Art as Enterprise: Social and Economic Engagement in Contemporary Art

Art is produced, circulated, consumed and disseminated within an economic system - it depends on money for its creation, for the livelihood of its makers, and for its distribution. In this sense, art can be understood as an enterprising activity. However, profit-making is rarely the primary goal of artists, and indeed the entanglement of art with enterprise generates significant aesthetic, conceptual, philosophical and ethical challenges for contemporary art practice. Social enterprise has emerged from this complex terrain with the promise of an alternative model of economic organisation in the arts. Grace McQuilten and Anthony White argue that artists can, and have, engaged critically in the commercial market, by way of this model. Art as Enterprise brings a fresh perspective to the debate about the roles of contemporary art in consumer capitalist society.

Grace McQuilten is an Honorary Fellow at The University of Melbourne and CEO of The Social Studio Inc. Her expertise in the intersection of art, consumer culture, economics and social enterprise has been called upon in a number of contexts including public speaking, media interviews, academic research projects, and professional consultancies. Anthony White is Senior Lecturer in Art History at The University of Melbourne. He holds graduate degrees in Art History from Harvard University and The University of Melbourne and a Business degree from Swinburne University. Alongside his research and teaching activities, he has been employed as an exhibition curator - at Harvard University’s Fogg Museum in Cambridge and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.