Can You Make a Living as an Artist
People may pursue the arts for love not money, but how practise Australian artists pay their bills?
Central points:
- An Australian artists works a 45-60 minutes week in general
- Artists are required to supplement their income from other jobs
- Women artists earn 44 per cent less than men for their creative work
The Australia Council for the Arts has released new research which shows the boilerplate income of a practising professional person artist in Australia declined by about 4 per cent betwixt 2008 and 2015.
The report shows in the 2014-2015 financial year artists earned a gross income of $48,400 on average. That was way below the average income of $77,121 but in a higher place the poverty line of $22,167.
Only to earn that the artists had to supplement their income from other jobs.
Sydney sculptor Sophie Clague knows too well the challenges.
The 29-year-old has been forced to take a total-time receptionist job to brand ends run across.
"As an creative person, the sporadic nature of the income is a existent worry. You lot tin can sort of scrimp and salvage and live in a warehouse but you're not going to be putting anything away for the time to come because everything yous earn you're using for living expenses," she said.
Sophie earned about $24,000 last twelvemonth from a combination of selling artworks, receiving grants and winning an award.
But over the years she's worked as a waitress and in galleries to help pay the bills.
Despite the worries Sophie is adamant and spends her weekends and spare time in the studio.
"I can't imagine not sculpting," she said.
The report'due south author, economist David Throsby from Macquarie University said it was harder to be an artist in Australia than it used to be.
"They're spending more time at the creative piece of work and getting less return for it so that is something which we observe and which is quite a worry," he said.
Professor Throsby surveyed writers, visual artists, craft practitioners, actors, directors, dancers, choreographers, musicians, singers, composers, songwriters, and community cultural development artists.
'Y'all've got to bite off more than you can chew'
Jess Ciampa is a musician who hasn't had a day off for 3 months, and won't get 1 until January.
"If I wasn't earning a living purely from playing I'd think twice about taking some of those jobs, but as a freelance musician you lot've got to bite off more than y'all can chew and chew similar crazy, there'south merely no other way to practise it," he said.
Jess has worked as a percussionist for 30 years and has been making money solely from music for the concluding decade.
Even though his calendar is full, he said the gigs were drying up.
"I don't think I've always considered quitting 'cos I can't imagine doing annihilation else.
"But I accept considered, when January and Feb comes effectually and things are a fleck wearisome, I often think mayhap I should put my name down for some casual instruction at schools."
Gender pay gap wider in the arts
The gender pay gap is especially broad in the arts. Women artists earned 32 per cent less than men overall and 44 per cent less for their creative work.
"The pay gap for artists is worse than in the general workforce and there's no obvious reason why that should exist the instance," Professor Thorsby said.
"In fact, in some ways ane might think there would be more equality in the arts because the arts is a sort [of] socially progressive sector of the economy, and you lot would have thought that it might exist that they might exist doing more to overcome the discrimination for women artists."
Sophie has been aware of the pay gap for years.
"I think male artists, when they're pricing their work, mayhap they're more than confident in putting it for a higher cost and that's something fifty-fifty with my work I always nether-price my work and then people are like 'No, you lot take to make it more than than that'," she said.
"Even in commercial galleries, if you await at most commercial galleries in Sydney anyhow, they're all the same overwhelmingly made upward of male person artists in their stable."
The gender pay gap could explain why more female person artists in relationships than male said their partner'due south income was important to them.
Sophie said she'due south considered that maybe she wouldn't have children due to her depression income.
"Do you wait until yous're a chip more established? Just then, you might never get established," she said.
Large changes over 30 years
Professor Throsby has been conducting this survey since 1983 and has seen a lot of change over that fourth dimension.
"One of the about obvious is the casualisation of the artistic workforce. About 80 per cent [of] artists are freelance, whereas thirty years ago many, many more would have been employees and would accept had some prospect of a continuing task," he said.
Over his career, Jess has observed that some organisations that used to hire musicians as staff increasingly began hiring them as sub-contractors, meaning they stopped getting superannuation and had to organise their own public liability insurance.
He estimates he earned about $50,000 terminal yr. He doesn't have much superannuation and his retirement plan may stop up being selling the huge number of instruments filling his garage.
Professor Throsby'due south report shows increasingly artists do have superannuation or some other ways of future financial security, such as personal savings and investments or support, from a partner or family.
The number without any arrangements have fallen dramatically since the previous survey, from 14 per cent to 5 per cent.
However, Professor Throsby said it was worrying that iv out of 10 artists did not consider their arrangements to be adequate.
The Australia Quango CEO Tony Grybowski said information technology was a concern that Professor Throsby'south research highlights increasing challenges to maintaining a viable career as a professional artist in Australia.
"If we want Australian stories to keep being told and Australia's various artistic talent to succeed locally and internationally, nosotros must consider the support structures, protections and remuneration of Australian artists," he said.
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Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-13/artists-struggle-to-make-a-living/9142492
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