Last Updated on Monday, 03 May 2010 16:37 Written by Administrator Monday, 12 April 2010 00:00
April 12, 2010—AE Members Investigate the Creative Economy
Washtenaw County, MI—During the 2010 spring term, students from Bowling Green State University, Eastern Michigan University and The University of Michigan worked on a topics course that gave them real world, hands on learning experiences within the Washtenaw County, MI creative economy. In turn, the students involved had an opportunity to aid in the development of a creative economy program offered through the Arts Alliance, an organization dedicated to serving the cultural community of Washtenaw County. Included in the student team were several Arts Enterprise members from both the AEUM and AEBGSU chapters.
The Creative Economy in Action (CEiA) Project was an independent study course facilitated by three professors—Dr. Susan Badger-Booth, Dr. Mark Clague and Dr. Nathaniel Zeisler. The project allowed students to:
• Understand the concept of the Creative Economy in a real world setting;
• Apply action based, creative problem solving skills as a group to analyze and identify innovative ways to develop the role of the Creative Economy to Washtenaw County;
• Recognize their own role within a diverse group of students;
• Demonstrate skills conducive to independence and self‐reliance in the emerging creative economy;
• Conduct relevant research about creative economy initiatives nationally;
• Employ oral and written communication to persuasively communicate innovative ideas.
During the sixteen week class, students analyzed the Washtenaw County arts supply resources (music stores, arts supply stores, business services specializing in the arts such as accountants and lawyers, etc.); the Washtenaw County arts production resources (recording studios, rehearsal facilities); and the Washtenaw County arts distributors (artists agents, galleries, marketing resources, etc.) and registered all the information in an online database. As a result of their work, the group of twelve students established a blueprint describing the creative economy supply chain with recommendations for the sector’s growth and development. With this information, the Arts Alliance will be able to better address the needs of artists in Washtenaw County as well as help city officials understand the need for various arts services within the county.
