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Connie Rutledge is an Adjunct Faculty in the Arts Entrepreneurship Department. Besides teaching at MCAD, Rutledge is also the coordinator of the 2019 Arts Entrepreneurship Competition. In this interview she shares with us part of her story as well as what the competition is all about and how to apply! 

4 Questions About Connie: 

1. What is you academic training and professional background?

I have a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s in public affairs, but all of my business training happened on the job. I’ve worked with entrepreneurs all of my life, starting with my parents. After college I worked with a small market research firm in the high tech space where I learned to manage the operations of a small business while also learning how to do market research. After that, I worked in venture capital and at a tech start-up for a time, and then moved into higher education and developing experiential coursework for students interested in entrepreneurship.

2. Do you have a creative practice you do professionally or for fun?

I do several things that I consider creative, but don’t come close to what I consider true artistry.  I love to cook and experiment with new foods, and I have sewn since I was in elementary school.  I used to make more clothing, but now I tend to do more usable items like quilts and bags.  Last year I developed a product I called the Cat Coaster and sold that at a local shop – totally fun combination of my love of textiles and felines.

3. What class(es) are you teaching this semester and what are they about?

This semester I am teaching Arts Entrepreneurship Essentials, which is a one credit course that takes place over two weekends.  It’s an intensive introduction to basic entrepreneurial skills, so we will cover everything from understanding your customer’s needs to developing a marketing strategy to making sure the business is financially sustainable.  It’s a great option for anyone who wants to see if running their own business is something they would enjoy.

4. What do you enjoy about teaching at MCAD?]

The students! The MCAD community is full of curious and creative thinkers and I enjoy a good discussion, so the students in all of my classes have been extraordinarily fun to work with.  Additionally, it’s been a great opportunity for me to learn more about businesses in the arts and seeing how they are similar and not similar to technology businesses.

Let’s Talk 2019 Arts Entrepreneurship Competition!

-What is a Creative Entrepreneur?

I’d say that entrepreneurs are creative problem solvers. It’s relatively easy to recognize problems in the world around us, but entrepreneurs are the ones who see a novel way to solve a problem and have the tenacity and creativity to figure out how to bring that solution to the world. I think artists and designers have a unique place as creative entrepreneurs because their skills are so well suited to building connections through understanding and empathy. Throughout history, artists and designers have forged new paths that engage people with the future and all that is possible.  Combining those skills with a pinch of financial education and strategy builds a Creative Entrepreneur!

-What is the Arts Entrepreneurship Competition? (The purpose/who it’s for/related events/classes). This section is to elaborate on the competition to help people understand what it is.

The Arts Entrepreneurship Competition is the first time the Arts Entrepreneurship department has held a school wide competition for business ideas. The goal of the competition is to tap into the rich creativity on campus to build ideas that generate economic opportunity for artists and designers, build community and that are sustainable, both financially and environmentally. I believe the future of business is mission driven, and this competition invites all MCAD undergraduates to explore that future.  In addition to the Arts Entrepreneurship Essentials class that I mentioned, we’ll be holding two mentoring events for people who have entered the competition. In other words, we’re here to help you polish your idea and think through the business challenges.  The deadline to apply is February 1, but the competition itself is April 5 from 5-7p.  It will be a fun and fast paced event and I encourage everyone to come and listen to the great ideas that will be presented.  Plus, the audience gets to vote on their favorite and that favorite gets an award!  Which reminds me, we have amazing cash prizes for the top three ideas presented!!

-How can someone apply or learn more about the competition?

The best way to learn more is to go to the competition website at mcad.edu/aecompetition.  There’s a video there to walk you through the application process, as well as a lot of information on what to include in your application.  We’ll be updating the site through the semester on mentors and any other informational events.  People can also contact me directly with questions at [email protected]. The deadline to apply is February 1.

-What are the goals and plans for the competition and it’s future?

We hope to expand the competition to graduate students and maybe even alumni in the future.  Our goal is to create a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and their supporters so that any MCAD student curious about how to build a business will have the resources to learn techniques, evaluate opportunities, and start their own venture.

Written by: Benjamin Jones

Jay Harmon is an award-winning entrepreneur and biomimetic inventor. President and CEO of PAX Scientific a research and design firm.

Jay along with his team visited our class on the 12th of October 2018 to give a presentation about biomimicry, his work with PAX and other ventures along his tenured road, and even brought colleague Francesca Bertone from PAX to share her experience as well.

What is Biomimicry? biomimicry - (bīōˈmiməkrē) - noun the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes.

In other words, taking inspiration for design and development from nature itself. The key word is inspiration in my opinion. We are always inspired by what nature is capable of, whether it be evolution or incredible resilience, it never ceases to amaze. Nature survives for a reason; they have come up with solutions for the natural world and day to day struggles with years of evolution. Reverse engineering these solutions is also something biomimicry is focusing on just as much as coming up with new ideas based on nature.

Entrepreneurial Key Takeaways

Francesca Bertone, Chief Operating Officer of PAX Scientific shared with us some key insights on marketing, strategy and other areas of our current studies within the Entrepreneurial Arts Program. Below I have highlighted some of the main points to take from her lecture.

