UK Arts Administration hosts 8th annual Fish Tank: Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Arts
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 11, 2025) — The University of Kentucky’s Department of Arts Administration will host its 8th annual Fish Tank: Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Arts. The experiential learning event that celebrates student innovation, creativity and leadership in the arts will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Awesome Inc, 348 E. Main St.
Fish Tank transforms the classroom into a live pitch competition where students from the Arts Entrepreneurship course present their final project ideas to a panel of selected judges, faculty, peers and members of the community. Each team has five minutes to pitch their concept and will then answer questions from a panel of judges with professional experience in entrepreneurship, social innovation and entertainment management.
Hosted in partnership with Awesome Inc and aligned with Global Entrepreneurship Week, Fish Tank is positioned to highlight arts administration students' engagement with real-world entrepreneurial experience.
The event emcee is UK alum Harper Oglesby Smith. Returning to the event is a full circle moment for Smith, whose first experience with Fish Tank as an undergraduate arts administration major in 2020 — during the COVID-19 pandemic — was memorable.
“Our pitch competition was virtual, and I was responsible for screen-sharing my team's presentation,” Smith said. “Everything was going to plan when suddenly, I lost internet connection and dropped out of the webinar mid-pitch.”
The technology glitch left her team without the slide deck and a team member.
“Fortunately, my classmates never missed a beat and finished the pitch beautifully without me,” she said.
Smith was honored when course instructor Jill Schinberg, an associate professor of arts administration, asked her to emcee.
“The skills gained from this experience and other arts administration courses have helped me on my path in more ways than I can count, so it's an honor to play a small role in the evening with the students,” Smith said. “Although I never pictured myself back at Fish Tank after my technology blip in 2020, I'm beyond excited to join the event in person and see how it has evolved over the years.”
Rachel Shane, Ph.D., Department of Arts Administration chair, said the event’s informal yet professional tone encourages creativity and confidence for emerging undergraduate arts administrators.
“Fish Tank exemplifies the department’s commitment to hands-on learning and entrepreneurial thinking,” Shane said. “It’s inspiring to see students take creative risks, test their ideas, and develop the confidence to lead in the arts sector.”
Fish Tank serves as a bridge between the University of Kentucky’s arts community and Lexington’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, reinforcing the value of arts leadership as an essential driver of local innovation and cultural growth. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required as seating is limited.
Fish Tank is a partnership between the University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts, UK Department of Arts Administration, Thought Partner and Awesome Inc.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.