Sean Ruttkay receiving a special University gift from Dr. Harper Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship UNCW.
In 2007, two years after I began my trek into the proverbial ‘Black Forest’ that is art and business, Cornelia (my wife), suggested that I take a seminar that was being offered on entrepreneurship at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Initially, I was resistant to the idea. With the know-it-all attitude of a twenty-something, I thought, “What can these guys tell me I don’t already know about my business?”. It turned out that after attending, I learned I had a lot of work to do and in hindsight it was a pivotal moment in my development as a business owner. What really made this experience extremely valuable was the relationship that I formed with the lead professor Dr. Stephen Harper. Since then, Dr. Harper has become an invaluable mentor, customer, and friend to the EDA Surf brand and philosophy. He has also given me the great privilege and honor to speak on the topic of business and art at UNCW on six occasions with the most recent occurring last Tuesday.
In this particular talk to students, “Artist as Entrepreneur”, I attempt to connect any personal antidotes and stories to broad themes and life lessons in hopes that they are useful and applicable in each of their lives. For instance, I tell the story of how growing up I struggled with extreme dyslexia, so extreme in fact that in the first grade my parents were told that graduation from high school was the best case scenario for my education. But with epic parents, progressive teachers, self-confidence, and hard work, I graduated from UNCW with a bachelor’s degree in (ironically) special-education. I also tell the story about how I learned the fragility of life after I almost drowned and died attempting to take pictures of 20 foot waves at Sunset Point (North Shore of Hawaii). Also, I discussed the paramount necessity of post-college travel referenced in tales from the start of my image capturing career while living in a van with my wife on the point break abundant shores of New Zealand. Also, interjected in the talk, are the less sexy “secret” pieces of knowledge in the art business that I have accumulated over my ten years in the game. Some examples are: “How should I price my art?”, “How can I get my art printed?”, “Is it a good idea to approach galleries?”, and “Should I sell online?”. Below is the full talk from Tuesday. To the extent you take the time to watch, I hope it is interesting, informative, and maybe even inspiring.
~ Sean D. Ruttkay / @edasurf