Sizing Up Pennsylvania’s Creative Workforce
A new report prepared by Weitzman faculty for the Pennsylvania Creative Industries, powered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, shows a large and diverse creative workforce in the state.
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Pennsylvania has more than 245,000 creative workers, a diverse collection of artists, architects, jewelrymakers, graphic designers, curators and writers working in a broad set of professional fields. Together they make up more than 4.2 percent of the state’s labor force. But their levels of economic security vary greatly from person to person, with some creative workers earning a salary at a professional firm and others compelled to run every aspect of a small creative business.
Those findings, from a recent report prepared by Weitzman faculty on behalf of Pennsylvania Creative Industries, a state agency, show the outlines of a broad, precarious workforce that powers the state’s cultural economy. The report was commissioned by Pennsylvania Creative Industries. Michael Fichman, associate professor of practice in the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics program and a researcher at PennPraxis (the applied research, engagement, and practice arm of the Weitzman School) responded to a request for proposals issued by Pennsylvania Creative Industries last year. He enlisted PennPraxis staff, graduate student Design Fellows and other Weitzman faculty to compile the study.
“There are lots of creative workers who feel that their interests are not necessarily represented in policymaking or economic programs, and part of the reason for that is that they’re so varied in what they do,” Fichman says. The study took a particular interest in creative workers embedded in non-arts-related industries, like graphic designers at big corporations or art teachers in primary schools. The report provides those workers “a common ground for conversation about how to promote their interests and welfare,” Fichman says.
Pennsylvania Creative Industries is one of dozens of state and jurisdictional arts councils that work, in part, with the National Endowment for the Arts to make grants to creative workers and organizations. The agency’s mission is to “empower, connect, and amplify creatives and creative industries” through grants and programs. In April it adopted a new strategic plan, and solicited a study on the state’s creative workforce to help inform future funding opportunities and identify areas for policy development. The report is the first in-depth study of the creative workforce for an entire state.
Creative occupations in Pennsylvania and peer states, by share of employment in the creative workforce. (Research by Michael Fichman, Jamaal Green, Dyan Castro, Xiaxin Tang, and Jason Fan)
“There’s a growing awareness that in order to demonstrate the relevancy of the creative sector, we need to talk about everybody who’s in there and how broad it really is so that people can see themselves within it, and they can see the impact in their communities and the economy and their daily lives,” says Norah Johnson, the Council’s external affairs director.
In addition to grantmaking, Pennsylvania Creative Industries has been working with other PA state agencies, including the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Education, to help create “an ecosystem within state government services” that supports creative workers and career pathways in the creative industries, Johnson says. That includes promoting apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and career readiness programs that shine a light on creative industry opportunities. “The people that are in the creative workforce are people that many different state agencies are interested in helping,” Johnson says.
“Cultural workers are everywhere within the broader economy of the state.”
Revealing the breadth of Pennsylvania’s creative workforce required some novel methods of research and data analysis. Jamaal Green, assistant professor of city and regional planning at the Weitzman School, studied Public Use Microdata Sample data from the US Census Bureau, compiled by a group of researchers at the University of Minnesota for public research. The data, which includes individual and household-level occupational information from the American Community Survey, was aligned with 65 “creative industries” identified in consultation with the PA Council on the Arts. Green, who teaches courses on economic development and GIS modeling, says he was struck by the level of stratification in the creative workforce and the precarity of so many of its workers. Creative workers have much higher rates of self-employment than other workers, for example, and most self-employed creative workers report earning less than $40,000 a year. Self-employment comes with unique challenges, like navigating an unstable gig economy and paying for health benefits and other needs out of pocket.
“While that type of entrepreneurialism and self-employment is often celebrated, and the work they tend to do is very socially and culturally valuable, it’s not as valued in the broader market,” Green says. “I hope [the report] shows that cultural workers are everywhere within the broader economy of the state. They’re part of the larger social and cultural infrastructure of our state that makes it more vibrant and frankly a better and more human place.”
Beyond his work with PennPraxis, Michael Fichman has worked as a DJ, producer, composer and label executive.
Researchers, including Dyan Castro, a project manager at PennPraxis, also conducted surveys and interviews with individual creative workers to better understand their priorities and concerns. The surveys and interviews reflected the multifarious nature of creative work, with workers not acting just as artists or designers but also as marketers, accountants, and other business-related roles. The dynamics resonated with Castro, an architectural andlandscape designer, and other members of the research team who also pursue their own creative projects.
“We’re all creative workers,” Castro says. “We all have the understanding that, as creatives, we often have to wear many different hats.”
Fichman, who has a career as a DJ outside of his academic work, says the research has potential implications for policymakers looking to make Pennsylvania a more welcoming place for creative workers. It can also inform the way Weitzman students and designers develop their own creative work.
“It’s so relevant to the careers of our students, graduates and colleagues that the people we’re studying and learning from are from within our own community,” Fichman says. “It’s nice to be able to use our skills, including skills in design, to the benefit of our own community.”
