Today’s PeopleTalk speaker series was a celebration of all things arts entrepreneurial. We heard from Deborah Hamilton-Lynne, published playwright, author, columnist and editor of Austin Woman and ATX Man magazines, about what it takes to become an arts entrepreneur and why a community should support the “starving artists” in their city.
Arts entrepreneurs are willing to sacrifice monetary rewards for the sake of creating their art, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t approaching their art without the entrepreneurial focus that someone working 9-5 hours employs. Deborah argued that these arts entrepreneurs will be the future of our economy, with Austin at the forefront.
Since a hefty percentage (we would bet) of our daily life is moving online, the premium is on content creation. Arts entrepreneurs are making the content on blogs, websites, video sites, social media sites that are more and more becoming the norm for how we communicate. Therefore, it’s the arts and social entrepreneurs that are enhancing the creativity of our cities and towns that will drive our economy going into the next century.
She also spoke about what makes Austin a great place for this to develop. It’s our tolerant culture that keeps the creative types coming and staying here, she said. She called herself the “good news girl” for Austin, and we agree.
Then, she brought up three successful arts entrepreneurs living and working here in Austin. We’ll be recapping those tomorrow, so stay tuned! More to come!
Here’s a few resources that Deborah found helpful:
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
The Great Reset: How the Post Crash Economy Will Change the Way We Live and Work by Richard Florida
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
The Creative Priority: Putting Innovation to Work In your Business by Jerry Hirschberg
Screw Business as Usual by Richard Branson
It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For. Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven By Purpose by Roy Spence.
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by Daniel Bornstein