This event is the public keynote presentation of the conference ‘Creative Infrastructures’ (link). Our international conference guests include scholars from entrepreneurship and the arts, as well as creators and managers of a range of ‘arts incubators’. These organizations uniquely bring together business incubation services with the world of artists and creative professionals, oftentimes troubling the notion of high-growth and scalable tech enterprises as the ideal-type of entrepreneurship.

More information about the conference can be found at: https://artsentrepreneurship2025.org/

Linda Essig, MFA, PhD, is currently Baruch College’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. She previously served as dean of the College of Arts & Letters at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) where she was responsible for nine academic departments, four centers, and the university's gallery. Prior to Cal State LA, Dr. Essig was director of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programs for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University (ASU) and founding director of its School of Theatre and Film. She also served as chair of the Department of Theatre & Drama and director of University Theatre at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Essig has authored four books and numerous articles and book chapters on both arts entrepreneurship and theatre lighting design. Her most recent book Creative Infrastructure: Artists, Money, and Entrepreneurial Action was published with Intellect Books in 2022. She also launched Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, a premiere research journal for the field.