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Definitions

Who is a “creative worker”? Anyone who earns income from creative, cultural or arts-based pursuits, or works within the creative sector as an employee, independent contractor, entrepreneur or gig worker.

What is the “creative sector” or “arts and culture sector”? An overarching term to capture the breadth of activity within artistic and cultural industries, including nonprofit organizations, creative businesses, museums and art galleries, music, film and television, digital media, theater, dance, craft, fashion, publishing, architecture and design. Activities involve the development, production, dissemination and preservation of creative goods and services, as well as related endeavors such as education and management.

Definitions from the City of Chicago’s 2023 Citywide Plan (pdf).

Context & Research

DCASE’s and BACP’s efforts are grounded in policy and advocacy work at the local and national levels that seek to address the disparities of creative workers’ working conditions.

Chicago’s creative community has repeatedly called for the City to develop standards and resources for people who work in arts and culture, and to prioritize racial, gender, disability, age, geographic and other equity considerations in this work.

Such calls are specifically mentioned in the 2023 Transition Report (pdf) and the 2023 Citywide Plan.

The 2024 “Creative Worker Rights: Art is Labor” Campaign responds to an understanding of the labor conditions for creative workers that includes:

• The artist labor force, a subset of the creative workforce, in Chicago is estimated to be more than 34,000 individuals. Research details significant earnings disparities by race, ethnicity, and gender. (Novak-Leonard 2022)​
• Arts organizations hired 25% more artists on average in 2022 than in 2019; this hiring was reported as distinct from organizations' full-time and part-time staffing. (Voss, Roscoe, Fonner and Benoit-Bryan 2023) ​
• Chicago Arts Census data showed that respondents' median income in 2021 ranged from $35,000 to $40,000, with more than 70% of respondents reporting an income in 2021 below Chicago's minimum subsistence wage of $54,046. (Bowen, Burke, Koch, Johnson and Sykes 2023)​
• 61% of respondents at DCASE IAP applicant sessions in 2023 reported that less than 40% of their income comes from their artistic work/practice.​
• Nationally, artists and arts workers are 3x more likely to be self-employed than the general workforce. (Yang, Briggs, Shakesprere, Spievack, Spaulding and Brown 2021)

Advisory Committee

In April 2024, DCASE convened an Advisory Committee to guide the launch of the “Art is Labor.” campaign.

Yajaira Custodio is one of the Co-Founders and Associate Artistic Director of Visión Latino Theatre Company. Yajaira is a Puerto Rican, Chicago-based artist, content creator, digital marketing specialist, costume and graphic designer. As Co-Founder and Associate Artistic Director of Visión Latino Theatre Company, Yajaira is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices and stories through the power of the stage.

Mónica Félix, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

Joanna Furnans is the current executive director of Chicago Dancemakers Forum, Chicago’s nonprofit dance service organization focused on resources and support for individual dancemakers. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of the artist-run platform Performance Response Journal and is board treasurer of the artist-run contemporary art nonprofit, Roman Susan. 

Esther Grimm’s career-long work in the arts encompasses museum and arts education, administration, and philanthropy. For 23 years, she has served as the Executive Director of 3Arts, a nonprofit grantmaking and arts service organization that supports artists in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area, with a focus on women artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists. She is a leadership coach for National Arts Strategies, and equine therapy volunteer, and serves on the Chicago Cultural Advisory Council and as Co-Chair of the American Friends of the Vienna Museum Board of Directors.

Elsa Hiltner is Director of Programs at Lawyers for the Creative Arts, where she designs accessible classes and workshops to educate the arts community on a variety of legal topics. Beyond her work at LCA, Elsa has a background as a freelance artist and is a co-founder of On Our Team, a nonprofit dedicated to building pay and labor equity in the arts.

Arlene Malinowski (she/her) As a disabled writer, actor and teaching artist, Arlene views her work as an extension of the social justice work she’s been committed to for the last 30 years. Her award-winning work has been produced here and internationally. She is Resident Playwright and faculty at Chicago Dramatists, and serves on the board of community based arts organization NONop. Her book “Creating the Solo Show” is being published by Northwestern University Press.

Margaret Murphy-Webb is the executive director of The South Side Jazz Coalition, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting free live music events.  She is a musician and arts agitator, using music to promote community cohesiveness. Margaret is a member of the City of Chicago Cultural Advisory Council and the Chicago Peace Fellows of Goldin Institute. 

Sasha Ongtengco (she/her) is the Director of Creative Worker Programs at Arts Alliance Illinois (AAI). Her work expands AAI’s advocacy for the arts through research, resources, pilot program development, and policy interventions that directly support the creative workforce in Illinois. As a contractor for initiatives like Chicagoland Healthcare Workforce Collaborative and Talent Rewire, Sasha actively empowers, educates and supports frontline talent and employers in various industries to shape healthier work conditions, improve workplace culture and expand career paths. Sasha also serves as chair of Northwest Center’s board of directors.

Adia Sykes (she/her) is an arts organizer, curator, and dancer based in Chicago. As an administrator advocating for racial equity and sustainable ecosystems for creative practitioners, she has held roles with organizations like Chicago Artists Coalition where she started their SPARK Grant, as a Lead Organizer of the Chicago Art Census, and as a Program Manager at United States Artists.  

Ryan Edmund Thiel (he/they) is a graphic designer and photographer based in Chicago. As a member of the publishing collective Sixty Inches From Center, Ryan has co-led the creation of Sixty Collective, a benefits-focused platform for cultural freelancers and arts workers in the Midwest. Additionally, Ryan has contributed to various cultural organizations, including the Chicago Reader, SkyART, Filter Photo, The Renaissance Society, Goldfinch Gallery, and LATITUDE Chicago.

Naeema Jamilah Torres (she/her) is an independent award-winning Chicago-area filmmaker, Impact Producer, and educator. She also serves as the Executive Director of Mezcla Media Collective, an emerging 700+ member non-profit organization that provides resources and equity for BIPOC women and non-binary filmmakers in Chicagoland.

In addition to these individuals, team members from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and staff from Public Communications Inc. (who developed the look and feel of the campaign), attended the Committee’s meetings.