The Harvard Office for the Arts and Harvard’s Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship have launched an innovation program to advance arts and culture. 

 

The Harvard Arts Accelerator (HAA) offers students the opportunity to create an arts-focused business, technology, or enterprise that aims to help solve substantive problems in the local, regional, national and/or global arts and culture landscape. 

 

If you have an idea you want to accelerate to action, or you think you can solve one of the challenges below, then apply HERE. You will receive support around building a team, developing a plan of action, identifying venture frameworks, accessing resources, and drawing on subject matter experts to help you move from idea to action.

 

The Harvard Arts Accelerator will run from October to April with a showcase on April 28th at FounderCrush at Harvard’s SOCH.

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Optional Challenges:

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• How might we develop a reliable, scalable framework for measuring the impact of arts and culture on Harvard’s campus and in the wider arts ecosystem?

• How might we imagine Allston as a vibrant arts corridor that connects Harvard more deeply to local residents, artists, organizations, and businesses?

• How might we make the breadth of artistic activity across Harvard easier to discover, understand, and access? 

• How might we create more opportunities for students and community members to display, perform, publish, sell, or otherwise share their work locally? 

• How might we build new and more diverse audiences for the arts on campus and in the surrounding community?

• How might we reimagine the institutions, spaces, and networks that support artistic work? 

• How might we build financially sustainable arts organizations that also advance social and cultural impact?  

 

 

Questions you may ask:

 

May my team have founders from outside Harvard University? Yes. However your team’s lead must be a Harvard undergraduate.

 

Will my team receive seed funding? Yes. Based on your project’s needs and level of completion, vetted by an advisory board.

 

What form can my solution take at the end? Though a for-profit startup is the expected form, we are eager to consider any form that creates positive and creative solutions aimed to make change while harnessing the power of the arts.

 

What stage of my idea do I have to be in? 

Any stage at all.

 

Is there a timeline of development leading up to FounderCrush? 

Yes. We will assist you through the process of preparing for FounderCrush.

 

What product/result do I have to present at the FounderCrush? 

The standard form is an infographic or poster, but we can also facilitate a pitch or   performance. Be creative.

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The rubric for cohort selection:

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Does the venture idea present a thoughtful solution to one of the challenge questions? 

Does the project employ creative practices? 

Does the project engage the community?

Does the project work across disciplines?

Does the project have potential beyond the year?