News from the creative industries

Posted by Terry Rock on November 6th, 2007

Scanning bloglines today, I noticed an item on the 37Signals blog Signal vs. Noise... it appears that Calgary's own VEER was purchased by Corbis. Congrats are due to the folks at VEER for another major Calgary creative industry success story. Some of the heaviest hitters in the world in the creative industries--Corbis and Getty Images--now both have major operations in Calgary.

In related news... Calgary Arts Development and Calgary Economic Development are officially exploring how to work better together to support the creative industries. Though not exactly the same as "the arts," almost all of Calgary's creative production occurs within the "creative industry sector." [The difference between "the arts" and the "creative industries" is, in my view, the difference between formal and informal artistic and creative activity. It is most definitely not the difference between "for profit" and "not-for-profit" organization structures]

The importance of the creative industries to Calgary goes beyond the role as an economic value generator. Think about the tremendous number of people who live and work in Calgary as artists, designers, architects, etc. Yes, these people are our creative producers. They're also our most dedicated audience members, and our biggest champions. Indeed, one could say they have the biggest stake in Calgary getting it right as we move into this critical time of acting on our aspirations and strategies. Perhaps most important, this group of people forms a natural link to the business community.

As we begin to confront the reality of this changing environment, with the creative industries (and the people who work in them) becoming more and more important to the future competitiveness of Calgary, it is becoming clear that the challenge is on us: how are WE going to get better at change what we do (and how we do it) to really position the arts AND the creative industries to make the strongest possible contribution to the future of Calgary? To be frank, other cities (and countries) are eating our lunch right now. It is going to take new ways of thinking, acting and speaking, new partners, different kinds of resources, and different kinds of organizations, to get it done. We're ready. Are you?

NOTE: We use 37Signals' product/service Backpack on occasion in the office. Check it out!

"[The difference between

Submitted by Karen Ball on Wed, 2007-11-07 11:55.
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"[The difference between "the arts" and the "creative industries" is, in my view, the difference between formal and informal artistic and creative activity. It is most definitely not the difference between "for profit" and "not-for-profit" organization structures]"

Is there really a difference between the arts and the creative industries? Could you say that the arts are housed within the creative 'sector' and are part of the creative industries. If you take the dictionary definition of industry then you could be talking most simply about working to create something - in this case working creatively to produce something. The difference between 'pure art' and other forms of creation may be that pure art exists primarily with the purpose of being art (the aesthetic purpose) but is none the less part of an industry of creative production.

Maybe all of the popular debate around definition of 'creative industry' is what makes many people hesitant to embrace this concept... Thanks DJ for putting it succinctly.