So, how much money did you make today?
If you are an artist, chances are you made as much as I did! I was supposed to get a check yesterday for some sold work that did not come.
Today (and pretty much every day) I worked: on my art, I emailed various contacts, I reviewed some grant I can apply for, I cleaned my space (didn't finish, but I dust busted and swept), I spoke to a collector, I worked on a piece for a show, and much more, but I didn't earn an actual dime!
Many artists (I could say most) produce work "just in case". If we are lucky we get commissions but otherwise it is pretty much "on spec".
Do you think artists of the 21st C. should be financially supported? During the Great Depression artists got paid for producing murals, and other works of art, some of it going to the government, but giving visual artists, writers, musicians and people like Orson Wells the means to work.
During the Great Depression, many artists who were working in printing, illustration, graphic arts, advertising, and other professional fields became unemployed because businesses could no longer afford to keep them.
In 1934, Franklin Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration's Fine Arts Program (FAP) for the purpose of employing artists, writers, musicians, and actors, who, for a weekly wage and art supplies, made artworks for public buildings, and archives of interviews, narratives, and photographs for the nation. Often the artworks were on specific WPA-guided themes, such as American Scene or Americans at Work. Goals of the program were to celebrate American art and to integrate more art into small town America.
Artists received about $25 per week. They were required to produce one finished work of art per month and put in a certain number of hours.
Click here to read more and see some art from the period.
above is a commission piece I have NOT quite finished!
