A national survey commissioned by the Mellon Foundation and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago has produced a 102-page report on the livelihoods of 2,618 US artists across five disciplines—performing arts, visual arts, writing, craft arts, and other arts—broken into 37 subdisciplines. Key findings reveal that 34% of artists are fully self-employed, 50% are self-employed in their primary job, and 11% hold three or more jobs. More than 57% of artists report being worried about financial vulnerabilities, including food (22%), housing, medical costs (32%), or utilities, while 28% provide unpaid care for a loved one and 8% have served in the military.
The study matters because it provides the first expansive national portrait of working artists and culture bearers in the US, offering data that can inform programs, public policy, and investments to support artists amid economic and social pressures. It arrives at a time of significant cuts to government-funded arts initiatives, including the end of National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts grants, censorship at the Smithsonian, and mass terminations at the National Council on the Humanities, the Kennedy Center, and the National Portrait Gallery, making the findings especially urgent for advocacy and policy-making.