ARTISTS AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS by Bob Quick
Posted in Main Content on January 2nd, 2010 by adminThe following is a very informative article about the impact of the current economic crisis on artists in Santa Fe and beyond.
The image of a “struggling artist” has become a reality for artists around the country in the ongoing economic recession, according to the findings of a recent national survey — and given there are more than 2.5 million working artists in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that’s a serious matter.
Artists, including those in Santa Fe, are seeing their income drop, forcing many to find other jobs to support themselves. Many artists report they are unable to pay the high cost of medical insurance and are afraid of losing the coverage they have.
“Today I had lunch with a couple of artists I know,” said Geoffrey Gorman, a Santa Fe sculptor and art consultant. “They said their sales were down 20 to 30 percent from last year. We’re all shocked about the declines.”
Some artists have had to declare bankruptcy, Gorman added.
Despite these challenges, artists are optimistic about the future, the survey found: Some 89 percent think they have a special role in helping strengthen communities in these times. Seventy-five percent said they believe this is an inspiring time to be an artist.
“The Artists and the Economic Recession Survey” was developed by Leveraging Investments in Creativity in partnership with Helicon Collaborative and Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The intent was “to provide high-quality and timely information to funders and artist service organizations,” a statement from the survey group said.
“The survey sought to understand artists’ financial circumstances more than a year into the recession, their strategies for adapting to the poor economy and their needs and concerns at this time,” the statement said. “The research is part of LINC’s efforts to improve conditions for artists nationwide.”
LINC partnered with 35 arts-service organizations throughout the U.S. who asked their members to take part in the electronic survey, in either English or Spanish. In response, 5,380 artists nationwide completed the survey last summer.
“Responses are sufficient to allow comparisons by age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, arts discipline, percent of income from art work and other important characteristics,” the statement said.
Among the findings of the survey are that most artists have low incomes — even though 62 percent of them are college graduates — and work at least one additional paying job in addition to making art.
Two-thirds reported their total 2008 income was less than $40,000, the survey found. And one-third of that number earned less than $20,000.
The drop in income has definitely impacted Santa Fe artists, several local arts-scene experts said.
Bud Redding, director of Spanish Market for more than 20 years, said a drop in income “confirms what I’ve been hearing” from Spanish Market artists. “First of all, their repeat clients have far less discretionary income. And these are steady, loyal patrons who attend (Spanish Market) every year, but couldn’t do it this year.”
Making matters worse, Redding said, is that very few folk artists who sell at Spanish Market have gallery representation. “Spanish Market is their only venue.”
One furniture maker who sells at Spanish Market saw sales slow down so much that he’s resorted to his savings to live on. “He’s said he’s had to become more conservative and watch his pennies,” Redding said.
As for working at another job, “I don’t know how many have multiple jobs,” Redding said. “I do know that some of them are retired from state and city jobs and receive a pension. That allows them to pursue their love of art.”
Lensic Performing Arts Center executive director Robert “Bob” Martin said artists have always faced hard times and struggled to make a living, even in a good economy. Performing artists, he said, have more of a struggle than visual artists.
“At least with visual artists, there’s a (tangible) commodity,” he said, pointing out that performing artists don’t have that and lead a more precarious existence.
Yet Santa Fe artists, Martin added, have the advantage of a community that supports artists and appreciates their work. “At least we have that going for us.
“Everybody I talk to is hanging in there,” Martin said. “I don’t know of anybody who stopped creating art or said they can’t deal with the stress.”
Folk artist Edwin Rivera works part time in the Santa Fe public schools’ Guest Artist program, doing art projects with children. This year, 245 kids are taking part.
That allows Rivera time to practice his own art, including his renditions of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. But sales have been slow.
“If I made $30,000 per year, I’d be in heaven,” Rivera said. “It’s usually much less than that.”
He added, “A lot of artists refuse to do anything else but their work. If I had to depend on my income from my art, I would have been dead 10 years ago.”
Victoria Cross, who is also a part-time teacher, said at one time in her life she made puppets and performed with them around the country. “But it’s very hard, and I have never been able to pretend to make a living as an artist.”
She sympathizes with artists who just want to do their art work, and suffer if they can’t. “It’s the way they choose to proceed, and it creates major challenges,” Cross said. “It’s been made worse by the recession.”
City Arts Commission Director Sabrina Pratt said the survey’s finding that many artists have to support their art through a combination of art and outside work “sounds like Santa Fe.”
Pratt also said that despite the recession, Santa Fe performing arts organizations “are filling seats. Business may be slower, but it’s not dead. People are willing to spend at least some money on the arts.”
Latricia McKosky, managing director of the Santa Fe Gallery Association and owner of InArt gallery, said many artists have lost income as a result of the economic recession.
“When income changes, that puts you in a tough position,” she said, “and I’ve heard of artists taking second jobs. A lot of them have to do that to create the art they want.”
Other worries artists have, the survey indicated, are loss of income resulting from fewer sales, difficulty finding funding for future projects, rising amounts of debt, fewer grants and low morale.
The survey also indicated that, “artists tend to earn very little of their income from their art work or almost all of it. Artists who spend more than 80 percent of their time on their art work have the highest income levels, while artists who rely on cobbling together an income from a mix of sources are most likely to earn under $20,000 a year.”
That’s true, said Gorman, who is doing more sculpting and much less consulting than before. “My theory is that those people who are deeply immersed in their art have carved out a market” that brings them a decent income.
And, he said, some of them succeed in unique ways.
“I talked to a woman recently who was a member of the Santa Fe Society of Artists and who said she did $50,000 in sales last year. She earned two-thirds of her income from her art,” Gorman said. “She didn’t even have gallery representation. She did workshops, but her base was six to eight street fairs.”
Gorman also said it’s difficult at times to know in Santa Fe who is a serious artist and who is not, and how much they earn from their art.
“There are so many dilettantes in this town who claim to be unique artists, but have never been an artist anywhere else. They have a lot of outside income,” he said.
McKosky agrees with the survey finding that this is an inspiring time to be an artist, despite the economic challenges.
“I think everybody is optimistic about next year,” she said. “We’re looking forward to a better year.”
