Why CRAIONS
Creativity + AI Observatory, Network & Synthesis. The tracker dataset (observatory), the six-organizations that make up the USRAO, the essays that synthesize for what the data mean: the acronym is description. And for a project arguing that human creative work is the thing at stake, an acronym that sounds like a child's art supply signals the human values that underpin it.
This project tracks issues across creative industries and the arts ecosystem and the implications of the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. There seems little doubt that AI will have profound effects on the artistic marketplace and disrupt how the creative world works. While there are many projects exploring the adoption of AI, this project is unique in tracking AI policy specifically in the creative world.
The Project at a Glance
- 400+ Tracked Developments
- 3 Interconnected Systems
- 6 Regional Arts Organizations
- 50 US States
- 19 Countries
Three Core Assets
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A Frame for This Project: Understanding a New Creative Reality
AI is arriving in the arts with the force of a structural change, not a passing toolset. It promises new forms of expression, but it also threatens the foundations of creative life: ownership, attribution, labor, compensation, cultural equity, and trust. So how to track what's happening, and at velocity? This project proposes a three-level systems map that plots functions where the reordering is happening.
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A Living Data Tool
A living, filterable database of 400+ developments across litigation, legislation, regulation, labor agreements, commercial deals, research, and international frameworks.
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An Analytical Framework
A set of three framing essays that attempt to put tracking data in the Observatory into policy context
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Artist Commissions
We commissioned three artistic projects to explore issues in artificial intelligence and creativity. The idea isn't to make art using AI, but to explore some of the issues surfacing as the artistic landscape changes with the introduction of AI
Who's Behind This
— The Network
US RAO: Six Organizations, All 56 States & Jurisdictions
About the US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs):
The United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs)—Arts Midwest, Creative West (formerly WESTAF), Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and South Arts—are a collective of six nonprofit arts service organizations committed to strengthening America’s infrastructure by increasing access to creativity for all Americans.
The USRAOs partner with the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, individuals, and other public and private funders to develop and deliver programs, services, and products that advance arts and creativity. Together, the USRAOs work to activate and operate national arts initiatives, encourage, and support collaboration across regions, states, and communities, and maximize the coordination of public and private resources invested in arts programs. In 2025, they invested over $36.2 million across the United States and Jurisdictions, through 3,200 grants that reached more than 1,400 communities. Learn more at usregionalarts.org.
Arts Midwest – serving Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Creative West (formerly WESTAF)– Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) – serving Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Mid Atlantic Arts – Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia.
New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
South Arts – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Funded by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
A global, 21st century philanthropy, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is committed to bridging the frontiers of artificial intelligence, data science, and social impact.
The Foundation is the legacy of IDG founder Patrick J. McGovern, who often said, “The best is yet to come.” He recognized the potential for information technology and neuroscience to democratize access to knowledge, improve the human condition, and advance social good. A generation of rapid advances in technology have led us to new possibilities at the intersection of information technology and neuroscience — artificial intelligence and data science. The promise of AI and data science represent the future Patrick J. McGovern always envisioned. With his optimism about what is possible, the Foundation invests in the exploration, enhancement, and development of AI and data science for good.
Douglas McLennan
Douglas McLennan is CRAIONS’ project director. He is a longtime arts journalist and founder and editor of ArtsJournal.com.