FAQ: What Is Culturalyst?
Culturalyst is a platform designed to help cities understand, support, and celebrate their creative communities. We connect artists, arts organizations, and cultural supporters in one central place — making it easier to find people, discover opportunities, and share creative work with the public.
Below is a guide to help you quickly describe Culturalyst to different community members
How to Explain Culturalyst (Depending on Who You’re Talking To)
🎨 For Artists
“Culturalyst is a free platform where you can create a public profile, share your work, promote events, and find opportunities like grants, gigs, and residencies. It helps you get discovered by your community — and by organizations looking to hire or collaborate.”
Key points for artists:
It’s free
You get a public artist portfolio page
You can promote events and post opportunities
You can be discovered by arts organizations, presenters, festivals, and supporters
Culturalyst sends you a personalized opportunities digest (opt-in)
🏛️ For Arts Organizations
“Culturalyst is where arts organizations can create a public listing, promote events, post opportunities, and connect with their city’s creative sector. It helps people discover your work and makes it easier to find artists.”
Key points for organizations:
Create a free public organization page
Post opportunities (calls, jobs, gigs, grants)
Promote events across the region
Connect with artists, audiences, and peers
Expand visibility as part of the city’s cultural ecosystem
🏙️ For City Agencies & Cultural Institutions
“Culturalyst is a civic infrastructure tool for understanding and supporting the local creative economy. It gathers artists, organizations, events, and opportunities into one public hub so agencies can better serve their cultural ecosystem.”
Key points for agencies:
Helps map and understand the creative community
Increases public visibility of local artists and organizations
Reduces the burden of managing cultural information
Provides opportunities for data, insights, and community feedback
Helps residents connect with cultural resources more easily
💛 For Art Supporters & Community Members
“Culturalyst is the easiest way to discover local artists, cultural events, creative businesses, and opportunities to support the arts. It’s a guide to the people who make your community unique.”
Key points for the public:
Discover local artists and arts organizations
Explore events happening nearby
Connect directly with creative people
Find artists to hire, collaborate with, or support
See the full picture of your city’s cultural life
How Does Culturalyst Work?
Each city on Culturalyst has its own creative ecosystem space where:
Artists create profiles, upload images, and tag their disciplines
Organizations create listings, promote events, and post opportunities
Residents explore local culture in one place
Agencies use the platform to support and connect their cultural communities
Cities partner with Culturalyst because we:
increase accessibility and visibility
reduce the headache of managing digital cultural information
provide shared tools for artists and organizations
offer better connection between creatives and the public
What Does Culturalyst Cost?
It’s free for artists and arts organizations.
There is no fee to sign up, create a profile, post opportunities, or promote events.
Agency partners contract with Culturalyst to provide the platform as a public good to their community.
What Value Does Culturalyst Provide?
For Artists
Increased visibility
One home for events, opportunities, and portfolio materials
A growing audience beyond social media
Direct connection with organizations and supporters
Easier access to city-wide opportunities
For Arts Organizations
Simplified event and opportunity promotion
Better connection to local artists
Increased discoverability
A shared space to reach the community
No cost to participate
For City Agencies
A unified cultural information hub
Reduced administrative burden
Real-time community feedback
Clearer understanding of the creative ecosystem
Tools for artist and organization support
For Community Members
One place to discover artists, events, and culture
Easier ways to support local creatives
A clearer picture of the cultural life of their city
Which Cities Are on Culturalyst?
We are actively expanding across the U.S.
You can see current partner cities on our website.