Keep Wisconsin Creative: April 2021 is creative wisconsin month!

Presented by Arts Wisconsin in partnership with people, organizations, and businesses throughout the state, Creative Wisconsin Month celebrates the diversity and variety of Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial arts and creative sector, demonstrates the ways in which creativity revitalizes communities across the state, and shares those stories with representatives and decision-makers. 

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 (more jobs than in the state’s beer, biotech, and papermaking industries).  The industry was one of the hardest hit as one of the first to close and one of the last to open, and needs significant advocacy and assistance to come back with a flourish.   

Creative Wisconsin Month will feature a series of sessions on the arts, culture and creativity throughout Wisconsin, including:

  • Kick off with Wisconsin Poet Laureate Dasha Kelly Hamilton, April 1, 1 pm
  • Legislative meetings and updates – watch for more info
  • Workshops and sessions:
    • Friday, April 2, 12:00-1:00pm:   Jumpstart Your Creative Goals, presented by Dane Arts Buy Local
    • Tuesday, April 6, 10-11 am:  Advocacy 101 and beyond – a look at the 2021-2023 state budget process, initiatives for investment, and making the case for the public value of the arts, culture and creativity
    • Thursday, April 15, 3-4 pm:  Your community can do it too – creative community planning for the 21st century
    • Friday, April 23, 11 am – 12 noon:  Wisconsin’s Young Arts Leaders:  making a creative career and a life 
    • Wednesday, April 28, 11 am – 12 noon:  State of Arts Funding in Wisconsin, one year later, co-presented with the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network
    • Friday, April 30, 12-1 pm:  12:00-1:00pm CT:  The Business of Art and The Art of Business | Panel with Wisconsin arts organization leaders, presented by Dane Arts Buy Local
    • Watch for more sessions to be scheduled, including:
    • Visual Artists as Advocates and Leaders, co-presented with Wisconsin Visual Artists
    • Artists and Creative Workers Town Hall #2, with Wisconsin Arts Board and other partners
    • Civic Entertainment: Making Democracy a Little More Fun, with Kristin Brey of As Goes Wisconsin and Libby Falck of Forward Labs  

April also includes the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Action SummitApril is also National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry organized by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. 

The Creative Wisconsin Month schedule is a work in progress and will be continually updated.  For more information, contact Arts Wisconsin at 608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org.

Many thanks to Creative Wisconsin Month sponsors:

Gold Sponsor 

Silver Sponsor  

Bronze Sponsor 

Rose Sponsor