A New Manifesto for Creative Sovereignty

Abstract

The creative economy is undergoing an extinction event. As legacy systems collapse and traditional pathways to sustainability erode, thousands of mid-career artists are abandoning their craft simply to survive—with a disproportionate impact on those from historically marginalized communities.

Starfish represents a fundamentally different approach: rather than attempting to democratize access to dying systems, we support artists pioneering beyond conventional frameworks. We fund independence and creative sovereignty, empowering those who are building entirely new ecosystems where artists retain ownership of their work, build direct relationships with their communities, and achieve sustainable livelihoods outside extractive models.

In building new pathways for themselves, these trailblazers are creating visible, replicable models that can guide others toward creative autonomy and economic sustainability, catalyzing a broader movement for transformation.

This manifesto is an invitation to join us in authoring a new narrative—one where artists lead, communities sustain, and creativity regenerates thout external permission.

The Thesis

Starfish cultivates an entirely new ecosystem in which creative sovereignty empowers mid-career and marginalized artists to build sustainable lives outside conventional frameworks, leading a movement for all artists and creators. Rather than attempting to democratize access to dying systems, we fund independence and creative sovereignty beyond their reach.

Starfish wasn't born from theory, but from experience. As artists and entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities, we have lived firsthand how inherited, legacy systems extract value from artists while constraining their creativity.

The Diagnosis

We are witnessing a fundamental breakdown of the creative economy:

• Systemic Collapse: The pandemic, labor strikes, tech disruption, and widespread public sector arts cuts have accelerated the disintegration of traditional models.

• Artist Abandonment: Mid-career artists, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, find themselves caught between failing legacy institutions that can no longer support them and extractive tech platforms that commodify their work.

• Economic Crisis: Traditional pathways to sustainable creative careers have crumbled. 67% of artists report lost income since 2019; 58% rely on non-creative work to survive—and the situation has only worsened since these statistics were collected.

• Cultural Extinction: Thousands of mid-career artists are quietly abandoning creative pursuits or compromising their artistic vision simply to survive. This isn't just a loss of individual creativity—it represents the systematic erasure of vital cultural perspectives.

• Emerging Models: While traditional systems fail, direct-to-market and community-driven models are flourishing, signaling a fundamental realignment of how creative work is created, shared, and sustained.

The Opportunity

This crisis reveals unprecedented opportunities for transformation:

• New Models of Creation: Artists with the courage to operate outside conventional systems are pioneering revolutionary approaches to ownership, distribution, and audience engagement.

• Community Renaissance: Hyper-local physical spaces, digital collectives, and interest-driven communities are replacing traditional institutional gatekeepers, creating direct, lasting connections between artists and their audiences.

• Building, Not Entering: The most innovative creators aren't seeking entry into failing systems—they're building entirely new ones designed around artist sovereignty and sustainability.

• Liberatory Technology: When technology is artist-owned and aligned with their values, it transforms from an instrument of extraction to a tool of liberation. Platforms like Metalabel, Zora, Mirror, Subvert, and Ampled are already demonstrating how artist-centered media-tech can reshape the creative economy. The opportunity lies in scaling and sustaining these emerging tools and infrastructures—ensuring they empower creators, prioritize transparency, and reinforce independence rather than dependency.

This is the soil in which a new cultural infrastructure must grow.

The Starfish Approach

Legacy systems extract value from artists. Starfish cultivates value alongside them. Our model draws inspiration from the starfish itself—decentralized, resilient, and regenerative:

• Radical Ownership: Artists retain full IP and creative control.

• Tailored Support: $5K–$50K in seed grants, tied to artist-defined goals—not funder agendas.

• The Creative Village: A network of mentorship, tools, and community-based knowledge-sharing.

• Regenerative Funding: Recoupable follow-on grants (typically at 1.5x against 5% of future revenue) ensure funds revolve back into our community rather than extracting value externally. This creates a self-sustaining loop, where successful artists directly fund opportunities for the next generation, reinforcing a collective ethos and maintaining creative independence.

• Direct-to-Community: We support artists bypassing traditional gatekeepers and intermediaries to build sustainable practices through direct audience relationships and community engagement.

• Organic Impact: We believe social impact can't be prescribed top-down. Our primary measure of success is the financial well-being and creative autonomy of artists themselves—trusting that meaningful change naturally flows when artists have the resources and freedom to thrive.

The Path Forward (2025-2027)

With a proven pilot and refined strategy, we are now:

• Expanding Support: Scaling our grantmaking to reach mid-career artists and creators who are building sustainable, independent projects through direct audience relationships and community-driven operations.

• Deepening Infrastructure: Strengthening our Creative Village to offer comprehensive, peer-led guidance and support.

• Building Sustainability: Operationalizing our regenerative fund to ensure long-term viability.

• Documenting Impact: Capturing and sharing successful models with partners and the broader field to inspire systemic change.

• Growing the Ecosystem: Forging partnerships with aligned funders and institutions committed to building alternative creative infrastructure.

The Success Metrics

Our impact will be measured through:

• Creator Autonomy: The degree to which artists maintain control over their IP, creative direction, and economic relationships.

• Sustainable Livelihoods: Evidence that artists can build financially viable careers outside traditional frameworks.

• Community Resilience: The growth and vitality of direct artist-audience relationships and peer support networks.

• System Innovation: The emergence of new, artist-centered tools, platforms, and business models.

• Trailblazer Effect: The degree to which successful models pioneered by our artists create visible, replicable pathways that inspire and guide others toward creative autonomy and economic sustainability.

Invitation to Visionary Partners

To our friends, partners, and potential partners in philanthropy, forward-thinking institutions, and aligned organizations:

We recognize that many of you are already questioning conventional funding models and seeking alternatives that truly empower artists rather than perpetuate dependency. You understand, as we do, that the status quo isn't working—and that incremental adjustments won't address systemic collapse.

Starfish offers a framework for collaboration, not competition. We want to partner with you in this ecosystem-building work:

• For foundations: Reimagine your role not as gatekeepers of access, but as nurturers of soil where new creative economies can take root.

• For cultural institutions: Partner with us to build bridges between established platforms and emerging models aligned with artist sovereignty.

• For aligned organizations: Let's coordinate our efforts, share learnings, and amplify our collective impact rather than duplicate efforts.

• For Artists: We’re not here to mold your work to fit funder agendas—we want to encourage you to think like an entrepreneur. Starfish exists to support your sovereignty, amplify your work, and help you create the conditions for long-term independence.

Together, we can weave a network of support that nurtures artist sovereignty rather than merely subsidizing outputs, growing resilient creative infrastructure for generations to come.

The New Narrative

The narrative of "making it" by gaining entry to broken institutions is becoming obsolete.

It's time to author a new mythology—one where artists lead, communities sustain, and creativity regenerates without external "permission."

In this moment of collapse and regeneration, supporting artists and entrepreneurs who are experimenting with new models and forging new paths is necessary investment in the cultural infrastructure that will survive after conventional systems fail.

We invite visionary partners to help build systems that will outlast the collapse. In this landscape, Starfish isn't a detour—it's essential infrastructure for a new creative ecology to flourish.

Join us.