In June the NEA released a study from 1990-2005 looking at artists' demographic and employment patterns. I haven't read the entire 180 page document but the brief 'executive summary' linked below is fascinating.From the press release:
“Artists now play a huge but mostly unrecognized role in the new American economy of the 21st century,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. “This report shows how important American artists are to both our nation’s cultural vitality and economic prosperity of our communities.”
Numbering almost two million, artists are one of the largest classes of workers in the nation, only slightly smaller than the U.S. military’s active-duty and reserve personnel (2.2 million)...artists earn an aggregate income of approximately $70 billion annually.
Among the key findings:
Demographic trends
- Between 1970 and 1990, the number of artists more than doubled, from 737,000 to 1.7 million – a much larger percentage gain than for the labor force as a whole. Between 1990 and 2005, the growth of artists slowed to a 16 percent rate, about the same as for the overall labor force.
- Women remain underrepresented in several artist occupations. Men outnumber women in architecture, announcing, music, production, and photography. Women outnumber men in the fields of dance, design, and writing.
- Like the larger labor force, the artist population is becoming more diverse. The proportion of Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian artists grew from about nine percent of artists in 1990 to almost 15 percent by 2005.
Geographic distribution
- Opportunities for artistic employment are greater in metropolitan areas. More than one-fifth of all U.S. artists live in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, and Boston. Half of all artists live in 30 metropolitan areas.
- Unique regional concentrations emerge. New Mexico has the highest share of fine artists, Vermont has the highest proportion of writers, and Tennessee, the highest proportion of musicians.
Employment and income
- Artists are entrepreneurial – 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed.
- Artists are underemployed – one-third of artists work for only part of the year.
- Artists generally earn less than workers with similar education levels. The median income from all sources in 2005 was $34,800 for artists, higher than the $30,100 median for the total labor force, and lower than the $43,200 for all professionals.
Education level
- Artists are more educated. Artists are twice as likely to have a college degree as other U.S. workers.
- The share of degree-holding artists rose between 1990 and 2005.
- Among artist occupations with the highest educational attainment levels are architects, writers, and producers.
FULL REPORT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Posts
1 comment:
I didn't look at the full report yet, but thanks for posting this.
I think all of the various artist unions and trade groups should come together and unite under a larger national artists union. Of course, studio artists & freelancers (painters, sculptors, designers etc.) would have to first become as organized as all the artists in the film & theater industries already are. (I vaguely remember reading about an attempt at this in the past, but it failed because so many artists were so desperate for exposure that they were unwilling to unite.)
But imagine how much more powerful artists would all become if we formed a cohesive cross-disciplinary union on a national level.
Post a Comment