A national survey of artists, commissioned by the Mellon Foundation, in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, has revealed a closer look at the livelihoods of US artists.
The 102-page report takes into account 2,618 artists’ work and jobholding, earnings, health and wellbeing, and personal identifiers such as age, marital status, gender, and race. The comprehensive study considered artists across five artistic disciplines: performing arts, visual arts, writing, craft arts, and other arts that were broken down into in 37 artistic subdisciplines; those who reported that they only did design and no other arts activities were, notably, excluded from the study.
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Researchers focused on activities over the past 12 months that participants do for “enjoyment, to make money, to honor your culture or heritage, as a form of activism, or for other reasons.”
After examining a number of criteria, including hours worked and multiple different kinds of employment, they found that there were four different types of artists, which they classified into artistic identities (such as teaching artists and culture bearers) and particular employment arrangements (3+ job holders and self-employed job holders). These classifications only serve to offer a look at “the working lives of certain groups of artists” across a number of variables from primary artistic activity and hours spent on arts activities to main occupation and income made through arts-related jobs.
Not only does the study offer insights on how creatives live, work, and sustain their practices, but it also expands the understanding of who qualifies as an artist, with some solely making a living on their art and others working multiple jobs to support a creative life. It found that 34 percent of artists are fully self-employed, with 50 percent self-employed in their primary job and 11 percent juggling three or more jobs in the past year.
On a more personal level, 28 percent provide unpaid care for a loved one with a health condition or disability, and eight percent have served in the U.S. military.
Amid shifting economic and social conditions, they study shows how US artists are facing financial challenges. Key findings indicated significant insecurity, with more than 57 percent of artists reporting being somewhat or very worried about at least one form of financial vulnerability, including food, housing, medical care, or utilities. Twenty-two percent is reportedly concerned about affording food, while 32 percent is concerned about meeting medical costs.
“Artists contribute immeasurably to our communities, yet we have only ever had very limited data on them which by and large did not reflect the full population of working artists and culture bearers in the U.S.” Gwendolyn Rugg, Senior Research Scientist at NORC and lead author of the report, explained in a statement. “With the publication of this study, we now have for the first time a more expansive national portrait of who artists are, how they live and work, and what challenges they experience. This lays the groundwork for creating programs and policies that are truly responsive to artists’ needs.”
The study provides critical insight on creative lives amid overlapping economic, professional, and personal demands that could inform crucial investments, public policy, and organizations to bolster and support US artists over the long term.
This comes at a time when the US has seen critical cuts in the arts, particularly among government-funded initiatives including the end of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts grants, censorship at the Smithsonian, and mass terminations at the National Council on the Humanities, the Kennedy Center, and the National Portrait Gallery.
