07/02/2026
This week, Arts Alliance Illinois and its partners released a landmark study documenting the extraordinary impact of the creative economy on Chicago and Illinois.
The findings are remarkable. Chicago's creative sector is now the city's third-largest industry, while Illinois' creative economy supports more than 734,000 jobs and generates $148 billion in annual economic activity.
For those of us who have devoted our lives and careers to the arts, public media, education, and nonprofit sectors, these findings are both validating and inspiring.
At the same time, the reports raise important questions about how we support the artists, educators, administrators, technicians, and cultural workers whose creativity fuels this remarkable economic engine.
HMS co-founder Scott Silberstein explores those questions in his latest "Adventures in Yes" Substack, asking what the data tells us, what the stories behind the data reveal, and what kind of future our creative communities deserve.
We are deeply grateful to the many friends, clients, and collaborators whose leadership made this historic study possible, especially Claire Rice and Arts Alliance Illinois, Gigi Pritzker and the Pritzker Family Foundations, Nora Daley and the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago's Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, World Business Chicago, the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, the Chicago Loop Alliance, Brooke Flanagan, Julie Wilen, Kimberly Motes, John Collins, Amy Eshleman, and every individual and organization that contributed to this landmark work.
And more than ever, we are proud to be part of this extraordinary creative community.
Read Scott's essay here:
Arts Alliance Illinois' new creative economy reports answer some important questions. They raise even better ones.
