The ArtCar project was meant for developing a common entrepreneurship course for Fine Arts curriculums in the Nordic-Baltic educational region. Its goals were to expand employment opportunities for graduates of Fine Arts faculties and to provide practical professional experience to increase access to employment or the creation of new job opportunities. ArtCar was constructed based on the practices of three different university representatives, the knowledge and experience of three different exhibition space representatives, and the ideas and wishes of students and other supporting parties.
In 2015 there were not enough basic courses in entrepreneurship and the creative industries in Estonian Academy of Arts Fine Arts departments. (We define the Fine Arts department to include students who study painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation, new media, drawing, and animation.) In the Estonian Academy of Arts only one semester-long course was offered, and this in the animation department at the MA level. Worldwide, youth unemployment figures (ages 15-24) have not changed significantly over the last decade, nor are they expected to improve in the next few years. The youth unemployment rate in EU countries for May 2017: Greece – 46,6%, Spain – 38,6%, Italy – 37%, Finland – 20.4%, Estonia – 18.3 %, Sweden – 17,4%, Lithuania – 12.5%, Denmark – 11.1 % (Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/266228/youth-unemployment-rate-in-eu-countries/ )
We chose the Nordplus Horizontal project, because the aims of the Horizontal project shares the values and ideas of our project. We create a cross-sectoral education network between universities and project spaces, which are mostly NGOs, because project space or artist-run space management is one option for starting alternative entrepreneurship. NGOs have practical experience of entrepreneurship to share with students, and some team members may even have studied Fine Arts (e.g. the Rundum Project Space in Estonia, where all team members from the project space are photography students). Exhibition spaces provide guidance and opportunity for students to obtain an inside view of entrepreneurship and project space management.
We created a network between universities which were interested in updating their curriculum, increasing employment opportunities among Fine Arts graduates, international collaboration through shared practices, and developing a creative industries course for Fine Arts department in the region.
We created a network between exhibition spaces which were interested in exchanging best practices, creating international projects, cooperating with universities (being guest lecturers), and contributing their knowledge about bringing together entrepreneurship, creative industries and fine arts.
ArtCar project is a collaboration between:
Estonian Academy of Arts www.artun.ee
The Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Schools of Visual Arts http://www.kunstakademiet.dk/en
Vilnius Art Academy http://www.vda.lt/en/
Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artist Association http://www.letmekoo.lt/en/
Rundum Artist-Run Space www.rundumspace.com
Diakron platform-studio http://www.diakron.dk/organisation
Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center http://www.ecadc.ee/about/
Years Exhibition Space www.years.dk
The project is funded by Nordplus Horizontal