Corzo Center for the Creative Economy

Who We Are
The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at the University of the Arts links art, innovation and business. 

We formed it to keep art where it belongs — at the center of things, at the center of a society and economy that requires ideas and imagination — as well as to help artists learn how to control their personal economic lives.

To connect art to economy, our incubator and outreach programs support the creation of entrepreneurial ventures based in the arts and media. To help develop new forms of creative work, our partnerships — across the region and across disciplines — encourage the creation of new communities and new applications.

To achieve the goal of supporting the economic independence of artists and media makers, our workshops, short courses, lectures and programs provide artists with the economic savvy they need if they are to understand the value of what they make.

What We Do
The Corzo Center is a big umbrella for a number of initiatives being developed at the University. Through it, we offer workshops, sponsor a Creative Incubator, make available advisors and mentors, present programs, make connections between current students and alumni, and establish partnerships that connect the University with groups throughout the Philadelphia region.

• Our workshops provide the tools that artists will need to know if they wish to turn their art into a business or engage in a social enterprise
• Our Creative Incubator offers funding and legal and business support
• Our panel of advisors connects students and faculty to lawyers, entrepreneurs, accountants, marketing experts and other business leaders willing to help artists and media makers start businesses or social ventures.
• Our Lecture Series brings together the arts and media communities, and connects them to business and entrepreneurial communities
• The Entrepreneur Club encourages students to develop their own programs, create their own social and professional networks, and take on leadership roles
• Our partnerships provide the University community with access to the strengths of the region, while also actively engaging the University in its development and growth

Collaborations and Sponsorships
The Corzo Center has already established a number of partnerships and collaborations, and has co-sponsored a variety of events and programs with groups throughout the region – a list that keeps growing. A few current relationships include:

• NxtUp Philly
• NxtUp Education
• Design Philadelphia
• City Paper
• KYW-Radio
• Innovation Philadelphia
• Studio Next
• The Philadelphia Science Center
• NextFab Studio
• Philadelphia Start Up Leaders (PSL)

These partnerships have resulted in opportunities for members of the UArts community to work with others, to meet entrepreneurs and to become more visible, as well as to take advantage of programs throughout the region. 

What's Next
Over the next year or two, in addition to expanding the capacity of the Creative Incubator and developing more workshops and mini-courses to support students and faculty, the Corzo Center plans to:

• Establish faculty and graduate student research fellowships, ranging from traditional scholarship to those supporting artists who wish to develop new products and technologies
• Invite scholars, designers, writers, scientists and business leaders to spend one semester or one year in residence programs to pursue research, creative and entrepreneurial projects
• Publish the results of research
• Establish an online platform that can be used to test-market business ideas
• Support the development of for-credit and not-for-credit course work in entrepreneurship

To Learn More
Contact Corzo Center Senior Fellow Neil Kleinman.