The Creative Industries and Cultural Professions in the 21st Century
Date: May 7 - 9, 2003
Location:
Pfahl
Conference Center at the
Fisher College of Business
The Ohio State University
1849 Cannon Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Symposium Description
The workforce of the American creative sector is large, highly skilled, and well educated. Work in creative organizations and cultural industries constitutes one of the fastest growing, most dynamic segments of the emerging “knowledge economy”. These workers are the creators, presenters, producers, and managers of cultural and artistic intellectual property and they are key content and resource providers for the information age. Cultural workforce analysts from Northeastern University Neil Alper and Ann Galligan report that between 1940 and 1998, the number of artists working in all sectors of the general economy (public, commercial, and nonprofit) grew at a rate roughly two and half times faster than that of other types of workers and now number at least 1.47 million. Americans for the Arts, the leading arts advocacy organization in the country, reports that nonprofit arts organizations employ 2.09 million workers. The International Intellectual Property Alliance reports that in 2001, core copyright industries employed 4.7 million workers or 3.5% of the U.S. workforce. In one region of the country alone, the New England Council estimated that the productivity of creative industries and individuals supported more than 245,000 jobs. An inclusive count of art education professionals (including K-12, higher education and private instructors) puts the number at 242,000. Clearly cultural professionals are a significant component of the U.S. workforce.
While other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and other European Union have targeted this sector for support and development as a matter of economic, industrial, cultural and educational policies, the very concept of a “creative sector” composed of various “cultural industries” and numerous creative occupations has, until quite recently, had little purchase in the United States.
Instead, in the U.S., the public perception of the creative workforce tends to see a set of disparate occupations, many of which are considered to be poorly paid, unstable, and under-valued. Each occupation—whether artist, art educator, or arts administrator—is seen as a category unto itself with discrete issues of concern. Artists worry about securing workspace, a living wage, and worker benefits like healthcare insurance and pensions. Art Educators are concerned with school funding constraints that often reduce teacher positions, establish specific curriculum and student performance requirements and provide few classroom resources. Nonprofit arts administrators face the challenges of a dramatically changing funding environment, of shifting audience demographics and tastes, and worries of burnout and personnel turnover. Commercial art producers feel threatened by piracy and often cope with financial risk and unpredictability. All of these occupations are seeking to adjust to the impact and opportunities that technology offers, to an increasingly global marketplace, and to a culturally diverse worker pool and potential audience. Each is also in the midst of what amounts to a generational chance and frequently complains about a dearth of leadership, public support, and insufficient resources.
The 2003 Barnett Symposium will convene a two-day think tank discussion to bring together information and experts on the various facets of this topic to explore how the preparation of cultural professionals might better adjust to 21st century needs. Participants will include individuals from the arenas of education, policy, management, research institutions, foundations, and professional associations—both in the United States and from abroad. The purpose of the symposium is three-fold: (1) to explore how the forces of technology, globalization and demographic change are affecting these professions; (2 ) to compare and combine information to assemble a “big picture” of the trends, challenges, and responses involving these professions; and (3) to identify research, training, professional development and policy implications.