‘The Creative Economy’ May Be Best Hope to Spark Recovery
From the April 2009 Issue of InFocus (PDF)
Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the U.S. government created the Public Works of Art Program—the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. The exhibition “1934: A New Deal for Artists” is now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. The selection of paintings, all created with support from the New Deal, will be on display until January 3, 2010 before beginning a three-year tour of the United States. Photo credit: Julia Eckel, Radio Broadcast, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum,Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor.
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As the worldwide economic crisis deepens and the ripple effects continue to spread well beyond the housing, financial and auto industries, it’s hard to find much good news. In March 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts released research showing that artists are now unemployed at about twice the rate of other professional workers. Some 129,000 artists were out of work nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2008–—up 63 percent from the year prior. The NEA estimated that the figures might have been worse, had thousands of artists not left the workforce due to retirement or to pursue outside opportunities.
But artists “pursuing outside opportunities” might be just what the overall economy needs. The influx of artists into business can provide the creative spark needed to help spur overall recovery.
Jason Schupbach of the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, believes firmly that “the world has changed.” He says “parents need to quit telling their kids they can’t grow up to be artists…and also stop telling their kids to quit playing video games…Video gaming is a growth industry.”
Schupbach was a member of a panel at UCEA’s 2009 Annual Conference in Boston which discussed ways the “The Creative Economy” could help contribute to an economic recovery. The panel was chaired by Dorothy Durkin, Associate Dean for Strategic Development at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Progressive Policies Needed to Water the Green Spots
While it might take a while before the Masters of Fine Arts replaces the MBA as the ticket to become a “Master of the Universe” or a business consultant…the idea is not far-fetched. Schupbach views the video gaming industry as an important growth area for both the economy and continuing education. “Although it is now 25 years old, video gaming is still considered a ‘new’ employer by government and on most college campuses. Meanwhile, there is a ‘Serious Games’ movement within the video industry that is creating videos games for education and health with some really intriguing ideas, such as a video game that helps burn patients forget about their pain.”
Schupbach notes that the national Games for Health conference is moving its permanent home to Boston to be closer to the area’s many hospitals and medical centers. “It is significant that, in a time when so many companies are announcing layoffs, we have over 100 open jobs in gaming—some with cool titles like “Dragon Slaying Expert”—that are going unfilled.”
Clean energy, defense, food services, public policy, and even insurance are some of the sectors that could use creative energy and artistic design skills to reinvent themselves in difficult financial times. Schupbach believes that continuing education is perfectly positioned to help states and regions “connect the dots” between people’s passions and, “the very real, very cool arts jobs” in all sectors.
Mini MBA for Artists Provides a ‘Win, Win’
Sustaining its role as a leader in the creative economy is an important part of Massachusetts College of Art’s strategic plan. The school is a leading partner of the Design Industry Groups of Massachusetts and a member of the state legislature’s Creative Economy Council. MassArt’s Associate Dean of Professional & Continuing Education, Anne Marie Stein, observes, “It used to be that artists needed courses in business management to figure out a way to support themselves using their art. Now we find it is businesses that are benefiting from employing artists that bring in the kind of creative thinking they need to survive.”
“MassArt’s professional and continuing education program is about marrying creative vision and technical skills. We believe that great art and business requires both,” she says. “Through our partnership with the business school at Bentley College we’re strengthening those ties between art and business…We’ve moved way beyond justifying the arts.”
MassArt’s Mini MBA, “Creative Continuum: Business and the Creative Process,” is a 10-day program, geared to artists and designers who want to develop skills in applying the creativity and mindset they nurtured and developed as an artist to the business realm.
The collaborative program offers participants insight into the issues and workings of business through both lecture and working sessions. Rather than full courses, students focus on the fundamental business principles. In addition there are working sessions where students put their creative skills and experience to use by collaborating with representatives of select businesses on real strategic problems.
“For example, Dunkin Donuts executives knew that the economic downturn would spell a decline in their primary revenue source: the franchise fees that come from opening new stores. So Dunkin Donuts asked the art students to brainstorm possible new revenue streams to replace those fees…The reaction to their ideas was very positive,” says Stein. “One Dunkin marketing executive told us the group had done the equivalent of a year’s worth of work—of 60 people!”
CE Units Spark “Creative Economy” on Campus
Sue Lane, President of the New England Institute of Arts observes that animation is one of the growth areas for her institution. “In our community, there are some 70 or 80 growing animation businesses that depend on certain skill sets. They are not just playing around with videos, these businesses need people who can do ‘soups to nuts’ so they can stay small and nimble. Again, this is a good fit for CE, we, too, do ‘soup to nuts,’ so we can relate.”
The New England Institute of Art is a small, year-round institution of 1800 students in an area surrounded by art colleges. The Institute stands out, according to Lane, because “Our focus is as much on career as on admissions. We offer a very practical three-year B.S. program that is designed to get students back to their careers. We offer 11 fields—advertising, audio broadcasting, digital film to name a few—with requirements for internships and portfolios in all programs. We recognize that artists need to hone all their skills. The low end jobs are disappearing and artists need degrees. Employers assume you have skills to communicate, to think creatively in problem-solving across all divisions to support all company areas.”
Currently the Institute is working with the town of Plymouth on a new initiative to promote the arts and the local economy. The town is building a film studio and has invited the New England Institute of Art to be “the college on the lot.”
For further details, you can listen to the entire audio recording of the concurrent session: “Arts & Enterprise: Reframing Creative & Applied Arts Education for the Future.” It is available on the DVD of proceedings of UCEA’s 2009 Annual Conference held in Boston.
—Susan Goewey | 
