Underserved Communities and Cultural Entrepreneurship

This work examines cultural entrepreneurship within underserved communities (UCE), focusing on artist entrepreneurs who have historically faced underrepresentation, disinvestment, and systemic barriers in entrepreneurial activities. It explores the challenges these communities encounter, including discrimination, limited access to financial and professional networks, and exclusion from major cultural institutions. Despite these obstacles, artists from underserved backgrounds play a crucial role in enriching the cultural and creative industries, leveraging their work to express identity, foster social cohesion, drive economic development, and engage in political activism. The work highlights the intersectionality of entrepreneurial and social identities, the nature of social entrepreneurship within cultural enterprises, and the importance of inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems. Addressing knowledge gaps, it proposes a future research agenda to better understand the dynamics of UCE and its impact on community revitalization. The work concludes with policy and practice recommendations that integrate cultural policy with economic development, fostering an equitable and sustainable environment for artist entrepreneurs in underserved communities.