About Blue Connection Art Gallery

The "Art of Entrepreneurship" program and Blue Connection

The "Art of Entrepreneurship" program (of which the Blue Connection Gallery is an integral part) has been developed to unite the strengths of two of Millikin's Professional Schools: the Tabor School of Business and the College of Fine Arts. This novel combination of two programs enables business students to gain insight into the creative aspects of entrepreneurship while art students learn the importance of marketing their own artwork.  The role of Blue Connection in the Decatur Arts Community is to educate both groups of students, in a laboratory setting, about the importance of self-sufficiency in the arts.

The curriculum is structured as two separate courses. A 3-credit course involves managing an actual Decatur-based retail business: the Blue Connection Gallery.  It also entails developing an entrepreneurship venture in each student's field of interest, encouraging them to delve deeply into the constraints and opportunities presented. Three 1-credit modules titled "Where are we going?", "How do we get there?", and "What do the numbers mean" instruct students on each aspect of managing a business: marketing, operations, and accounting/finance.

These courses directly involve the students in the day-to-day decision-making process of managing a real-world business: the Blue Connection Gallery.  By structuring this curriculum outside of traditional classroom constraints, Millikin University provides students with authentic business and entrepreneurial experiences in a unique learning environment.