How are artists in the United States being impacted and managing in the current economic climate? The recession has impacted all professions, and artists are no exception. LINC partnered with 35 arts service organizations across the U.S. who invited their members to take the electronic survey in either English or Spanish. The response was phenomenal: 5,380 artists nationwide completed the survey between July 20 and August 17, 2009.
As of 2001, there were more than 2.5 million working artists in the United States, representing a critical part of the entrepreneurial, independent workforce. In the summer of 2009, Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), in partnership with Helicon Collaborative and Princeton Survey Research Associates International, developed the Artists and the Economic Recession Survey to provide high-quality and timely information to funders and artist service organizations. The survey sought to understand artists’ financial circumstances more than a year into the recession, their strategies for adaptation, and their needs and concerns at this time. This research is part of LINC’s efforts to improve conditions for artists nationwide.
Visit LINCnet.net for more information on the research process and survey findings.
To read Selected Findings from the Artists and the Economic Recession Survey conducted by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), you can directly download the document here Selected Findings Artists and the Recession Survey 2009.
Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) is a ten-year national initiative to improve the conditions for artists working in all disciplines.
As a vital and immeasurable component of our cultural and collective identity, artists help us interpret our past, define our present and imagine our future. Working artists make resonant contributions to the daily lives of our communities, not only as creators, but also as entrepreneurs, educators and involved citizens. Representing more than 2 million working adults in 2001 (up from 730,000 in 1970), artists are a vibrant and ever-growing sector of the American workforce. However, artists are typically underpaid in relation to their peers with similar education and skill sets.
LINC realizes that the diverse talents artist possess are often under-valued, and their contributions are considered to be inessential or unnecessary by most sectors of our society. As a result, few nation-wide programs exist to provide artists with the resources, authority, and information necessary to pursue their creative work without jeopardizing their basic living conditions. LINC believes that providing artists with a relevant system of support and resources will enhance their creative output, enabling them to make greater and more meaningful contributions to our communities and society as a whole.
