WELCOME TO CREATIVES COUNT
A STUDY OF THE ST. LOUIS REGION’S CREATIVES
RAC STL believes St. Louis should be a place where every resident has the freedom, resources, and opportunities to enjoy a full creative life. In order to make this vision a reality, RAC STL needs YOU—the musicians, writers, craftspeople, designers, makers, and performers who enrich our region with arts, culture, and creativity—to tell us:
- The type(s) of creative practices you do
- How you sustain yourself and your creative practice
- The ways in which you share your creative practice(s) with others
- The types of support that would help you meet your creative and career goals
… regardless of whether your creative work is your full-time job, a way of expressing yourself, celebrating your culture, or connecting with others in your spare time.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
TAKE THE CREATIVES COUNT SURVEY NOW!
The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. As soon as you submit your survey, you will be able to see how your responses to key questions compare to those of other creatives in St. Louis.
Once you’ve completed the survey, you can enter a raffle to win one of three $300 gift cards to local creative businesses. You can also sign up to receive follow-up communications about the study including a full-length digital report.
The survey is entirely anonymous and confidential. See our privacy policy below for details.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SURVEY
WHO IS THE SURVEY FOR?
Anyone who:
- is creatively involved in the production or presentation of creative cultural products, including music, folk arts, writing, fashion, media, community arts, makers, and other creative works, whether for financial gain and/or personal satisfaction;
- is 18 or older; and
- currently lives, does creative work, or presents creative work to the public within St. Louis City or County.
The survey is not open to individuals working in occupations that are not directly involved with the creative process or development of creative products, such as administrators, fundraisers, and ushers. The survey is also not open to audiences, fans, or supporters of the arts and creative sector, though we realize St. Louis’s vibrant creative sector wouldn’t exist without you!
WHY SHOULD I TAKE THE SURVEY?
RAC STL will use the information Creatives Count collects to plan artist programs and services in upcoming years. As the only study of its kind, Creatives Count will also enrich public understanding of the region’s creative sector and provide critical information to governments, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals.
The survey gives you a chance to share the story of your own creative practice and contribute to the larger narrative of creatives in the region. Your participation in the study will help the region better understand creatives and RAC STL better serve you.
HOW CAN I GET HELP TAKING THE SURVEY?
You can take the survey verbally by phone, with a real person asking the questions and marking your responses.
The online survey is only available in English; however, we can schedule a phone call with an interpreter, who can assist you in completing the survey in your preferred language.
To take the survey by phone or request language assistance, please email john@wolfbrown.com or call 415-696-4416 to schedule an appointment.
WILL THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY BE SHARED PUBLICLY?
Yes! A full analysis of the survey results will be posted on RAC STL’s website. Members of the public will also have access to the survey data through an online data portal, where they can conduct their own analyses, by applying filters and drilling down on data points that are of particular interest. The data dashboard will accessible via a link on RAC STL’s website.
Survey takers will have the option to sign up to receive notifications when the dashboard is opened to the public and the final report is published. They will also be able to view preliminary data on some key questions as soon as they submit their response, so they can compare their own responses to those of other creatives in the region.
Key findings from the study will also be presented at a public event hosted by RAC STL on Monday, October 23.
CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT CREATIVES COUNT?
Creatives Count is a research study of RAC STL. It is informed by the first iteration of the study, Artists Count (2013), as well as RAC STL’s strategic vision for St. Louis as a place where every resident has the freedom, resources, and opportunities to enjoy a full creative life. RAC STL has engaged the arts research and consulting firm WolfBrown to conduct the research for the study.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ENSURE CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY OF THE DATA YOU COLLECT?
Survey responses are submitted anonymously, meaning no identifying information such as your name, IP address, email address, or phone number will be connected to your answers. However, you will have the opportunity to submit your name and contact information if you want to have a chance to win one of three $300 gift cards to local creative businesses or follow-up communications about the study including a full-length digital report.Submitting your name and contact information is entirely optional. If you choose to submit your name and contact information, it will be stored in a separate database, so there’s no possibility of breaching the anonymity of your survey responses.
To help interpret responses, the survey collects some demographic information and information about your household. All questions about you and your household are optional.
The answers you provide will be collected and stored in Alchemer, a U.S.-based survey software platform. Alchemer is committed to complying with international regulations and privacy frameworks including GDPR and US Privacy Shield. In their Privacy Policy they state, “Alchemer (the US entity) complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce” and “Alchemer has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles.”
WHAT ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PRIZE DRAWING?
Participants who complete the survey can choose to enter a raffle to win one of three $300 gift cards to local creative businesses. Three survey participants will be chosen at random, and winners will be notified at the close of the survey.