The three main sectors that can make the most difference in presenting different ideas are team, technology and market. Market surprisingly is the most significant of the sectors to understand and be on the same page in order to funnel into the 2nd and 3rd sector of team and technology.

Demonstrating value is the biggest aspect of successful product presentation. Education matters. Testing, research and comparison is extremely important when trying to present a new idea or product to an existing market

When presenting an idea to a firm or company, always try to provide a prototype, something physical so they can see, touch and start to believe that this product is real and is not just words.

September 19th, 2018

A professor of Arts Entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas, Callander is cross-appointed in the School of Art and the College of Business, At the University of Alabama, Professor Callander coordinated an on-campus arts incubator, served as a team coach for Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs. At Mississippi State University, she served as interim coordinator for Sculpture and developed a co-curricular channel between the Entrepreneurship Center and the Department of Art for the support of partnerships between students in art, engineering, and business. She also served as an Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board member and a team mentor for the MaroonX Accelerator pilot program, jointly launched by Mississippi State University and Texas A&M to foster entrepreneurship in rural areas. Callander also curates, writes, and exhibits. She received an MFA in Visual Art from the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University, a Post-Baccalaureate in Visual Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a BA in History from Reed College.

Adrienne Callander  came to MCAD and spoke on Art, Entrepreneurship, and the innovative learning environment. She addressed the dual paths in Arts Entrepreneurship and the relevance of Arts Entrepreneurship in the development of future leaders and practitioners in the cultural sector and beyond. 

After Adrienne gave her lecture, the Arts Entrepreneurship Department Chair, Stephen Rueff, joined her on stage for a panel. Students and faculty members were able to have an open discussion about Arts Entrepreneurship as a community at MCAD, as well as the path for creative entrepreneurs. The Arts Entrepreneurship Department at MCAD is constantly working on how to express their value to the rest of the MCAD community, and having an open discussion about it with others proves to be effective. 

Discussion Session With AE Students:

Adrienne also took the time to have a more interpersonal conversation with the students in the Arts Entrepreneurship Program. She asked each student  to introduce themselves, talk about who they are as a creative, and think about how their creation will live in the world? The casual conversation turned out to be an insightful session for many of the students as well has herself. Adrienne is currently working on building the Arts Entrepreneurship Department at the University of Arkansas, and being able to have a closer look at how other school structure their program, like MCAD, was an area of interest for her. 

(Paige Polzin, Rebecca Albert, Zoe Blyss, and Eleni Leventopoulos) The annual MCAD Major Fair is a tabling event in efforts to expose students to all of the different majors MCAD has to offer. To each their own, the different departments fill their table with information on their majors and provide  volunteers who are eager to answer questions! This event happens both in the Fall and Spring Semester. 

On September 19th, 2018, students along with the department chairs from the Arts Entrepreneurship Department, volunteered their time at this event to educate others about The Arts Entrepreneurship Program. The Arts Entrepreneurship Program is the umbrella department that host current Advertising, Entrepreneurial Studies, and Product Design majors. During the event, the table was filled with an abundant amount of information along with past student work to show what the majors look like. Volunteers were ready and eager to share their insights and experience within the program to new prospective students, as well as answer any questions they had. 

On Thursday, September 20th, 2018, the Arts Entrepreneurship department held our second workshop for our 4 part fall workshop series. These four workshops are the introductions to our greater initiative in the coming spring, a one credit course and the opportunity to pitch a business venture to potential investors as well as the chance to win funding for the venture. The goal for these fall workshops is to bring awareness to entrepreneurship as well as provide educational opportunities for the communities across MCAD.

About 30 people from all across the MCAD community joined us for this weeks workshop during the lunch hour. The workshop topic was on Finding Customers and Partners for Creative Ventures. To host this workshop, we had two stellar local professionals from the business and creative field: Toby Nord, a instructor of Corporate Venturing and New Products at Carlson School of Business, and Ed Charbonneau, a fellow MCAD alumni with years of commissioned painting experience as well as teaching fine arts at MCAD.

Student, alumni, faculty, and staff from all across MCAD were able to continue workshopping their ideas as well as receive constructive feedback. Our host, Toby Nord and Ed Charbonneau, provided our workshop attendees with their own experiences and ideas on growing customers and partnerships. Workshop attendees learned about the importance of how to strategically select an audience, where to find the audience, and how to reach that audience efficiently. The talk about the benefits of partnerships and collaborations for a business venture was essential to this workshop. The relevance of how partnerships lead to opportunities will continue being a strong point for any sort of venture.

(Connie Rutledge, AE Faculty and Creative Ventures Coordinator)

Here is the list of our future workshops:

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Workshop 3: How to Fund Creative Ventures

Co-led by Tricia Heuring (co-founder of Public Functionary and MCAD Arts Entrepreneurship faculty) and Craig Rice ’76 (filmmaker and MCAD Media Arts faculty)

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Noon–1:00 p.m.

MCAD's College Center

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Workshop 4: Planning to Launch Your Creative Venture

Co-led by Blake Iverson (entertainment attorney and MCAD Arts Entrepreneurship faculty) and Emily Johnson ’02 (founder of EC Design jewelry studio)

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Noon–1:00 p.m.