Definition

Creatives Rebuild New York defines an artist, culture bearer, or culture maker (‘artist’) as someone who regularly engages in artistic or cultural practice to: express themselves with the intention of communicating richly to or sharing with others; pass on traditional knowledge and cultural practices; offer cultural resources to their communities; and/or co-organize and co-create within communities toward social impacts. Artists aspire to sustain themselves through their practice and maintain a commitment to continuing their practice. Artists can work both individually and collaboratively, or as educators within their field of practice.

Disciplines

Artistic and cultural practice includes, but is not limited to:

Craft (Includes artists working in ceramics, glass, jewelry, metalworking, and textiles – fiber, weaving, and quilting)

Dance (Includes dancers, choreographers, and producers working in a variety of genres such as ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, aerial, and modern)

Design (Includes designers working in the fields of fashion, graphic, object, and industrial design)

Film (Includes artists, actors, directors, creative producers, and others working in a variety of genres, such as animation, fiction, documentary, episodic, experimental, and narrative)

Literary Arts (Includes writers who work in genres such as fiction, nonfiction, short story writing, memoir, screenwriting, poetry, comedy, children’s literature, and graphic novel)

Media Arts (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers working at the intersection of technology, aesthetics, storytelling, and digital cultures)

Music (Includes singers, musicians, composers, producers (those who create the sound and feel of the recording), DJs (original work), and live sound designers working in a variety of genres such as hip hop, jazz, rock, pop, country, and classical)

Oral Traditions (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers whose knowledge, art, ideas, and intangible cultural material received, preserved, and transmitted from one generation to another through speech or song; may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or verses, and storytelling)

Social Practice (Includes socially engaged and civically engaged artists, culture bearers, and culture makers whose art involves people and communities in debate, collaboration, or social interaction and work wherein artists partner with communities toward community development outcomes)

Theater (Includes actors and actresses, directors, playwrights, costume designers, stage designers, and lighting designers in a variety of genres such as experimental, live action, puppetry, opera, and musical theater)

Performance Art (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers whose work is created through actions performed by the artist or other participants, which may be live or recorded, spontaneous or scripted, tactical and site performance)

Traditional Arts (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers whose work is rooted in and reflective of the tradition and/or cultural heritage of a community, transmitted from generation to generation, such as cultural dance, cultural music, traditional crafts, and foodways)

Visual Arts (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers whose arts practice is installation, illustration, painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, photography, sculpture, video art, or public art)

Interdisciplinary Arts (Includes artists, culture bearers, and culture makers who use an interdisciplinary approach involving more than one artistic discipline)

While we understand that artistic and cultural practices are defined broadly, CRNY is unable to consider applications from individuals whose main connection to the arts is through arts administration or commercial merchants or vendors working in fields such as, but not limited to: baking and culinary arts; cosmetology; architecture, interior, landscape design; radio—personalities and DJs; event planning and production; and wellness and fitness.