Companies and organisations need art and creative thinking

22.12.2022 1 Like 0 kommenttia

Jussi Puukka, who graduated as a music educator, wants to help companies develop their operations through the means of art. He was looking for support to start his own company by participating in the twelve-week Uniarts Hub pre-incubator program in autumn 2022.

Please tell us about yourself, and how did you realise that you wanted to study on the Uniarts Hub pre-incubator program? 

I am Jussi Puukka, a music educator and musician. I am a graduate of the music education degree programme at the Sibelius Academy. For some time, I had been thinking about how art could be used in the business world, and after attending Krista Petäjäjärvi’s lecture on taking art to various organizations, I decided to apply to the Uniarts Helsinki’s Uniarts Hub pre-incubator program. The circle closed when Petäjäjärvi became my mentor at the Hub.

After my graduation, I have for a few years worked as a freelance musician, done various odd jobs, prepared a dissertation for the University of Tampere and applied for jobs, but none of these have really borne fruit. The Uniarts Hub pre-incubator programme offered me an excellent platform to develop my own professional skills and to look for opportunities to employ myself. Actually, my strongest motivation for participating in the Hub was frustration with the lack of interesting job opportunities. 

What is your business idea or project about?

My business idea is to offer a kind of intermediary activity or service between artists and various organisations. I believe that art, artistic activity, and an artistic way of thinking can significantly help to develop the operations of companies and different organisations. My business is a balancing act between the intrinsic and instrumental values of art. Making art is a meaningful activity in itself, but in addition to that, artistic thinking and action in organisations can promote strategic thinking and the well-being of the working community. Artistic thinking and action can also serve, for example, to implement the company’s social responsibility. In practice, I will go to an organisation with an artist to run art workshops where the participants can create art themselves. After the workshops, the different dimensions of the artistic process are combined with everyday life and the reality of business and working life.

What has participating in Uniarts Hub been like, what has the work consisted of?

Participating in Uniarts Hub has been amazing. Combining art, artistry and entrepreneurship requires a sensitive approach, and the Hub has succeeded very well in that. We can thank Kati Uusi-Rauva for this, since she has created a really open atmosphere at the Hub. I have been able to ask questions that have seemed stupid outside the Hub. In my opinion, the Hub takes the fact that the approach of artists to their own work is often somewhat anti-capitalist into account very well. Entrepreneurship is presented in the Hub as an activity that increases freedom and creativity. As an entrepreneur, you do not have to give up your own values.

Our work has consisted of expert lectures, mentor meetings, a pitching camp and a pitching event. The topics have been, for example, starting a business, developing a strategy, and marketing. The climax of the Hub was a pitching event at the Theatre Academy square, where the Hub participants pitched their ideas in three minutes to the audience and the board. Before that, we went to a pitching camp, where we practiced under the guidance of Elsa Ervasti.

My mentor and I have discussed the value of art in working life and in organisations a lot. Krista Petäjäjärvi has given me tasks that have helped me develop my idea. Above all, mentoring has strengthened my belief in my business idea.

In addition, the Hub has encouraged us to work independently. For example, I have looked for partners, developed my business idea and met with a Business Helsinki business advisor. I also did some market research. I have written my business plan and thought about the necessary communication materials.

What has been useful at Uniarts Hub, what have you learnt?

The Hub helped to lower the threshold for entrepreneurship. I have begun to see the creative possibilities of being an entrepreneur. The most useful things for me have been the confirmation of my business idea, learning practical things related to starting a company, making contacts and the mentoring meetings.

What kind of future do you dream of regarding your own career and your company/project? 

During the Hub, I started planning the future in smaller steps and on a more sustainable basis than before the course. I dream that I could employ myself and a few other employees through my company and offer as many artists as possible the opportunity to expand their practice and work in different organisations. I hope that art and artistic activity would really become part of the operating models of organisations.

Join Uniarts Hub!

Are you an artist, producer, or intermediary in the art or creative industries thinking about starting your own business? The Uniarts Hub pre-incubator program provides an in-depth look at business operations in the arts and creative fields, as well as assistance in developing your own business idea. Applications for next spring’s program will be accepted from 1 December 2022 to 23 January 2023.