EL Art 2.0 builds on the project ‘EL Art ’ that was developed and successfully executed between 2012-2014. The project EL Art set out to close the gap between skill-based training and the ‘real world’ by encouraging entrepreneurial thinking and multidisciplinary cooperation within the creative industries. The project was focused on strengthening the core entrepreneurial qualities of art students defined by the project group as: creativity, an active attitude, collaborative skills, communication skills, problem solving skills and practical thinking. This was done by teaching methods on how to form concepts through various brainstorm techniques, how to look at problems from different angles, how to set up realistic project and PR plans and how to pitch plans and present yourself and your ideas. The active attitude was trained by moving the teaching outside the classroom and the students were assigned to set up a real multidisciplinary art project, which were developed, executed, promoted and performed by themselves. Within this project the partner schools from Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Spain will use the successful aspects from the former EL Art. They will form a link to the real world by getting input from professionals and take the teaching beyond the classroom. The project will also provide teachers and students with practical tools on how to use their creative minds for entrepreneurial thinking. The teachers will be taught how to become coaches (to help develop active attitudes of students) and the activities will encourage intersection of disciplines (to help teachers and students view their disciplines and skills from new perspectives and increase students chances in the work field).The output of this project consists of a handbook, a training of trainers program for teachers and seminars to disseminate the outputs. The training is focused on a group of teachers from various disciplines of the partner schools involved. This target group will receive training and will parallel to it help develop the handbook, which will be in beta version when their training starts. The handbook will be disseminated through seminars organized in the partner countries targeting all teachers and managers at the partner schools, along with other regional schools.
EL Art 2.0 builds on the project ‘EL Art’ (Entrepreneurial Learning in Art Education) that was developed and successfully executed between 2012-2014. The project aims to help art schools give their students the necessary entrepreneurial skills needed before they enter the work field. Artist are more likely to be self-employed, whether as a freelancer or as a business owner. According to Eurostat (2017) nearly half of all artists in Europe are self-employed. This is much higher than the average of the overall working population (15%). Some art schools provide courses on how to start your business, offer internships, invite guest artists to share their experiences, or create connections with the outside world through projects. The business side of art almost always remains 'undeveloped'. The majority of art schools in Europe are still focusing on skills based learning. The students become good at the skills they study but that doesn’t make them into successful artists. Many don’t know how to adapt their skills on the market as artists and having a successful business requires much more than good craft skills. The main products of EL Art 2.0 are the field guide (book) ‘ Creativity as a Career’, an accompanied card game with instructions and Training Of Trainers workshops (TOT). The material lays out the key skills, attitudes and knowledge that you will need as an a self-employed artist, a “creative entrepreneur”. To encourage the idea that being creative also means finding your own way we decided to not produce a book of supposed solutions. The material is meant to inspire and empower artists to use their creative talents to channel their inner entrepreneur and to help art schools give their students the necessary entrepreneurial skills needed before they enter the work field. The material and training program (concept) build on the notion that many of the key skills and attitudes needed as an entrepreneur are the same ones that an artist already has, like creativity, drive and commitment. It also suggests that ‘networking’ and ‘promotion’ can become a natural part of the artistic process. Likewise that ‘money’ and ‘security’ forms the foundation to the artistic practice. ‘Creativity as a Career’ contains the key elements of entrepreneurial learning for artists. The field guide is the backbone of the material. It includes chapters focusing on the inner entrepreneurial skills and brings up the main obstacles that an artist face when entering the workfield. Its goal is to make artists focus on the topics and questions they will face as creative entrepreneurs. The field guide is divided into two main sections: YOU and THE WORLD. ‘You’ is focused on the inner skills one needs to become a creative entrepreneur. ‘The World’ focuses on the external aspects you’ll need as a creative entrepreneur. The card game contains practical assignments, questions and statements that will help forming own ideas of success and how to reach it. The material also includes ‘Instruction cards’, which suggest ways how to use the cards. During the TOT we also developed a Quick start guide that helps teachers get familiar and started with the material. During the 1st year the activities were focused on planning and developing the field guide and the card game while simultaneously developing the entrepreneurial skills of the teachers involved through TOTs integrated in the meetings. The teachers collected input from experts in the field through interviews and meetings. Questionnaires were also conducted with alumni from all partner schools. This shaped the structure and topics of the material. Quotes from the interviews were later used as content. The game card element was added after rethinking the methods of teaching that would stimulate an entrepreneurial attitude. The 2nd year was focused on testing and sharpening the material. During this phase the teachers tested the material on students. The material was shared with other teachers for testing within the partner schools. The material was then produced in its final form by a smaller production team. A visual identity was formed for the project, illustrations were produced, all material set in layout and a website built. The book is now available as a print on demand through e.g. Blurb.com. On the website www.creativityasacareer.com all the material is open and shared for free. Through the website the card and a PDF of the book can be downloaded and all the material can also be read online. To spread the material seminars and events was organized in all partner countries. EL Art 2.0 is a collaboration with schools from Finland (YA), Sweden (Malmö Latin), The Netherlands (AvP and ROC Noorderpoort) and Spain (Escuela de Arte de Sevilla and St Gabriel/ Grupo Petanwen). The project also involved pro-bono organisations and creative entrepreneurs, not formally participating in the project, that during the meetings helped giving valuable feedback, input and creating content.