Washington State Arts Commission - Creative Vitality Index
Great coffee shops, bustling bookstores, a lively music scene, well-designed buildings, thriving art galleries – these are elements we find in the communities that drive the new economy. In places like Bellingham, Seattle and Spokane, this kind of energetic, open atmosphere attracts good companies and skilled workers interested in a high quality of life – which in turn leads to a self-sustaining cycle of economic and cultural vitality.Not every community can be a hub of economic and cultural innovation. But every community can develop and enhance its economic and cultural health by fostering policies that support creative vitality. The Creative Vitality Index was conceived as a tool that states, counties, cities and towns can use to assess and enhance their creative edge.What is the Creative Vitality Index?The Creative Vitality Index is an annual measure of the health of the creative economy in a city, county, state or other geographic area. The creative economy as defined in the Creative Vitality Index includes for-profit and nonprofit arts-related enterprises. Using readily available, inexpensive data on employment and community participation, the Creative Vitality Index reflects the vigor of this sector of the economy and culture.The Index has two major components. One component measures seven indicators of community PARTICIPATION in the arts (i.e. per capita museum and art gallery revenue from ticket and product sales), the other measures concentrations of arts-related EMPLOYMENT (e.g. actors, graphic designers, television producers, art teachers).How Did Washington Do?The baseline score for the Creative Vitality Index is 1.00 – this is the national score using the same data streams used locally. A region’s score reflects a value relative to this national baseline; a score of 1.00 or greater means that the area has a relatively strong arts sector.Washington state’s Creative Vitality Index score for 2004 was 1.33 significantly higher than the national average. Among the sub-indices that make up the Index, the state scores high in arts-related employment (1.76) and near the 1.00 national benchmark in most other measures.While figures from one or two years can show us where we stand relative to the national baseline, the true application of the Creative Vitality Index is in reflecting change from year to year in a given study area. As it is repeated over the coming years, the Index will serve as a tool to track the evolution of Washington state’s creative sector and to help maintain its strength and liveliness.A Tool for GrowthThe Creative Vitality Index can inform public policy decision-making and support the work of advocates for the development of the creative economy.Among many projected uses, the Index can: ·Call attention to and educate the community at large concerning the components and dynamics of the creative economy. ·Promote the concept that the creative economy includes both for-profit and nonprofit arts-related activities.·Call attention to significant changes in the creative economy ecosystem. If contributions from private foundations drop substantially in a year and three major architectural firms leave the area, it’s time for action.·Act as a framework upon which to define and build a coalition to support and expand the creative economy.·Serve as a diagnostic tool to provide baseline and then annually measure changes in the creative economy.Part of a Bigger ConversationAround the country, civic leaders, economists, philanthropists, mainstream business leaders and arts community leaders are engaged in lively dialogue about what constitutes the creative economy and to what degree it impacts a region’s overall economic and cultural health.The Creative Vitality Index reflects the broad, systems-oriented thinking behind this dialogue and reinforces that nonprofit arts organizations and public arts agencies are part of an interdependent whole, the creative sector, the vitality of which is essential to the continuing health and vitality of the greater economy and community. For more information and/or a copy of the full Creative Vitality Index, please visit the Washington State Arts Commission website.
About the Author
The Washington State Arts Commission cultivates a thriving environment for creative expression and appreciation for the arts for the benefit of all. The Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC) is the state agency established in 1961 to support the arts as essential to the state's social, educational and economic growth, and to contribute to Washington's quality of life and the well being of its citizens. Visit their website at: www.arts.wa.gov
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