Abstract

Artists make art, but that’s not all. Many artists develop “their own thing” from an artistic, often socio-cultural concern that makes their living. They found festivals and labels, become self-reliant through art-based workshops or establish artistic production companies. These initiatives are an attempt to withdraw from the institutionalized and often rigid production conditions of the arts sector; to contribute something perceived as missing in contemporary art and culture happenings; and illustrate current, hitherto marginalized or emerging cultural trends. Artists’ areas of operation thereby become not only more flexible, multiple, and autonomous, but also give rise to logics of action and purchase structures beyond neoliberal, profit-oriented premises. Based on an Austrian study of artists as entrepreneurs, the paper proposes a multilayered, yet culture-focused interpretation of arts entrepreneurship, revealing new fields of action for artists who follow their passion.