Ebony McKinney, Founding Director of Emerging Arts Professionals/SFBA, wrote a guest post for the Americans for the Arts blog called “Arts Incubators: Creating a Roadmap for Resilience.” We were thrilled to see that the article cited Creative Capital as a model for how arts incubators can play an important role in not only supporting innovation and risk taking, but also by cultivating our most important assets—social and human capital. Here is an excerpt from the post:
In New York, Creative Capital grew out of the demise of individual grants from the National Endowments for the Arts. The Andy Warhol Foundation and a few others thought a response to support individual artists and risk taking should be developed. It was the middle of the dot.com boom and venture capitalism was growing in popularity.
Ruby Lerner, director of Creative Capital, was charged with creating a “21st century arts organization,” drawing inspiration from venture capitalists and mutual aid models, and thinking through the possibility of bringing together grantmaking and artist services, while incorporating an entrepreneurial spirit.
The staff at Creative Capital wanted to move artists out of the “starving artist mindset” and treat them as vital parts of the community by exposing avenues to a sustainable career, which would allow for more meaning and dignity. Over 400 artists have become part of the program since it began in 1999. Continue reading
