Growing and Strengthening the Creative Economy
A collaborative team from the Western States Arts Federation, Cultural Planning Group, and Third Way Creative was selected to produce a strategic plan for Washington’s creative industries, guided by a statewide working group of creative economy practitioners.
Over an 18-month process, a wide range of stakeholders—artists, creative entrepreneurs, technology leaders, investors, educators, and other civic leaders—from every corner of the state were engaged to inform and shape strategies for growing and strengthening Washington’s creative economy.
This document synthesizes and builds on the discussions, identifying five areas where strategically aligned action between the GI and arts sectors can help advance the GI movement’s goals: 1. Challenge harmful narratives about work and deservingness 2. Build a base of artists who support guaranteed income 3. Focus on public policy wins 4. Match new pilots with movement priorities 5. Don’t wait! Integrate GI values into arts funding now.
Guaranteed Income for Artists Process Evaluation
This document is a resource for funders and intermediaries who are considering doing a GI or unrestricted cash transfer program for artists. The intention is to provide a transparent review of what CRNY did why, and what was learned in the process so that others might learn from and build on the work in new ways.
It's also meant to inform a working group that CRNY convened in August and November of 2023 with peer administrators of guaranteed income or direct cash assistance programs for artists and leaders in the guaranteed income movement. The purpose of this working group was to share experiences, discuss lessons learned, and develop recommendations for the field going forward.
Advance Sustainable Livelihoods for Arts & Cultural Workers
Artists and cultural workers deserve more opportunities to earn sustainable income and be better supported— and less exploited—by our economic systems and institutions. In the fall of 2023, Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY) convened a Working Group composed of artist employment program administrators, advocates, researchers, and artists who have unique insights into the challenges, opportunities, and nuances of providing jobs for artists.
Upstart Co-Lab: Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy
Upstart Co-Lab connects capital to creative people who make a profit and make a difference. Upstart is launching a $100 million portfolio of funds and companies comprising the first impact investment strategy for the U.S. creative economy which will focus on fashion, film & TV, video games, food, the creator economy, the visual art market, immersive experiences, health & beauty and other creative industries
Hawai‘i’s cultural diversity and its Hawaiian host culture are brand differentiators, attracting millions of visitors to our destination, while supporting a thriving creative industries cluster. The uniqueness of Hawai‘i’s creative, artistic, and cultural sectors helps Hawai‘i’s creative products compete in worldwide markets, while also supporting visitor spending and developing the foundation of Hawai‘i’s creative economy. In addition, the creative industries and their workforce represent key sources of ideas, and content creation for global export and provide the talent for Hawai‘i’s emerging technology and knowledge-based industry sectors.
Discovery Episode 18: Louder than words: design as a verb
How can experiences, services and products be designed in ways that are accessible and inclusive? What are some common misconceptions about design and what does design mean as a process? On Episode 18 of DISCOVERY, Knight’s Victoria Rogers, Olga Stella, executive director of Design Core Detroit and Cézanne Charles, co-founder and director of design studio, rootoftwo, will be discussing the promise and pitfalls of design in creating informed and engaged communities.
Creative Vitality: The Creative Economy in a New Era
WESTAF has a long history of researching the economic impact of the arts and the creative economy. Our Creative Vitality Suite has become a distinctive tool for measuring the creative economy using a range of official statistics and a pioneering approach to comparing regional creative vitality, the Creative Vitality Index (CVI).
The Orange Economy, An Infinite Opportunity
The creative economy, which we call the “Orange
Economy” in this book (you’ll see why), encompasses the immense wealth of talent, intellectual property, interconnectedness, and,
of course, cultural heritage of the Latin American
and Caribbean region (and indeed, every region).
Solidarity not Charity - Arts & Culture Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy
This report is about the ways that arts and culture
grantmakers can engage in systems-change work that
addresses root causes rather than symptoms of cultural inequity. The cultural sector is actively seeking alternatives
to business-as-usual to create economic and racial justice in the sector and beyond. Grantmakers can play a role in the transformation of the sector by following the lead of BIPOC creatives who are innovating models for self-determination and community wealth. This work is part of an emergent movement in the United States that is known globally as the Solidarity Economy.
2020 has been a challenging year for museums and other cultural institutions, and its effects will be felt for some time to come. According to Americans for the Arts, the COVID pandemic has resulted in financial losses to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations of an estimated $14.1 billion as of October. 96% of organizations cancelled events. 90% of organizations had a pandemic-related closing. 29% of organizations laid off or furloughed staff.
State Economic Development and the Creative Economy
This report is about the ways that arts and culture
grantmakers can engage in systems-change work that
addresses root causes rather than symptoms of cultural
inequity. The cultural sector is actively seeking alternatives
to business-as-usual to create economic and racial justice in the sector and beyond. Grantmakers can play a role in the transformation of the sector by following the lead of BIPOC creatives who are innovating models for self-determination and community wealth. This work is part of an emergent
movement in the United States that is known globally as the
Solidarity Economy.
Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre
The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) consulted a panel of Industry Champions with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic on creative industries freelancers across the UK. This Industry Panel informs part of a national research project on the impacts of COVID-19 in the UK which is looking into how the
pandemic is affecting the sector’s workforce, organisations and audiences sector and is being led by the Centre for Cultural Value (CCV).
Opportunities at the Intersection: Advancing Racial Equity via Arts and Culture in the Public Sector
In 2019, Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) issued a call for consultants to engage in research and to develop a theory of change
around how various sectors could work collectively to advance racial equity through arts and culture with a shift of investments,
practice and policies.
From Creative Economy to Creative Society
Can the creative economy ameliorate urban poverty? The contemporary U.S. city is witness to an increasing proportion of its residents denied active participation in the local economy, social institutions, and broader civil society. While many a metropolis have weathered the transition from an industrial to an information-based economy, most urban neighborhoods bear the persistent physical and social manifestations of economic
inequality and social exclusion.
Creative Economy and Recovery Case Studies Report
As many look expectantly toward a post-COVID-19-pandemic environment in the United States, our state and regional economies struggle to recover from a pandemic induced recession. Some areas are facing this endeavor while still trying to recalibrate from lingering effects of the Great Recession that occurred more than a decade ago.
Celestial Navigation: How to Fund Culture Change in the U.S.
This report outlines recommendations co-created by the designers and participants of Constellations for how funders interested in shifting culture can invest in the growth, connectivity, and experimental development of the nascent field of art and social justice.
As the economy transforms because of technological advances and competitive market pressures, more workers find themselves working as independent contractors outside of traditional employment structures, without access to social insurance programs and worker protections designed for those with employee status. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many people who are independent contractors and underscored the urgency of creating a more inclusive social contract—one that drives economic security, equity, and dignity for all workers, including independent contractors.
Otis College Report on the Creative Economy
Otis College of Art and Design has been publishing the Otis College Report on the Creative Economy since 2007, when it started as a report dedicated to chronicling the size and breadth of the creative industries of Los Angeles.
Skills for an Inclusive Economic Recovery
An inclusive economic recovery is an expansion of the U.S. economy in which the workers and businesses who were most impacted by this recession, as well as workers who were previously
held back by structural barriers of discrimination or lack of opportunity, are empowered to equitably participate in and benefit from the economy’s expansion and restructuring. We believe a set of expansive, industry- and worker-targeted skills policies at both the federal and state levels, accompanied by the necessary income and social service supports to keep workers and businesses whole during this transition, must be part of the strategy in pursuit of that goal.