Episode Description

Join us for a special live recording from Metrics & Mingling 2025, where audience participation drove the conversation about AI's role in creative entrepreneurship. Through interactive polling, attendees guided discussions about administrative efficiency, creative process boundaries, and maintaining human value in an AI-driven marketplace. This dynamic panel explores how creative professionals are navigating the integration of artificial intelligence while preserving the authenticity and struggle that makes their work meaningful.

• Administrative tasks worth delegating to AI vs. keeping human-centered
• The role of struggle and context in authentic creative work
• Balancing efficiency gains with creative fulfillment
• Finding your unique voice and story as a creative professional
• The democratization of creative tools and its impact on professional artists
• Charging appropriately for human-crafted work in an AI-accessible world
• Building sustainable creative careers through intentional tool use
• The importance of play and experimentation in maintaining creative edge

The Guests

• Dr. Anuli Akanegbu - Cultural anthropologist and labor, race, and technology researcher at Data and Society; Host of "Black in Real Life" podcast
• EmmoLei Sankofa - Film and TV composer with work featured on Hulu, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime
• Alejo Porras - Visual note-taking artist and illustrator; Upcoming host of "Fresh Ideas" podcast

On Administrative Efficiency: "What are we saving that time to do? Like, what is the purpose of cutting all these corners and trying to be super fast with things?" - Dr. Anuli Akanegbu

On Creative Process: "When we delegate our thinking and creativity to AI, those are the things that intrinsically makes you, you... The struggle is what makes it better." - Alejo Porras

On Industry Evolution: "Don't say that you draw, like that's not your differentiator. A lot of people can draw, AI can draw now... We need to know the human behind it." - Alejo Porras

On Value Creation: "Sometimes people care more about the story behind the object than the object itself. So if you manage to tell your story, that would be so much more valuable." - Alejo Porras

• Dr. Anuli Akanegbu: anuliwashere.com | @anuliwashere | Data and Society research
• EmmoLei Sankofa: e-sankofa.com | @emmolei on Instagram
• Alejo Porras: Alejo Porras Art on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn | Fresh Ideas newsletter on Substack
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Could Be Pretty Cool is an audio-first think tank for creative industries, using conversations with artists, designers, and innovators as qualitative research about the creative economy. The show captures real-time insights from people living and working in rapidly evolving creative fields.

Follow Could Be Pretty Cool: @couldbeprettycool | couldbeprettycool.com | couldbeprettycoolnews.substack.com

AI in creative industries, creative entrepreneurship, administrative automation, human creativity value, artistic authenticity, creative process, double consciousness, cultural anthropology, film composition, visual note-taking, creative community, industry evolution, Atlanta creative scene

Description: Explore the unprecedented shifts in US arts funding and what they mean for creative communities nationwide. Featuring John Carnwath from WolfBrown research and consulting firm on navigating federal cuts, building sustainable funding models, and reimagining how creative ecosystems can thrive through decentralized support systems and community-centered approaches.

Key Topics:

• Federal cuts to NEA, NEH, and IMLS and their ripple effects on state agencies
• The reality of arts funding concentration and inequality
• Alternative funding models from micro-grants to market-based sustainability
• Lessons from international arts funding approaches
• Moving from top-down grant selection to ecosystem-wide support
• Local decision-making and community-responsive funding
• The role of private foundations and individual donors in filling gaps
• Building equity in arts funding distribution

Featured Guest:

• John Carnwath - Principal at WolfBrown research and consulting firm; Specialist in creative ecosystems, arts funding, cultural policy, and impact evaluation

Notable Quotes:"It has to be local based... there's something to be said for the kind of more local, more immediately connected funding feedback loops." - John Carnwath

"You reduce inequality by taking away the money from the people who already have it, 'cause that's gonna be easier than getting more money for the people who don't have resources." - John Carnwath

"Supporting lots of little things... making it really easy to get funding to do something that's not bureaucratic, that you can quickly turn around." - John Carnwath

Connect with our guest:

• John Carnwath: LinkedIn and wolfbrown.com

Special Announcement:Could Be Pretty Cool News is now a certified B Corporation! Learn more about our mission-driven approach and upcoming creative research initiatives.

Follow Could Be Pretty Cool News:@couldbeprettycool | couldbeprettycool.com | couldbeprettycoolnews.substack.com

Keywords: arts funding, NEA cuts, creative ecosystems, sustainable funding models, arts policy, cultural funding, creative entrepreneurship, foundation grants, community arts support, arts funding equity

Explore how creative entrepreneurs are building sustainable futures through circular systems that honor both ancestral wisdom and innovative solutions. Featuring Tamara Stands and Looks Back-Spotted Tail on bridging Lakota values with renewable energy technology, and Jonelle Dawkins on creating financial independence through creative reuse.

• Traditional ecological knowledge meeting modern sustainability solutions
• Creative reuse as economic empowerment for artists
• Building circular economies that serve communities
• Indigenous entrepreneurship and cultural preservation
• Removing barriers to creative independence
• Sustainability as environmental, social, and financial interconnectedness
• Community-driven renewable energy projects
• Creative problem-solving for systemic challenges
• Cultural authenticity and certification processes
• Multi-disciplinary creative entrepreneurship

Tamara Stands and Looks Back-Spotted Tail - Founder of Lakota Women Business (LLC) and Lakota Women Initiative (nonprofit); Member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe; Renewable energy advocate and Indigenous women's empowerment leader

Jonelle Dawkins - Executive Director at Scraplanta; Multi-disciplinary creative entrepreneur; Creative reuse movement leader

"As Lakota people, we utilize the buffalo for our robes, for our tepees. So a tepee is our home and reaching out to the earth to build a sustainable home is where we're at in the future, especially as climate changes and the earth changes and how do we meet that change as it's coming into the future." - Tamara Stands and Looks Back-Spotted Tail

"At Scrap Atlanta, we are taking art supplies from people who no longer need it... instead of us putting it to the landfill and it no longer having a useful life, they can bring it to a creative for reuse center and somebody else who maybe they want to get started in sewing... can use that they make that piece that helps them get that job that helps them build independence." - Jonelle Dawkins

• Tamara: https://www.lakotawomenbusinessllc.com/ and Lakota Women Initiative
• Jonelle: @scrapATL on Instagram, @scrapatlanta on Facebook, and @scrapatl on TikTok

• Tucker Creative Reuse Center
• Adair Park Creative Reuse Center
• Duluth popup location

@couldbeprettycool | couldbeprettycool.com | couldbeprettycoolnews.substack.com

Sustainable creativity, circular economy, Indigenous entrepreneurship, creative reuse, renewable energy, Lakota culture, community empowerment, creative independence, traditional ecological knowledge, upcycling, social sustainability, financial sustainability, cultural preservation, creative problem-solving