CREATIVE WISCONSIN MONTH | APRIL 2022
Creative Wisconsin Month is an annual spotlight on the arts, culture, and creativity throughout Wisconsin. This month-long event raises visibility and awareness about the value and power of Wisconsin’s creative sector, celebrates the creative diversity of Wisconsin, empowers advocates to take action, and help spur greater investments in creative opportunities for everyone, everywhere in the state.
The arts and creativity provide a means for human expression, processing the unknown, and communicating across cultures. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, before the pandemic, the creative industries leveraged more than $10.1 billion to Wisconsin’s economy and employed over 96,000 of its residents. The most recent info from the Department of Commerce – released in March 2022 and demonstrating the ongoing toll of pandemic shutdowns and cancellations – shows a decrease in statewide economic impact to $9.6 billion, but still more jobs than in the state’s beer, biotech, and papermaking industries.
At the end of March 2022, Arts Wisconsin will evolve to become Create Wisconsin, a new organizational identity building on past accomplishments and growing future promise.
This year’s Creative Wisconsin Month is mostly virtual, with several in person events during the month. Features of Creative Wisconsin Month 2022 include:
- Creative Thursday Sessions (with additional sessions on other weekdays, too) on research, advocacy, and creative economic, educational and civic issues
- Creative Wisconsin Summit on Thursday, April 21, presented in partnership with UW-Madison, Division of Extension
- Create Wisconsin Statewide Tour around Wisconsin
- Advocacy actions throughout the month.
How can you be part of Creative Wisconsin Day?
- Check the schedule on a regular basis – we’ll be updating and adding new events throughout the month – and participate in as many sessions as possible. Most sessions don’t require advance registration.
- Use the hashtag #CreativeWisMonth to spread the word on social media.
- Watch for regular updates about Creative Wisconsin Month activities.
