“Community cultural development work inevitably responds to current social conditions: the work is grounded in social critique and social imagination. The precise nature of this response shifts as social circumstances change.”
— Arlene Goldbard, New Creative Community
At Make Create More, we embrace this truth: creative work does not adorn the world — it responds to it. Our long-term initiatives are built on the understanding that imagination is both a method of inquiry and a tool for shaping the collective future. These multi-year initiatives, spanning many interconnected projects, allow us to follow questions over time, collaborate deeply with communities, and engage the systems that hold our stories, resources, and possibilities.
That’s why at Make Create More, we treat creativity not only as entertainment but as infrastructure for social change.
Our work integrates artistic practice, action research, and community partnership to illuminate complex issues and support the development of policies, practices, and cultural strategies that strengthen collective wellbeing. Through sustained inquiry and relationship-building, we create spaces where imagination becomes a shared resource — helping communities understand where they are, envision what could be, and take meaningful steps toward the future they want.
INITIATIVE ONE:
Climate, Ecology & Community Resilience
The climate crisis is not only an environmental emergency — it is a human one. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that climate change is already affecting every region on Earth, intensifying extreme weather, disrupting economies, and accelerating biodiversity loss. These disruptions are directly tied to public health and policy: the World Health Organization identifies climate change as the single biggest health threat facing humanity, with rising rates of climate-related anxiety, stress, and displacement.
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As communities grapple with these intersecting pressures — environmental, emotional, economic, and political — policy alone cannot address the complexity of what people are experiencing. Creative practice offers an essential complement: a way to process ecological grief, strengthen social cohesion, and generate shared visions of a livable future. This initiative explores how imagination can support communities as they adapt, advocate, and respond.
EXPLORE THE PROJECTS WITHIN THE CLIMATE, ECOLOGY & COMMUNITY RESILIENCE INITIATIVE →
Through participatory performance, place-based research, targeted media, and long-term partnership, we collaborate with rural and urban communities, cultural institutions, and environmental organizations to connect ecological challenges with human experience. The projects under this initiative use creativity to illuminate systems, open dialogue across differences, and contribute to the cultural conditions necessary for effective, community-informed policy.
Creativity becomes a civic tool — supporting resilience, grounding decision-making in lived experience, and helping people imagine meaningful pathways forward.
INITIATIVE TWO:
Creative Workforce Equity & Cultural Futures
Across the world, creative workers face inequitable labor conditions, unstable income, and systemic barriers that limit their ability to contribute fully to public life. UNESCO reports that cultural and creative industries generate over 48 million jobs globally, yet artists experience some of the highest rates of economic precarity. In the U.S., studies by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Labor consistently show that artists and cultural workers earn less than the national median income, experience disproportionate contract instability, and often lack access to benefits, healthcare, and basic protections.
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These inequities are not simply workforce issues — they are policy issues. When creative labor is undervalued, entire communities lose access to the imagination, connection, and meaning-making capacities that culture provides. Cultural strategists have long argued, artists are essential civic contributors; when their working conditions are unstable, our public imagination becomes unstable too.
This initiative focuses on strengthening the creative ecosystem by building fairer, more sustainable conditions for artists, cultural workers, and the institutions that support them. Through workshops, consulting partnerships, and operations frameworks that we employ at Make Create More, we help individuals and organizations reimagine how creative labor is valued, compensated, and cared for. Our projects integrate policy thinking, organizational design, and artistic practice to support equitable systems that honor the cultural workers who shape our communities.
EXPLORE THE PROJECTS WITHIN THE CULTURAL FUTURES INITIATIVE →
By developing strategic tools, long-term collaborations, and community-centered practices, we aim to shift not just how art is made — but how it is valued.
Creativity becomes a shared civic resource, and cultural equity becomes an essential foundation for community wellbeing and vibrant public life.
INITIATIVE THREE:
Imagination in Education & Lifelong Learning
Education systems across the world are struggling to keep pace with the social, technological, and ecological realities shaping learners’ lives. UNESCO reports that millions of students are not developing the competencies needed for a rapidly changing world, while the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development identifies creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability as essential skills for future wellbeing. Yet many learning environments continue to prioritize standardization over curiosity, and memorization over meaning-making.
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Growing evidence shows how vital creative engagement is for learning and wellbeing. A 2019 scoping review by the World Health Organization — synthesizing more than 3,000 studies — found that participation in the arts supports mental health, enhances social connection, and improves cognitive and educational outcomes across the lifespan. A 2025 literature review by RAND, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, further demonstrates that youth arts engagement strengthens emotional resilience, deepens belonging, and fosters the problem-solving skills needed for the future.
This initiative brings creative practice into education as both pedagogy and civic preparation. Through workshops, residencies, curriculum partnerships, and educational media, we design learning experiences that integrate embodied exploration, interdisciplinary inquiry, and community relevance. Our work supports K–12 classrooms, higher education, and lifelong learners in developing the imaginative capacities needed to navigate uncertainty and shape the future.
EXPLORE THE PROJECTS WITHIN THE IMAGINATIVE LEARNING INITIATIVE →
By collaborating with educators, students, and community partners over time, we cultivate creative learning ecosystems where imagination is central to inquiry, resilience, and human growth.
