridiculous.
Rhinebeck is a well-known town outside of Manhattan. A lot of artists live here.
It’s sort of the upscale Woodstock. There are a lot of musicians and studios up
here. A lot of the engineers are the guys that left the studios in New York twenty
years ago and they’re still in the mindset of the old studio system and haven’t
changed their work method.”
Cavanaugh’s move to Rhinebeck opened up new regional clients in Boston as he was already
working on Nova and Nova Science Now for Boston-based WGBH. He says “Now they’re
comfortable enough with me to say, ‘You can do it in Rhinebeck and then come to Boston or
New York to review it.’ I have proximity to both cities.”
Kasumi: Personal Contacts are More Important than Geography
Kasumi, a recent Guggenheim recipient, acknowledges that she should be in New York
because “...no matter how [many commissions and big jobs] you can do in your own studio,
(commissions and big jobs) you need the face time.” She suggests that although geography
does make a difference, it is your personal contacts are more important when it comes to
collaborative projects. She stresses the following: “Hired to do a job is one thing. But hired to
do a job as a collaborator is another thing. It’s really important to understand the
contributions of each person, as is the case in ?lm. If you think your part is more important
than someone else’s, then you will fail.”
Kate Farrell: Geography In?uences The Type of Work and Friends are a Major Factor in the Choice
Farrell is no stranger to large-scale production. She is currently an executive producer
at WE-tv where she works on reality television programming. When I interviewed Kate in
2013, she was living in Millbrook, New York and working freelance. Prior to our interview, she
had quit working at WE-tv previously because of the everyday commuting strain:
“It was at least a two-hour each-way commute on the train. I did that but that
was a job that I eventually left. I was looking for work in New York again and no
one would really hire me as a ‘work from home’ person. Not in freelance. You
have to go on shoots, go on location, be in the edit room. You have long days and
you can’t commute two hours each way and pull a 12-hour day. It’s too
exhausting.”
Farrell continues:
90 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
“Which coast you live on is another factor. If I wanted to work regularly in
reality, I should be living in L.A. That’s where it’s happening. In New York, there’s
only about four companies that do reality series in the New York area—maybe
more I don’t know about. So you’ve already limited your scope. One of things
that I’ll do in New York is to keep in touch with my sports friends. Another factor
is friendships. ”
Now, she has moved back to the city and is working at WE-Tv again on a full time basis as an
executive producer. She talks about that decision:
“I moved to the Hudson Valley as a personal choice. At the time, I could work
from home but once I wanted to get back into TV, I found that I needed to be in
NYC again. For awhile at least from my perspective, certain companies were
allowing people to work from home but I think I’ve heard a little bit of a shift…
that they want people to be in the jobs—and I’m not talking production jobs.
I’m talking corporate or working for a cable company or network. They’re not as
happy with people working from home.”
Laura Paglin: A Challenge Finding Actors in Cleveland
When Paglin (who typically works on ?ctional ?lms) realized that recruiting acting
talent in Cleveland was more di#cult than expected, she adapted by creating documentaries.
From working on a new project talking to the women who survived serial killer Anthony
Sewell to her recent full-length feature-length documentary on an E-Prep (an
entrepreneurial charter school with a compelling success record) Cleveland is always
featured in her recent work.
26
The one advantage of living in a city with intense challenges is
that there are plenty of topics to discover and document. Married without children, she can
be somewhat versatile in terms of her lifestyle and project choices because her “...lifestyle
doesn’t demand much.We don’t live beyond our means….It’s a way of adapting to what we do.
We don’t have a ‘McMansion’—and we live in Cleveland.”
THE TAKEAWAY: WHETHER FREELANCE IS GLOBAL OR LOCAL, IT IS
RELATIONALLY DRIVEN
“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally
anchored. One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at
things.” — Henry Miller
The media freelancer does not have time to ponder the state of the economy. She is
too busy ?nding work, ?nishing work and then doing it again at a pace and price that is
signi?cantly compressed. Freelancers are certainly aware that the content “king” has been
dethroned. The Internet, along with rapid technological invention, has had a profound
91 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
26
Laura Paglin, “Facing Forward-Trailer,” accessed October 27, 2011,http://www.facingforwardfilm.com/.
impact on all the creative industries: “Attention has shifted from the ‘what’ of content to the
‘how’ of delivery, branding, and customer relations—in other words toward management.”
27
Journalists were the ?rst to feel the impact, especially as newspapers imploded. As we
rapidly shift from the industrial to the information age, structures and solutions that once
worked are creaky and at a breaking point.
