Building a Strong Creative Economy, Together

Strengthening Indiana’s creative economy isn’t a single tactic or program. It’s an ongoing mission. A belief that creativity is infrastructure. A conviction that Indiana’s creativity, especially young talent, is a worthwhile investment.

As we wrap 2025, I’m excited to share what Pattern accomplished this year. But first, it’s important to acknowledge the landscape this work happened within.

Indiana’s economic development priorities are in a period of transition. In a tighter fiscal environment, there is growing emphasis on jobs and wages as primary measures of success. Those goals matter. But on their own, they do not fully capture how talent is developed, how innovation takes root, or how places become competitive over time.

This transition comes just as regions across the state complete significant strategic planning efforts that recognize creative industries as drivers of long-term economic health. Preserving that momentum matters. As priorities reset, Pattern is committed to ensuring that the insights, investments, and regional alignment built over the last several years are not lost.

That commitment is why we are strengthening coordination, data, and advocacy for Indiana’s creative economy in the year ahead.

For Pattern, working at the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and economic development, this has been a year of real constraint. Not because the work is less needed, but because creativity rarely appears as a single line item, even though it underpins long-term growth, small business formation, and talent retention.

Despite that uncertainty, the work did not stop.

What follows is less a victory lap and more a record of what is possible when people continue to show up, collaborate across sectors, and invest in long-term thinking even when conditions are challenging.

Cheers to you for the support that helped make it happen.
Polina Osherov

We convened policy makers, industry builders, philanthropists, and creative entrepreneurs.
Breakthroughs happen when people collide with purpose. From the Indiana Creative Economy Summit to State of Film, Pattern events brought together hundreds of Hoosiers to create, imagine, invest, and innovate. Eye-to-eye conversations sparked new collaborations, new ideas, and new reasons for Indiana talent to stay and thrive.

We supported regional creative economy strategic planning.
This year, Pattern and Pathemy Strategies worked alongside two regions—Our Southern Indiana and the Central Indiana Regional Development Authority—as part of their READI 2.0 creative economy studies funded by Lilly Endowment. Together, we helped local partners map strengths, identify gaps, and set the stage for long-term investment in creative talent, small businesses, and cultural infrastructure. Communities rise faster when leaders understand the true value of their creative assets. We’re looking forward to seeing how all of Indiana’s regions utilize their studies to move the needle on supporting their creative sectors.

We championed shared data and a unified playbook.
For the first time, Indiana is moving toward a shared, statewide view of its creative economy. In 2025, Pattern took decisive steps to pilot a Creative Economy Data Dashboard, building the needed foundation for consistent measurement, smarter investment, and clearer storytelling across the state. In parallel, we began shaping a Creative Economy Playbook to help regions and partners translate data into action.

The Dashboard is already changing the conversation. As its lead developer, Ty Stratton noted during his session at the Creative Economy Summit, investment follows data. When creative economies become measurable, they become fundable, defensible, and impossible to ignore.

This work also reflects Pattern’s long-term approach to talent development. Ty, founder of Wesley’s Project and the Dashboard’s creator, first interned at Pattern. Today, he leads one of the most important infrastructure efforts in Indiana’s creative economy. His journey shows what happens when talent is supported early, challenged often, and connected to work that matters.

Our magazine continues to evolve
This year we published PATTERN Magazine vol. 27: The Bike Issue, exploring mobility, place, and the connective power of biking infrastructure across Indiana.

We’re currently working on vol. 28 in partnership with IndyChamber - The Speed City issue. That issue has taken longer than anticipated, and we appreciate the patience of our subscribers. The work is ongoing and the issue is still coming. We promise!

As we look ahead, we’re committed to continuing the magazine while exploring new models that make it more sustainable long-term. We’re actively seeking brand and corporate partners interested in collaborating on future issues that align creativity, economic development, and civic impact.

If your organization is interested in partnering on a future issue, we’d love to start that conversation.

Not a subscriber yet? For $40 per year, you receive two beautifully produced issues celebrating Indiana’s creative class. Twenty dollars of each subscription goes directly toward printing & shipping, with the remainder reinvested into production to compensate contributors. It’s a positive feedback loop that helps keep the magazine—and the ecosystem around it—strong.

We continued telling the stories behind the work
In partnership with Life in Indy, our digital cover stories continued being one of Pattern’s most impactful storytelling platforms in 2025. These interviews spotlight creative leaders, builders, and thinkers shaping Indiana’s cultural and economic landscape.

This year’s digital cover stories featured:

• Deonna Craig
• Ryan Hickey
• Polina Osherov
• David McKissic
• Miah Michaelsen
• Sam Boro
• Ryan Hunley
• Susanna Taft Illig
• Andy and Annie Skinner
• Braydee Euliss
• Dr. Jennifer Palilonis

We partnered with purpose.
In 2025, we deepened our collaborations with organizations shaping Indiana’s creative future, including Film Indy, Indiana Independent Venue Alliance, Ball State, Butler, Life in Indy, AIGA, Powderkeg, Indiana Arts Commission, Indy Design Week, and more. Working across sectors and silos benefits the economy of the entire state.

We advanced our advocacy work at the State House.
We shared timely information and mobilized advocates to come out in numbers in support of strengthening Indiana’s Film and Media Tax Credit, including pushing for transferability, essential for attracting more productions, more jobs, and more outside investment. If Indiana wants a real film ecosystem, policy must clear the path. The successful passing of SB 306 in April 2025 is a solid step forward.

We launched the Pattern Alumni Network.
This year we officially launched the Pattern Alumni Network, reconnecting former interns and fellows across the country and giving them a place to stay linked to Indiana’s creative ecosystem. It’s part community, part home base, and part invitation to return to a state that needs their skills, ideas, and leadership. Community is talent retention—and Indiana needs its boomerangs.

We continued piloting the SPACE Residency.
In 2025, the SPACE Residency continued to serve as a proving ground for creative business owners. We worked side-by-side with emerging founders—helping them stabilize, strategize, and confidently step into the next chapter of their work. Success comes when creative people have the resources they deserve.

This work continues because you continue with us.
As Indiana’s creative economy navigates a period of transition, Pattern remains focused on the long game: connecting people, building shared understanding, and strengthening the infrastructure creative industries need to grow and endure. Thank you for investing your time, trust, and resources in this work, and for helping shape what comes next. Here’s to a stellar 2026!