ages ago, the couple of you that read this drivel regularly (why you bother, i have no idea..ha!) will remember that i was a bit frustrated with the whole relationship between praxis and employment and i put up a bit of a poll to see how some of us deal with our finances.
well, the poll has closed and i’ve finally got around to posting about it.
poll results
cafe/bar/hospitality 8% (3 votes)
arts worker/admin/gallery assistant 17% (6)
graphic design/freelance 8% (3)
i make enough from my art to live comfortably 8% (3)
centrelink 11% (4)
teaching 20% (7)
other 34% (12)
now see that ‘other’ figure? high, isn’t it? seems i forgot to include retail and/or a link to the post in which to do describe what that other might be, so i’m guessing that quite a large proportion of that is working retail. if you voted and clicked other, feel free to let me know here.
and apart from that, it seems that teaching art is the other main way to earn a living. and i have to say that i’m jealous of those 3 people who make enough from their art to live comfortably. do you all live in australia?
oh, and obviously the research isn’t exhaustive, or in depth (blogger’s polls aren’t exactly scientific).
interestingly, i had a conversation about art funding with my studio mate the other day and we both discovered how fascinated we are with how art practice is funded. i’m always interested in how an artist is financially able to make the works they do – have they received arts funding? are they just independently wealthy and can afford it without too much hard work? do their parents help? are they represented by a gallery? etc, etc, etc.
it also seems that it’s a bit of a taboo to talk about where the money comes from, in such lean times. on one hand i can understand it – no one likes to expose themselves to others, in terms of what their ‘worth’ is – it puts us in a vulnerable position. and yet, sometimes i wonder if that taboo was chipped away, and we freely exchanged financial (as well as inspirational) insights, then the art world might just be a little more about ideas again, and a little less about marketing and manipulation. then again, some things never change i guess.