Creativity isn’t enrichment. It’s infrastructure. And if we misunderstand that, we misunderstand the future of our economy.
Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why arts education must be reframed as workforce education — not as a defense of the arts, but as a recognition of their economic power. In light of receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Education, this episode pivots from personal reflection to a broader argument: arts education builds creative capital, and creative capital drives economic growth.
Drawing from research on Arkansas’s creative economy and lessons from leading a public residential STEM-and-arts high school, Corey challenges narrow definitions of workforce preparation and argues that ambiguity tolerance, iteration, aesthetic judgment, collaboration, and narrative construction are not “soft skills” — they are survival skills in a volatile, innovation-driven economy.
If Arkansas wants to compete in the decades ahead, it must invest not only in technical training, but in the cultivation of imagination. This episode invites educators, policymakers, and business leaders to rethink how we speak about — and fund — the arts.
For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.
You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
