Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership

A collaboration between UIUC, UIC, Arts Alliance Illinois, DPI, and IWERC to research the Illinois creative Workforce.

Project Overview

Guided by the vital role of art and artists to the health of our state, the Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership seeks to advance our understanding of the realities and needs of arts workers and the larger cultural ecosystem to which they belong. A collaboration between Discovery Partners Institute; Arts Alliance Illinois, the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts at the University of Illinois Chicago, it funds research at the intersection of artistic labor, education, workforce development, government policy, and the social and economic impacts of the arts. The partnership’s goal is to identify nation-leading and transformative improvements in how the state trains, educates, supports, and employs its creative workforce.

Publications

Branching Out Series: Report 3: Challenges and opportunities facing artists and arts graduates in non-arts jobs
By Aisha Motlani

Branching Out Series: Report 2 -- The Tip of the Iceberg: The Transferability of Arts and Design Skills
By Aisha Motlani

Branching Out Series: Report 1 “Should I stay or should I go?”
By Aisha Motlani

Where Do Artists work? Exploring the Careers of Arts Graduates in Illinois and the U.S.
By Aisha Motlani

Who Works in the Arts? The Demographic Characteristics of Illinois Arts Graduates in Arts Jobs
By Aisha Motlani

Partnership Members

Project Lead: Aisha Motlani

Research Advisory Board:

Meg Bates
Director, Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC)

Carolyn Randolph-Kato
Director of Engaged Research and Community and Economic Development Specialist
College of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Kevin Hamilton
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation – Humanities, Arts & Related Fields

Rebecca Rugg
Dean of the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts (CADA) at the University of Illinois-Chicago

Claire Rice
Executive Director, Arts Alliance Illinois

Jake Pinholster
Dean of the College of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Jennifer Novak-Leonard
Research Associate Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, and Research Director of the Arts Impact Initiative, College of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Doug Noonan
Professor of public and environmental affairs, director of research initiatives for the O’Neill Center for Cultural Affairs, and director of the Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Lab at Indiana University

Andrew Schneider
Senior Director of Government Affairs, Arts Alliance Illinois

Matthew Randle-Bent
Director at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum