The Living! Project (TLP) is a Social Enterprise that applies business models to artistic forms. Founded in August 2011 by social innovators Mr. Allan Lim, CEO of Alpha Biofuels; Mr. Kenny Eng, Director of Gardenasia; and renowned sculptor, Mr Sun Yu-Li, one of the organisation’s core focus is to  increase public awareness of environmental and urban sustainability.

Earlier this year, Eden Strategy Institute was invited help TLP craft its hierarchy of goals.Through a series of interviews and workshops that revealed the success factors for TLP’s organizational resilience, the organization is able to define its vision as “A world where people are inspired to do better”. In addition, TLP members drafted and operationalized a mission to be globally recognized and rewarded as the gold standard arts events platform, whose innovative and inspirational solutions bring positive social and behavioral change to Singapore.

One TLP’s key initiatives is Luminance!, a light art festival organized at *SCAPE from Jun 23 – July 1, 2012 and created to nurture aspiring artists & encourage experimental ideas. This is an artist development program which aims to provide an engaging platform for young Singaporean artists to express their social views through the medium of Light Art. Eden conducted a pro bono Masterclass for Luminance! artists covering principles and case studies of Business Models for artists. The artists also engaged in interactive exercises where they practiced developing and pitching their personal artist statements and art installations with a view towards generating sustainable incomes for themselves.

“One area where Singapore has not been punching above its weight has been in sustaining our nascent arts scene,” observed Eden Partner Mr. Calvin Chu Yee Ming.

“Our youth have internalized the notion that artists cannot support themselves, and this has compounded a grant-seeking mentality among many artists here. We are delighted with this opportunity to lend our business experience to help the next generation of artists see that they can achieve commercial success intrinsically through their work,” he said.

TLP Co-Founder Mr. Allan Lim was glad to observe the enthusiastic response among Luminance! artists.  “I would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Eden Strategy Institute for the work that they have so wonderfully done for Luminance! Festival. During the initial concept planning and assembling of the team for the festival, the team spent many late nights in discussion with the core team to develop a common vision and aligned goals for the festival. Through their friendly banter and their relentless enthusiasm, they helped the team find their complementary expertise and also identified gaps in the festival which would have been detrimental to the Project. It is also during these sessions that the TLP Collective developed the vision of the group and what we hope to achieve in the future.

During the Masterclass at the festival, Eden gave a class to the young first time artists on the strategic thinking and marketing of their art installation – “the business side of art”. Many of our artists, both first-timers and established, gained valuable insight to how the can pursue success in their artistic careers. The team gave a spectrum of real-life examples of artists and how they achieved success and carried out a series of interactive exercise for the artists to help them focus on their strategy to market their project in the Festival. This has resulted in a better refinement of the installations by the artist and some artists have gone on to get commission works after the festival.

Eden insisted that their involvement Luminance! Festival is pro bono because they are firm believers of ground-up change and community driven innovation. Here’s to Team Eden!” he said.

View Eden’s presentation materials to the artists at http://www.edenstrategyinstitute.com/academy/playbooks