Art as social enterprise

Art has begun to play a key role in the global development agenda, not only because of the aesthetic qualities of art, but also because artistic practice is intertwined with economic growth and social development. This is most evident in the global rise of so-called "creative industries". The affinity of art with global economic and cultural development is both promising and problematic, and it is this tension that I will explore in this paper. I begin by discussing the relationship of art to the changing nature of public and private funding in the global economy, and I then present two case studies of art as social enterprise. These studies explore how artists are managing the multiple and at times conflicting demands of simultaneously pursuing economic, cultural and social goals in their artistic practices