It is important to make space where creativity can emerge, and where individuals can get help or share ideas not when and where the preset agenda dictates, but in the moment when the need or thought occurs. “The long hallway” refers to a comment made by a participant in a study of work in documentary film, who was describing the powerful influence of space – the hallway joining the offices of senior filmmakers at the NFB where young filmmakers could stop by and ask questions, get feedback, and trigger new ideas. Long gone, with downsizing of funds, and closure of the studios as we knew them, this emergent ecology was an invaluable part of learning and creative risk-taking.
Broadcasters, software developers, e-Commerce and new media businesses, to name a few, must be constantly searching for good content to feed a voracious market. It is ironic that for many very talented and creative people in our community, lack of access to technology and sometimes even the training to make use of it means they are not available in the ‘gene pool’ of talent that those content users can draw from.
The nature of work in the sector tends encourage the isolation of the artist and a fragmentation of the disciplines, which maintains this status quo. Artists as a group have a higher level of post-secondary education than the overall workforce in Canada, and have a broad range of experiences from survival work and activities in pursuit of personal passions. Their profiles are almost perfectly matched to that of entrepreneurs. However, there is a lack of understanding of the business side of things, a variety of limiting stereotypes about business, and little or no business training in the education of artists.
We have found that when artists from a variety of disciplines work in proximity to each other, in shared space, and have an environment where skills and resources are shared, ideas and projects
are stimulated and flourish. In an environment which provides this kind of ambiance and access, but which is also clearly a place to think business – very good, marketable ideas, products, services, can be produced. When we help these artists excel in their small business, our company
benefits.
as an OUTPUT or PRODUCT
As we begin to think of creativity as an output and input of the knowledge economy, the old industrial paradigm is hard to shake. Even though this concept represents a state of being or mind, and is sometimes only known by the impact of its application, because we cannot see it directly, there seems to be a lack of attention paid to the environment within which creativity exists: that is,
in the mind, attitude, ideas, expectations, physical state and knowledge of the bearer of the thing.
In a world that seems hard-wired to reward those who produce (proven outputs, even if not directly useable, like the ‘failed’ products and byproducts of research efforts) it is no surprise that artists and other creative folks struggle to find ways to sustain themselves financially.
Since much of what enables the creative process is internal, it stands to reason that this is an area for attention and support. Yet the social architecture of Canadian society (as ably pointed out in a series of papers from the Canadian Policy Research Network) is not framed in an asset-based manner and thus cannot provide these supports for individuals unless they are truly in dire straights – then the help is basic life support with lots of pressure to move on. Although groups and organizations that have begun to focus on art as equivalent to the R&D process of industry, and that investment in such activity is now the language of funding for the arts to some extent, this has a long way to go before individuals find themselves benefiting much from the tentative new paradigm.
Engagement and involvement are seen as necessary to the health of a community as well as individuals in society, and this is being shown to be the asset that arts and culture bring to neighbourhood renewal and other community-based amelioration measures. But once again, it is
the established artists or understood processes that are acceptable to the mainstream.
I contend that there is a need to nurture the inner life and mental health of individuals to free up their ability to be creative and also to allow for them to get over their fear of failure and build the skill sets which make them resilient, flexible and able to apply themselves to building the life they want.
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