MEASURING THE EXPERIENCE #34
A similar variation in numbers of artists in an area occurs within the case studies. For example, Eastern Arts Board, which covers the counties of Bedford, Cambridge, Essex, Hertford, Lincoln, Norfolk and Suffolk holds a database of visual artists which contains a total of 200 names.[1] In comparison, 250 artists took part in the Cambridge Open Studios between 1993-1995, and 258 artists contributed to the Norfolk & Norwich Visual Arts Festival between 1994 and 1996. However, grant aiding both of these ventures offers Eastern Arts a means of working beyond the relatively small artist constituency already known to it. Notably, both Eastern Arts and the local authorities who assist these ventures view their input as a positive way of assisting a broad range of artists and makers who may otherwise have a limited input to the arts environment.
However, the ability of funding bodies to maintain and expand such areas of support has been limited by the funds available and the call made on them by a diverse range of arts organisations. This raises the question of how the arts funding system can hope in future years to respond to the expectations and artistic aspirations of a growing and arguably more street-wise artist population. Support to artists policies have tended to focus on improving artists’ economic base through involvement in public art and community-based schemes, provision of training, advice and information aimed at heightening their business acumen, and support of artists’ resources including studios and workshops. However, the over-supply of artists which has been identified by recent research will inevitably affect the level of income that might in the future be achieved by artists. This is because a larger artist population has the effect of reducing opportunities for each one to be economically viable, whether through sales of work or provision of visual arts services or by achieving art world recognition through exhibitions, commissions, prizes, etc.
In any case, as has been referred to earlier, the profession of visual artist is not readily defined in economic terms. The recent research by the National Artists Association[2] has confirmed earlier studies by Ruth Towse[3] and others which had demonstrated that artists exist on extraordinarily low levels of income and that only a small percentage can hope to earn their main income from their artistic practice. It would therefore only seem to be possible for more artists to earn any income from artistic activity if the volume of opportunities for paid work and the various ‘markets’ for artwork were to increase dramatically, and there is no evidence so far that this is likely to be the case. Indeed, it has been argued that a pool of artists operating in highly-competitive conditions is a prerequisite of a thriving art scene, just as a capitalist economy depends for its efficacy on a high level of unemployment.
[1] Note that this figure was provided by Eastern Arts which was in the process of updating the database. The Crafts Council study above suggests there are 1,387 craftspeople in the Eastern Arts Board area.
[2] Draft report on fees and payments to artists, Phyllida Shaw & Keith Allen, National Artists Association, 1996
[3] See surveys discussed in The economics of artists’ labour markets, Ruth Towse, Arts Council of England, 1996
