UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: making art work,” co-hosted by College of Arts and Architecture alumnus Nick Petrella, celebrated its 200th episode in November. Petrella received a bachelor of science in music education from Penn State in 1990.
The podcast, which Petrella hosts alongside Andy Heise, a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, highlights artists and art entrepreneurs across all disciplines and explores how they align their artistry, passion and vision to create value throughout the arts ecosystem.
The show has been downloaded by more than 10,000 podcast listeners in 89 countries and is available on all major podcast platforms.
A recent download in Kazakhstan, Petrella said, speaks to the success of the podcast, which strives to offer diversity in guests and ideas.
“In some ways it’s like a U.N. [United Nations] of artists,” said Petrella, an assistant professor at Kent State University. “Whether it’s the demographics, the art itself or what the artist is doing financially, the diversity is one of the strong points of the podcast. We just think, the more the merrier.”
The podcast started in 2020 when Petrella was a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The percussionist had recently co-authored the book “The Musician's Toolbox: Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Music” and when thinking about what was next, the idea of the podcast struck him. He pitched the idea to Heise and the duo was off and running.
Leaning on an extensive, global career in the music industry, which included performance, education, marketing and sales, Petrella said he was always fascinated by the entrepreneurial side of the arts and worked to dispel the notion that artists couldn’t make money.
On his travels, one reality that he said kept popping up was that “talent was everywhere but access is not.”
The podcast was a perfect fit for confronting preconceived notions about the arts as a sole source of income while sharing artists’ success stories with people from across the world.
“I just thought I could show people how artists can make money,” Petrella said, “and it turns out that if you’re decent enough at anything, the money will follow.”
Petrella and Heise recount the early beginnings of the podcast in the 200th episode, which celebrates the success of the show while looking to the future. The plan, Petrella said, is to look for more ways to expand what the podcast can offer to people in the arts.
“On mic and off mic, artists constantly tell us that they wish they had a resource like this when they were growing up,” Petrella said. “We take that to heart. We always have something cooking and we will see what bubbles up to the top.”
One thing Petrella said he is looking for is more Penn Staters to be on the podcast. To suggest a guest or to apply to be a guest, contact Petrella at npetrel3@kent.edu.