Meredith Pizzi will come to Ohio University on Thursday to talk about entrepreneurship in the arts, and Nathaniel Berger said he hopes it won’t be the end of the conversation.
Berger, the operations coordinator for the CREATE_space, is spearheading the creation of an entrepreneurship certificate for performing arts students — a feat he hopes will gain more traction after Pizzi’s visit.
“We are good at validating (a skill set) within the specific discipline, like painting,” Berger said. “But that’s in a limited scope. … Entrepreneurship in the arts can help validate the skills they’re learning in today’s curriculum and make them applicable in other markets.”
Pizzi, a board-certified music therapist and self-proclaimed music therapy entrepreneur, will sit down with administrators and College of Fine Arts faculty to discuss the future of entrepreneurship in the performing arts at OU.
“Having an entrepreneurship certificate, hopefully, would entice people to not be scared to be an artist,” said Kamile Geist, chair of the music therapy department and an advocate for the certificate. “It just really opens up the many different opportunities for students.”
Geist organized Pizzi’s two-day visit, which includes seminars on practicing resume and interviewing skills, as well as learning to become an arts entrepreneur.
“(Pizzi) is a dynamite about how to form a business and run a business as an artist,” Geist said.
Pizzi co-founded Raising Harmony, a center that teaches about music and development; is the owner and executive director of Roman Music Therapy Services, a company out of Melrose, Mass. and developed Sprouting Melodies, a music therapy-based early childhood program.
Pizzi said she feels some form of formal training in entrepreneurial skills would only benefit the students who learn it.
“Even if they don’t know everything, which we don’t learn everything in college, they’ll at least have some of the resources to try,” she said. “It’s not just about going to create my art, dance or music. You need to make a livelihood and career that will pay your bills and not just be a hobby.”
In 2011, Pizzi won the “Make Mine a Million $ Business” competition from Count Me In, an organization with the goal to grow women-owned businesses.
In an effort to mimic that experience, Pizzi’s two days of events will conclude with a Shark Tank experience where students will pitch proposals and receive constructive feedback on their plans.
“(The contest) was a great exercise in honing those communication skills and being comfortable standing up and talking about yourself, your idea and your passion,” Pizzi said. “I want to give the students an opportunity to tell their story. What do they want to do?”
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This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Entrepreneur to teach students the ways of business in the arts."
