This audio of a presentation by Susan Jones at Work and Art, CRATE, UCA Canterbury, March 2015, considers the climate for visual artists’ practice and their ability to make a living. Referencing evidence and data from arts and cultural sources over the last thirty years and considering insight from future forecasting, it identifies the prevailing issues surrounding support to artists and their livelihoods within the public sector. It concludes by articulating some of the inherent issues and challenges within the current and future ecology for artists and the contemporary visual arts to be addressed by public funders and the sector alike.