Every time you purchase a painting, use a hand-made serving bowl, attend a live musical performance, or watch a film, you are supporting a creative economy of artists, performers, and filmmakers that contribute to a more sustainable society. With hundreds of artist, individual, and business members, the Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) in Gloucester, Massachusetts is perhaps the poster child for what its president Karen Ristuben sees as the creative economy. “We’re doing everything that a non-profit organization can do to support artistic entrepreneurship,” she says. “Without a community like us, individual artists have close to zero chance of having an impact on the public at-large and our economy. People have to create. What’s life without art?”
