Substack reprintCreative economy · NYC · local networks2026-07-27

Reclaiming the Creative Economy

The arts and culture economy generates enormous value. The people producing that value still need better ways to connect, organise, and get paid.

By Shona Neary, artist, founder, and cultural strategist.

Our NYC Takeover: Starting to Reclaim the $1.2T US Creative Economy

CounterCult

Jul 27, 2026

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UPDATES

Dear crusty artists and tech bros alike, before we get started on anything else, I can finally announce: WE ARE IN THE USA.

We are doing this takeover because it is still ridiculously hard for cultural laborers to connect across borders.

If you want to understand the exact math of why we need this network, look at the macroeconomic data. The arts and culture sector generates a staggering $1.2 trillion in annual value, making up 4.2% of the entire US GDP, yet over 50% of the actual creators and cultural laborers who build that IP make under $15,000 a year.\ [1, 2\]

Basically, it’s a global crisis of distribution:

• The Global Picture: Creative industries drive 3.1% of global GDP and 6.2% of all employment, yet structural gatekeeping leaves indie creators behind. \ [1, 2\]
• The Platform Concentration: Massive consolidation among a handful of tech platforms completely marginalizes underground creators, forcing us to rely on corporate algorithms just to be seen.
• The Local Economics: It doesn’t have to be this way. Arts attendees spend an average of $38.46 per event beyond ticket prices on local food, lodging, and transit. \ [1, 2\]

We are building CounterCult to fix that. Obviously.

So let’s wisen up ourselves. If you want to help set this NYC link-up at the end of August, or if you simply have some cool people or venues to recommend, please comment so I can get in touch! My dream of bridging our networks from different continents is finally coming true.

Leave a comment

Now onto the rest: THIS NEWSLETTER IS LATE AND I APOLOGIZE mostly because I was sick during the build for WHOLE Festival but holy shit the stage and party were great. I literally jumped on a flight back to the states right after. If you want to see the chaos of that whole story, see the piece I wrote about the absolute whiplash of transitioning from the Berlin underground queer techno scene to a 50-person family cookout in Philly.

Berlin, USA, and a 5-Foot Butt Plug?

actual footage of my return to the US

CREATIVE FEATURE: Solarpunk and Regenerative Filmmaking

I first met Pina, aka Juan, during the build for WHOLE Festival, and he is honestly the absolute definition of a chill guy and a visionary artist. Over the crew setup, he told me all about his research into sustainable media, which has now culminated in his latest book chapter, "A Seed Towards Regenerative Filmmaking," featured in Ecologies in Practice and Learning. His writing with the Fën collective serves as a practical, solarpunk blueprint, proving we can ditch toxic industry waste and create stunning cinema using carbon-neutral, solar-powered methods.

see more here

OPPORTUNITIES: Independent Art Grants, Residencies, and Open Calls

⚡🗽 **The CounterCult NYC Takeover (Global / US)

• Open call for international organizers, underground artists, DJs, and venue plug-ins.
• Help us coordinate a physical, decentralized link-up to map out independent culture towards the end of August, 2026.
• Includes access to our cross-continental resource pool and economic networks.
• COMMENT/REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER TO TAP IN

🇪🇺✈️ **Perform Europe Open Call (International / EU)

• Get up to €60,000 to fund a cross-border live arts or music tour across Europe.
• Teams must include at least three partners from different European countries.
• The grant fully covers travel, setup, and fair wages for independent artists.
• DEADLINE: October 22, 2026 - APPLY VIA PERFORM EUROPE

🔑🏢 **THE FLOOR Artist Coliving Residency (International / Berlin)

• Rooms have officially opened back up starting this August through next summer at our invite-only secret location partner space and physical extension of CounterCult.
• Built for underground artists, builders, and DJs to live, create, and participate in our salon nights, studio experiments, and collaborative coworking days.
• Run entirely by artists for artists to build alternative, self-sustaining business practices and bypass structural industry gatekeepers.
• STATUS: Active rolling open call for September and Winter slots - APPLY TO LIVE WITH US HERE

#### 🎨 Cash The New Emergence Art Prize (International / Online)

• accepting raw entries across all digital, sound, and visual mediums.
• Directly targets independent emerging creators who lack backing from major institutional galleries.
• Funding includes over £5,000 in unrestricted cash awards, resource stipends, and structured mentoring.
• DEADLINE: August 7, 2026 - SEE MORE HERE \ [1, 2\]

#### 🪵 Grant The Nantucket Hale Sculpture Residency (International / US)

• A fully funded physical residency built for independent sculptors and heavy-material installation artists.
• Absolutely zero application fees and zero expectations to teach or sell your work to wealthy collectors.
• Provides free housing, studio space, a $500 travel stipend, and a $2,000 cash stipend for materials and living expenses.
• DEADLINE: August 31, 2026 - SEE MORE HERE

#### 🖼️ Lab The MOCA Performing Artist-in-Residence (International / NYC)

• Targeting independent creators working across performance art, independent film, music, and spoken word.
• Completely free to apply and designed to give artists access to deep archival research without corporate parameters.
• Provides a $3,000 cash honorarium, dedicated rehearsal spaces, and structural presentation support.
• DEADLINE: August 2, 2026 - SEE MORE HERE

Want to help us for FREE? because it really, REALLY actually helps A LOT if you subscribe. I promise. just click it. we’re waiting…..

FREEBIES

We don’t have a freebie for you this time.

That said, we are always open to actual discounts and perks for our network. If you run an independent space, service, or brand and want to offer something real to our community, get in touch with us.

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

###### Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

###### Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

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Originally published on Countercult’s Business Creatives Substack. This is a faithful reprint from 2026-07-27; time-sensitive opportunities and event details may have changed.

editorial process: Our Journals are pulled from our writings over the years to get information out as quickly and as widely as possible, and to get to what matters: finding each other and claiming our seat in the circular economy. Some ideas overlap between Shona Neary's work on cultural infrastructure and their artist practice as Sketchy Shona. AI is a tool for infrastructure, not for creating Journal writing or artists' work. We welcome original reporting and pitches from journalists and independent publishers.