Connecticut: Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale

Arthur Thomas of Integrity Solutions presents on creative sustainability at a Collective CT workshop. Photo courtesy of CILY

Research and development (R&D) labs are common in the fields of technology, medicine, engineering and manufacturing. They help entrepreneurs, scholars, industry experts and investors to explore new product ideas and find ways to bring them to market. What would happen if those same R&D assets were brought to bear on creative innovation and the arts sector? The state of Connecticut and Yale University are about to find out.

The Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale (CILY) is a joint initiative supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Yale Ventures and MOC Innovations. Together, the parters created CILY as a pilot program to reimagine how creative work can be capitalized and to accelerate the development of new artistic products.

CILY’s inaugural program is Collective CT, which is cultivating a cohort of nonprofit theatres and positioning them to become launchpads for new creative ventures. Through Collective CT, both artists and theatres receive intensive training and access to capital that can help them bring new ideas to market as viable business opportunities. Participants go through a rigorous curriculum covering:

intellectual property ownership and rights management
revenue models for creative works
human-centered design
product development and testing
storytelling, pitching and stakeholder engagement
AI-enabled tools for arts enterprises
leadership development and mental health

Select workshops are also being made available to the broader arts community. Across all its activities, CILY taps into a robust array of Yale Ventures support systems. This fosters greater financial literacy and facilitates the arts field’s access to:

copyright and patent experts who help artists make the most of their intellectual property
business mentors who can guide the development of creative enterprises
marketing mavens and technologists who have experience in product promotion
convenings that foster networking among Connecticut’s creative entrepreneurs
investors who can provide financing

The CILY initiative grew out of conversations between the Office of the Arts, MOC Innovations and Yale Innovations about how to foster arts development that is both profitable and sustainable while also meeting economic development goals for the state. DECD is investing $1.7 million in CILY, as part of positioning Connecticut as a powerhouse of American innovation. Yale University is contributing faculty resources and business development assets, and the Office of the Arts and MOC Innovations are providing arts expertise and creative economy leadership. By combining public funding, private capital and university support systems, CILY ultimately aims to create a $25 million Cultural Venture Fund. This fund will catalyze the launch of new creative enterprises, shift arts support paradigms and cement the state of Connecticut’s position as a national leader in the creative economy.

To learn more about state arts agency creative economy strategies, contact NASAA.