Art is subjective. What is not subjective? How complicated quantifying the people who create and support art can be! Complications aside, R2i Lab commissioned Joanna Woronkowicz and Douglas Noonan, Co-Principals of I/O Research (and also co-founders and co-directors of the Arts, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Lab and Indiana University’s Center for Cultural Affairs) to understand what it would take to take on such a herculean task. The result? Beyond the Numbers: Measuring America’s Hidden Creativity A report that “synthesizes what is known – and what remains missing – about the creative workforce and latent creativity in the United States.” 

When we talk about our work at R2i Lab, we’ll often dance around the seemingly contradictory idea that as an arts organization, we’re not doing this work solely for artists. This is because in America, the ability to be an artist, even as a hobby, is increasingly becoming a title only the most privileged can pursue. And while this may make it seem like the United States’ arts and culture workforce would be small and easy to capture, that is not the case. Through this report, we’re given a snapshot into the various measurements and methodologies that try to capture the elusive U.S. arts and culture workforce in both formal and informal economies. From surveys and census data to other alternative measures of artists and their creative activity, such as through nonprofit tax documentation and measuring creative output from sources like Etsy and Patreon, the methods are creative, yet always have their unique limitations.

A highlight of the report is a glimpse into why we were originally interested in it in the first place: America’s hidden creative potential. Many of our experiments align with conditions that could unearth our society’s hidden creative potential, such as providing greater economic security. Ultimately, this report underscores what we know and why we approach our work from multiple sectors at R2i Lab. When people have the time, stability, and resources to explore their creativity, artistic and cultural participation expands far beyond those who can afford to take the risk.

What this report also showcases is that the challenge isn’t just measurement—it’s imagination. If our systems only recognize creativity when it fits neatly into job titles, income brackets, or formal sectors, we miss the vast majority of creative expression happening every day. We overlook the parent designing costumes after work, the teenager producing beats in their bedroom, and the dayworker who, if he had the resources, would sell his culinary creations full-time. These aren’t fringe cases—they’re the fabric of a truly diverse and creative society.

Read the report HERE