School of Creative
Industries
Valerie Harley Jiongco
Seeing herself as a problem-solver who uses art and design as her tool, Valerie Harley founded Willow Creative House, a boutique creative agency based in the Philippines, where she heads the creative direction and production of all projects. As a design pedagogue, she teaches students to enhance their critical thinking in design and application. Concurrently, she is also focused on pursuing her visual artist career as an abstract painter.
Work
Research interests
Creative entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, arts management, gig economy, arts pedagogy, Southeast Asia creative industries
Thesis abstract
Creative entrepreneurship: a mindset for Filipino multimedia artists
Multimedia artists are susceptible to economic precarity. They face several barriers to success. Low wages, a product of both the number of multimedia artists and a paucity of jobs, prevent artists from accruing significant capital and savings. The Philippines is an ideal context for this study for the following reasons: First, Filipino multimedia artists face all of the barriers to success. Creative work struggles against being undervalued almost everywhere globally, but in the Philippines, it is hardly even considered work. Second, even thriving multimedia artists face these constraints, and creative entrepreneurship has been an effective mindset towards their success. The researcher posits that creative entrepreneurship removes wage constraints, and it reduces exploitation because they are encouraged to develop and enhance their sustainable creative careers. This research aims to show that creative entrepreneurship facilitates success for multimedia artists in the Philippines. Not all artists embrace the potential opportunities for career advancement that being entrepreneurial can do. It is a skill that is often overlooked as a significant factor for success. The evidence that creative entrepreneurship facilitates success for multimedia artists can serve as a model for young aspiring multimedia artists to follow.