Posted inNews

NEA Captures Data on Artists with Day Jobs

Not long ago we wrote about a study that took up the question of who is an artist, examining some of the ways in which defining creative workers is difficult. On Monday the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) added to the conversation by releasing a new data set called “Keeping My Day Job: Identifying U.S. Workers Who Have Dual Careers as Artists.”

Posted inArt

Five Things I Learned While Teaching a Class on Arts and Labor

In August and September I facilitated a class focused on labor issues within the arts. Specifically, we looked at how and when artists receive or don’t receive payment for their work, and the broader implications of compensating artists. Because there was such a great mix of students in the class working across fields, as expected, I ended up learning quite a bit myself during the class.

Posted inArt

A Clear Set of Demands: How to Be a Constituency of Artists

So far this year I’ve been to two different events that highlight different but related approaches to political organizing among artists here in New York. Just to clarify what I mean by organizing — literally bringing individual artists together into a larger community that can advocate for and create political change around some of the more pressing issues facing independent artists in the city (unstable housing, irregular employment, healthcare, etc), issues which many other groups in the city also face.