Policy and many of the programmes intended to be supportive of artists’ development and careers may lack insight into the nuance of artists’ lives and how they pursue art practices. By collating data from a range of authoritative sources, this new independently produced resource provides a demographic and economic profile of artists as an aid to those committed to aiding artists’ to survive and (maybe even) to thrive, a bit.
In demographic terms, 75% of the 42,000 visual artists’ constituency [1] identify as female. Just under a fifth are from global majority backgrounds, this greater than in the general population. A fifth is neurodivergent (Jowlett 2021) and three quarters are likely to be dyslexic. Visual artists are less likely than the general population to have dependent children to help support them in infirmity and old age.
Review of 30 years of data confirms artists’ consistently poor economic circumstances. Shaw and Allen (1996) gave average artists’ earnings equivalent to 44% of a manual worker’s wage. TBR (2018) concluded average annual income as £16,150 (58% of average salaries), with £6000 from art sources and 7% of artists earning more than £20,000 pa. The median permanent full-time arts salary is £34,000 (Arts Professional 2022).
At 77%, self-employment is higher amongst visual artists than in the creative industries overall where it is 35% (CCS 2022). As with general employment patterns, female visual artists earn less than males and income levels are lower for individuals from global majority and lower social class backgrounds. An artist’s typical ‘mixed income’ comprises from 33% sales, 29% teaching, 16% cultural freelancing, 13% non-art, 5% in grants and 4% from cultural employment (Acme 2020).
This extract comes from a briefing that’s offered as a sectoral presentation, academic seminar or lecture and also as a pdf resource. Contact susanjonesarts [at] gmail.com to access it.
References
[1] Artists’ data calculation from Jones, S (2019) Artists’ livelihoods: the artists in arts policy conundrum https://e‑space.mmu.ac.uk/626357/ p266
Acme (2020) Submission to the DCMS Inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on its sectors
Arts Professional (2022) Arts Pay Survey 2022: preliminary findings https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/artspay-survey-2022-preliminary-findings
CCS (2022) Working with the self-employed: A Best Practice Guide for Businesses https://ccskills.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Working-with-the-Self-Employed.pdf
Jowlett, P (2021) ‘Neurodivergence manifesto a ‘call for change’’, Arts Professional https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/neurodivergence-manifesto-call-change?
Shaw, P and Allen, K (1996) Artists’ Rights Programme: A review of artists’ earnings for exhibitions and commissions: Executive Summary. London: National Artists Association.
TBR. (2018) Livelihoods of Visual Artists: Summary Report. London: Arts Council England (3 reports).