Creativity Connects Report

2016 - 2017

Project Partners:

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

John F. Kennedy Center

Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI)

Project background and outcomes:

The NEA’s 50th anniversary Creativity Connects initiative included an Interactive Digital Webportal, 10 National Roundtable Events with local arts experts, the Creativity Connects report, and the In Pursuit of the Creative Life convening. The report identified support systems necessary for artists, including material supports, validation, markets, networks, training, and information. The report explored the major changes and trends affecting artists. To develop the report, NEA and CCI staff undertook extensive information-gathering and analysis, including conducting 65 in-depth interviews, convening ten roundtables across the country, reviewing more than 300 documents, gathering 30 field experts to review the initial findings, and commissioning 18 essays written by leaders in the field. Creativity Connects uses a wide lens to consider who is an artist, how artists are working, factors influencing their work, and how we can best support them.

Images courtesy National Endowment for the Arts and Kelli Rogowski