Working in The Creative Economy
The creative economy is a real thing and a real term. As an economic system based on the value of creativity (rather than land, labor, or capitol), the term was coined by John Howkins in 2001–but obviously this was happening way before Howkins gave it a name. And it’s not something to sneeze at either, we’re talking billions of dollars here. (Though if you poke around the NASA data visualization, you’ll see that Indiana’s neighbors are clearly out-pacing us. We’re definitely leaving money on the table.)
- According to the National Assembly of States Arts Agencies, in 2021 the creative economy in Indiana employed more than 80k people and contributed more than $8 billion to our state economy.
- The national creative economy is projected to grow at a rate of 4% per year, compared to 2% for the overall economy, according to the Creative Industries Report by the Otis College of Art and Design.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector will grow by 5% between 2019 and 2029, which is faster than the average for all occupations.
Today, countless professions contribute to the creative economy (think of all the jobs related to design, writing, photography, videography, fashion, music, etc), and it’s a rapidly growing sector of the global economy. It’s critical that the resources committed to helping our emerging talent successfully navigate this less traditional professional landscape.
At PATTERN we offer semester-long internships and year-long creative fellowships for this very reason. In addition to the talent-specific technical skills, we also develop essential soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving, which are critical to success in the industry.
You’ll likely hear us refer to these particular initiatives interchangeably as workforce development and talent incubation. We love ’em both. And if you’re interested in sponsoring an internship class or creative fellow, we want to talk! Drop us a line at info@patternindy.com.
Internships are hosted in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters for college-aged students interested in the professional arts.
Fellowships are a highly competitive year-long program to gain real hands-on work experience and build a professional network for creatives in their early 20s.