The Put Creative Workers To Work Proposal

Be An #ArtsHero stands in full solidarity with all the provisions of the Put Creative Workers To Work Proposal

The Six Action Steps of the Put Creative Workers To Work Proposal

1. Install a Representative of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy within the  Executive.

To coordinate the policy relevant related to arts, culture, and creative  economy, with particular attention to recovery and relief measures, install a senior  advisor or team within the Executive Office of the President to advise on related issues  and coordinate associated actions across departments. Models for this position include a  cabinet department, a President’s Office, the reinstatement and rethinking of the  President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, or an Arts, Culture, and Creative  Economy team situated within the Domestic Policy Council.  

2. Incentivize local, state, tribal, and business entities to integrate creative workers.

Support businesses in engaging creative minds and driving innovation through financial  incentives to accelerate hiring and re-opening and capitalize efforts to re-open through  low- and no-interest loans. Incentivize local and state partners to commission free  community engagement opportunities, help cultural venues adapt their facilities and  digital platforms, and provide safe settings for family learning, performances, and  wellness programs. Focus on organizations that are led by members of and/or based in  Black, Indigenous, and communities of color and have been disproportionately impacted  by COVID-19, the economic crisis, and historical inequities. 

3. Commission and provide residencies and fellowships to creative workers and organizations.

Echoing the Works Progress Administration, direct federal departments to employ and/or commission creative workers as artists-in-residence, community organizers, and teaching artists, and cultural organizations for free and low-cost cultural experiences, with a specific focus on living-wage creative jobs. In addition, direct funds to support programs that engage artists and creative workers to address community

health issues; provide funding and guidelines for states, localities, and tribal  governments to commission public health campaigns; and integrate creative arts  therapies into care and support place-based programs to allow creatives entering the  workforce during the crisis skill-building ways to earn revenue with their creativity and  reactivate local economies. Finally, complete implementation of, and fund, an  ArtistCorps with AmeriCorps, which is work can begin from existing authorizing language  within the Serve America Act provisions approved in the Obama/Biden Administration, to allow artists and creative workers to use their creative practice to heal communities,  drive social-emotional learning, improve cultural competency and cohesion, address  trauma, and inspire new thinking in communities with unmet needs. 

4. Support and incentivize investment in arts-based education and educators. 

Through federal funds distributions and guidelines, matching grants, forgivable loans,  and other available mechanisms, support arts education, arts-integrated teaching, place based cultural practice, intergenerational education, oral history, and the preservation of  folk traditions. 

5. Prioritize digital training, access, and connectivity.

Underwrite the local- and state level creation of digital job-training and skill-building support programs for artists and  creative workers to build digital capacity within the arts. More broadly, invest in  broadband access for all and prioritize digital equity, particularly in rural and Native  communities, which will improve creative connectivity and access.  

6. Overhaul outdated employment, insurance, food, and housing policies, as well as  other workforce policies, to include independent creative workers.

In addition to adjustments outlined in the PLACE Act (S.3232, HR 7487) and CREATE Act (S.650,  H.R.1519), work to permanently extend small business programs and unemployment insurance benefits to independent workers; pursue universal access to portable health  insurance; and explicitly include independent workers in food and housing policies. 

The United States’ 5.1 million creative workers stand ready to do what they do best: build our  communities into better, more equitable versions of themselves. We are here and ready to  create essential civic dialogue that bridges people and communities, alleviates trauma, and  centers equity; document our history, tell the story of our present, and imagine our future;  beautify our spaces; improve the safety and efficiency of our transportation; drive innovation;  develop media and awareness campaigns; curate free and low-cost cultural opportunities for all;  educate our children; and more. Put creative workers to work alongside all the others ready to  help rebuild and reimagine our communities and places, and the whole country will be made  better for it.