All the freelancers interviewed recognize that talent alone does not drive creativity or
invention. Rather, it is a supportive community that can bolster our courage, renew our
con?dence and allow us to move forward together. As noted in Net Locality: Why Location
Matters in a Networked World:
“The fact that the web is marching steadily along the path to localization is an
indication that local communities, cultures, and contexts have always been
relevant, and always will be. It would be naïve to deny the in?uence of global
networks on local communities. However, what we can observe now, in
perhaps comparable intensity, is the in?uence of local knowledge and local
information in shaping global networks. It is in this tension between the local
and the global that net locality unfolds. Net locality changes the meaning and
value of the web, not because the technology has determined that to be the
case, but because people have adopted networked technologies for local
purposes. We exist in communities, neighborhoods, networks, and
spaces...Meaning is produced locally.”
28
The extension of the previous idea that “meaning is produced locally” requires the tagline
“when engaged in relationship” because it is at this junction where emergent possibilities for
creative adventures and performances exist.
From “Me” to “We”
This place of chaos and confusion is really a birthing ground for change and growth.
Where are we? We are at a crossroads where crisis is presenting an opportunity to move from
an individualistic “me” orientation to a more inclusive and interdependent “we” sensibility.
LinkedIn is not just a professional networking site but a metaphor for a new cultural
connectivity. The era of the rugged individualist is now being slowly being supplanted with an
evolving view of interdependence and mutual cooperation. As Kenneth Gergen states:
“In the 1980’s evolutionary biologists began to question the Darwinian
assumptions about the relationships among species. With careful attention to
detail, an alternative view emerged. The relationship was not one of
competition, but co-evolution. That is, the survival of various species could be
linked to the survival of other species, with whom they existed in a mutually
92 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
27
Chris Bilton, “The Management of the Creative Industries,” in Managing Media Work, ed. Mark Deuze, (London:
Sage Publications, 2011), 31–42.
28
Eric Gordon and Adriana de Souza e Silva, Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World (West Sussex:
John Wiley & Sons, 2011), 179–180.
symbiotic relationship.”
29
Media freelancers were the early adopters of a work style that recognizes the importance of
relational connections and collaboration as vital to their survival.
Free-range Workers Seek Opportunity wherever they Land
Cities are a cultural supercollider where different viewpoints, ideologies and
ethnicities inevitably spark creativity and imagination. However, there are other cities that
provide a respite from overstimulation. They allow for the kind of internal re?ection that
later emerges in an invention or imaginative recalibration that creates change. We are all
given choices about where we want to live—some ideal and some not. A city, whether vibrant
or dull, is only one factor that contributes to the socially constructed success of the free-
range worker.
The innate life of the freelancer is one of ?nding an unusual juxtaposition of where
their talents can be useful and getting up to speed quickly in order to produce, create or
consult. Many media freelancers may have little familiarity with a topic but they have a
willingness to explore, research and quickly learn. This is where they get excited and their
creative ideas start percolating. Alan McElroy’s writing projects range from Spawn, to
Halloween 4 to the video game Hellgate London. These participants have the courage to jump
in quickly because they have the experience of learning new skills and receiving recognition
for their work. This reinforcement allows them to enter new domains with greater
con?dence. Yet it is not only a trust in your own ability but in your collaborators who must
also believe in your capacity to transfer skills to another venue. Freelancers are always
leaving the comfort of the familiar and heading to the new. What we can learn from them is
the how they live in the realm of uncertainty.
Explore the Other
“Successful bonding calls for a transformation in narrative. The ‘I’ as the center of the
story must gradually be replaced by the ‘we.’ The ‘we’ now becomes the major
protagonist in the narrative of life, the central character to whom everything is
related.” — Kenneth Gergen
Freelancers are natural explorers and researchers; they enter many domains through
their work and leave again. In entering a new, unfamiliar domain, media freelancers explore
the “other.” Laura Paglin has been interviewing women who have survived an infamous
serial killer in Cleveland and is continuously documenting an entrepreneurial charter
school in Cleveland. Bill Cavanaugh has done sound engineering for Grammy award-
winning projects, television, M-TV, VH1, The History Channel, Nova and Discovery Channel.
Sheryl White has written hundreds of commercials from telecommunications to
93 Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure
29
Kenneth Gergen, Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 381–82.
pharmaceuticals for national clients. The media freelancer is adept at entering unfamiliar
and familiar territory and then bringing it to life. All of these participants traverse many
“othered”worlds.
Entering the “other’s” world is a shift away from the “me” as it requires one to
suspend judgment and entertain other ways of being and doing. It requires creating a
relational viewpoint that melds both parties together. As a “we,” there is a shared inquiry
where many ideas are explored and “we” can create something newer and exponentially
richer with possibilities together. As Henry Miller once wrote: “If we are always arriving and
departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place
but rather a new way of looking at things."
30
When we look through the eyes of others, there
is a lot more to see.
94 Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research 1(1)
30
Henry Miller, Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, 25.
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