Most university arts programs teach craft. Few prepare artists to sustain a career after graduation. City Arts Lab closes that gap.
Built on a curriculum developed at Berklee College of Music and tested in the field.
The Lab's entrepreneurship curriculum was developed at Berklee College of Music and delivered in cities. University partners co-develop the local program, place students alongside creative entrepreneurs, and give their institution a visible, documented role in the city's creative economy.
The partnership runs through your academic programs, not your marketing budget. Co-developed curriculum, structured student placement, and post-cohort reporting suitable for accreditation narratives and grant applications.
Your faculty contribute to and draw from the Lab's curriculum. Course integration, guest lectureships, and co-credentialing for students who participate as cohort mentors or researchers.
Graduate and undergraduate students gain structured field experience working alongside creative entrepreneurs in their own city. Service learning credit, practicum hours, or capstone project integration depending on your program's requirements.
A documented program that connects your institution to local artists and the city's creative economy. Post-cohort reporting suitable for accreditation narratives, grant applications, and public benefit documentation.
Access to program data, participant outcomes, and longitudinal tracking of creative micro-businesses launched through the Lab. Co-authored case studies and white papers for faculty publication.
In cities with multiple universities, the Lab supports collaborative partnerships. The NOLA University Collaborative — Tulane, UNO, Dillard, Loyola, Southern, Xavier — provides the framework: institutions share access to a single program and split the investment.
Partnerships are custom. Single-institution and multi-institution models available. Contact us to discuss what a partnership looks like for your institution.
The 2025 federal endowment tax has added pressure on large-endowment institutions to show public benefit. Accreditation bodies want documented community impact. City Arts Lab gives you a program that produces both — without requiring your institution to build or run anything new.
University-rooted programs that built the Lab's curriculum.
Students build arts-based products and services on the Raidar platform — from concept to deployed product, with real business models and real users. The academic foundation of the Lab's curriculum.
$275,000 ArtPlace America grant. Arts-driven community development connecting local artists, residents, and small businesses in the 8th and 9th Wards. The community engagement model that informs how the Lab works with cities.
From a Berklee practicum to a Warner Bros. accelerator to a New Orleans neighborhood grant — the Lab's methods are field-tested, not theoretical.
Partnerships are custom. Single-institution and multi-institution models available. Tell us about your institution, your city, and what you're trying to accomplish — we'll build from there.
Reach us directly
universities@cityartslab.comWe respond within 48 hours. Come with your institution's context and we'll come back with options.