Monday, March 29, 2010

A guide for measuring the creative sector

A new report from PDI's Arts Build Communities initiatives provides guidelines for measuring the creative sector.  The report, designed to support the New Jersey Creative Vitality Index, includes a definition of the creative industry in the United States (the organizations and businesses that focus on developing, creating or distributing products designed mostly for their aesthetics.)

The ABC report can help analysts and policy makers in several ways:
  • By taking a narrower definition of the creative sector than is found in other places, it reduces the "noise" of the economy's impact on other, unrelated industries.  For example, some definitions of the creative sector include gypsum manufacturers.  While gypsum is used to create plaster, it also is used to create drywall.  A sharp decline or increase in building construction could impact gypsum manufacturing -- but this would not tell you much about the state of the creative economy. The report identifies dozens of creative sector industry.
  • The guide offers a matrix of the creative economy that organizes it by economic function (manufacturing, distribution, development, etc...) and subsector (architecture, visual arts, performing arts, etc...)  This can help planners and policy makers see new opportunities for some communities to participate in the creative sector.  Not every town or city can be an arts destination.  But those that aren't can provide housing for artists, warehouse space, or manufacturing locations for businesses that want to connect to the creative economy.
  • The guide also relies on reliable data that is freely available and updated regularly by the U.S. Census Bureau. 
See Defining and Measuring the Creative Economy


Learn more about Arts Build Communities


Arts Build Communities and the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offer several courses to help you excel in the creative economy.  These include:

*Cultural Community Development Studio
*Cultural Economic Development Studio
*Cultural Heritage Tourism Basics
*Programming Cultural Uses
*Valuing the Arts in Economic Development
For more on these and other courses, please visit the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.

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