Creative Santa Fe: Strengthening Santa Fe's Creative Economy
About Creative Santa Fe
Creative Santa Fe is a nonprofit organization that forms partnerships with diverse constituencies to increase awareness and involvement in the arts and cultural sectors. We design new initiatives and strengthen existing and new institutions.
As a facilitator supporting the growth of the overall arts and cultural economy, Creative Santa Fe provides leadership, linkages, and communication to catalyze effective practices in the field.
Many members of Santa Fe's creative community have played an instrumental role in prioritizing areas of high interest and need. These include:
- Promoting career and workforce development
- Supporting community outreach and capacity building for creative organizations, artists, and entrepreneurs
- Engaging youth in the personal and professional opportunities offered by the creative industries
- Supporting initiatives for live-work, exhibition, and creativity centers for artists and creative entrepreneurs
- Supporting the development of innovative new events and technologies to strengthen Santa Fe as a creative center
- Undertaking activities to promote and increase Santa Fe's cultural and creative tourism market share
A Brief History
In April 2004, the City of Santa Fe was presented with an economic development strategic plan commissioned from Angelou Economics. This plan recommended a strong focus on the City's "creative industries" and was unanimously adopted by the City Council as Santa Fe's economic development strategy.
Building on this foundation, a consortium of local philanthropies funded a study by UNM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, which in November of 2004 quantified the enormous value of these industries to Santa Fe's economy.
As a result, Task Forces set to work developing recommendations for implementing the creative industries strategy. One of the key recommendations was to create an umbrella organization to help undertake the enormous task.
To fulfill that mandate, in early 2005 the City responded by funding the formation of Creative Santa Fe.
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