Indiana: Artist Needs Assessment

Participants in the 2024 On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator. Photo courtesy of Indiana Arts Commission

In 2023 and 2024, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) conducted an Artist Needs Assessment. This participatory action research project invited feedback from Indiana artists to inform and improve the agency’s services to the state’s creative workforce. Along the way, the agency also created opportunities for local artists to network and exchange information with one another.

The assessment began with 11 in-person listening sessions that helped artists having different professional, creative and demographic backgrounds to express their experiences, needs and aspirations. The sessions, which involved nearly 150 artists, were hosted by IAC Regional Arts Partners. The Tamarack Foundation for the Arts, in collaboration with a professor from West Virgina University, trained IAC staff and local artists as listening session leaders. Arts based facilitation techniques were used to shape highly engaging sessions, create connections among participants and elicit candid feedback. IAC used an online survey to augment what was learned from the listening sessions. The agency received 581 responses from 70% of Indiana’s 92 counties. Results were disaggregated by rural/urban geography and career stage. The key findings from the listening sessions and survey pointed to:

the importance of cultivating networks and connections between artists, to facilitate learning within and between creative communities;
the need for marketing support and technical assistance to help Indiana creatives generate market opportunities;
a high desire for financial support and business planning assistance to enhance the financial growth and stability of artists; and
a call to cultivate local investment in arts and culture, to foster working opportunities and community engagement pathways for artists.

IAC announced the results in October 2024. The report of findings includes a roadmap for the future, envisioned as two suites of services to support Indiana artists in direct response to Artist Needs Assessment findings. Suite A will focus on network development and community building. Suite B will emphasize business development. New microgrants, convenings, technical assistance and training services will be phased in and evaluated between 2025 and 2027.

For more information about the agency’s portfolio of services to Indiana artists, contact IAC Artist Services Program Manager Jordan Adams. For information on the assessment methodology and data analysis, contact IAC Grants and Research Manager Eric Ashby.