A student presents her 3d model figurine concept to a panel of judges during the Arts Business Ideas Competition. Mimicking the look of her 3d model, she wears a pink ponytail wig and vibrant outfit.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Minor

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor

Craft ideas and make art work.

Entrepreneurial behavior and innovative thinking are beneficial across all majors, but especially in the Arts. This interdisciplinary minor uses problem-based learning and other active learning pedagogies to help you to create value and be an agent of positive change in your discipline and career.

A student presents his conceptual idea to a panel of judges during the Arts Business Ideas Competition.

Innovate your future with an ENTI minor!

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI) specialization prepares students for entrepreneurial action in an arts context. To “entrepreneur” in the arts, one must understand aesthetic value and what drives people to consume aesthetic products.

By learning how various arts markets view and consume art, emerging arts entrepreneurs envision “products” with specific markets in mind and craft marketing strategies to communicate aesthetic value to audiences. Upon learning how the non-profit and for-profit arts ecologies operate, students envision and develop their arts career and venture within the context, tying together the aesthetic and cultural value of their art form with the business acumen necessary to launch and sustain an entrepreneurial arts enterprise.

Courses in this program develop skills, knowledge and values in problem solving, innovation, opportunity recognition, self-efficacy, leadership, ethics, communications and learning from failure.

To meet a broad range of entrepreneurship and innovation interests, core courses (9 credits) establish foundational knowledge; you then will select a concentration cluster aligned to specific contexts such as entrepreneurship in food and bio-innovation, technology, the arts, media, hospitality, digital, social entrepreneurship, advocacy or new ventures.

Students who complete the ENTI minor will be better prepared to be innovation leaders in their chosen career path, such as being entrepreneurial in an existing company (intrapreneurship), engaging in a start-up venture full or part-time, finding avenues to leverage their art or craft, or creating alliances to meet social or business needs.

Does this sound like you?

  • You want to learn what entrepreneurs do and how innovators create and solve problems in any field.
  • You’re passionate about starting your own business, non-profit, or social enterprise (entrepreneurship) or pursuing a career as an innovator within an existing firm or organization (intrapreneurship).
  • You want to learn the skills and develop the mindset of an entrepreneur and innovator.

Already thinking about the possibilities? Yep, the Arts Entrepreneurship minor seems like a great option!

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