Issue 13 - Working Art | FREE Sample
The Secret Lives Of Working Artists
For modern working artists, making art is just a small part of the job.
Feature Article By Jericho Knopp
Artist Amy Ash’s schedule is incredibly unpredictable. On any given day she could be teaching a course at NBCCD, working on a research project, responding to emails, grabbing coffee with collaborators, writing grant applications, developing new projects, and maybe, just maybe, working on art in the studio.
It’s a far cry from the life that people imagine professional artists living: spending day after day in the studio painting, never selling their work and living an impoverished, bohemian existence fueled by bread and cheap wine.
“I think that sometimes when I say that I’m an artist, people are like, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky that you can paint all day,’ and I definitely am so lucky, I know that, but it’s not just all fun times in the studio, there’s a lot more self-management than most jobs,” Amy says.
For modern working artists, making art is just a small part of the job. They are running a business: selling, marketing, bookkeeping, applying for grants and residencies, and tons of other tiny things that you wouldn’t generally consider. Artists aren’t sitting up in their ivory towers, painting and selling their pieces effortlessly. They are hard working entrepreneurs.
These small businesses and sole proprietorships don’t exist in a vacuum; they contribute heavily to the provincial economy and need to be supported to have the greatest impact.
A 2019 report on the state of the arts and culture sector in New Brunswick was commissioned by ArtsLink NB and written by David Campbell. The report, entitled Cultivating our Creative Workers, found that the arts are a wealth generator, contributing $550 million to the provincial GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
In fact, NB’s culture sector, which makes up less than 2% of the workforce, generates more of our provincial GDP than agriculture, pulp and paper manufacturing, IT, seafood manufacturing, or mining.
Creative workers also create their own jobs. In New Brunswick, 32% of arts and culture workers are self-employed, compared to only 8% of all workers. That number rises to 70% for visual artists.
THE JOY OF THE SIDE HUSTLE
There is no one portrait of a working artist. Some consider themselves full-time artists, but others might complement their artistic practice with a job in an arts-related field, such as teaching and administration. In fact, 14% of the 7,570 people in the arts and culture workforce in New Brunswick hold down more than two jobs at any given time, according to Cultivating our Creative Workers.
Though many have their art careers as a side hustle, their day job is not a grind. For the majority of the instructors at NBCCD, passing on craft and design skills to the next generation provides ample inspiration to bring back to their professional studio practice.
Maggie Higgins, a visual artist based in Saint John, estimates she spends 20 hours in the studio each week on evenings and weekends, sprinkled around her main job as education and outreach coordinator at the Saint John Arts Centre and NBCCD. This arrangement works perfectly for her.
“I actually find [having a day job] makes my art a lot easier,” she says, “because I find when I do have that stability, I don’t have that pressure that I have to be making a certain income on top of that, so it allows for a lot more flexibility.”
Maggie is in the majority: only 23% of New Brunswick artists spend more than 30 hours per week working on their art. Artists have impressive transferable skills in creative thinking that make them well suited to many forms of supplemental income. Working other jobs means they put those skills to good use not only in their studios but in their communities.
Emily Phillips works full-time at a landscape architecture and urban planning company. She spends roughly 10 hours a week on her artistic career, mainly on evenings and weekends, but she doesn’t consider her day job to be completely unrelated to her art. Her artistic practice examines natural environments in New Brunswick, while on weekdays she studies urban environments. Emily finds she suffers less from artist’s block than others might, because she squeezes a lot of creative work into a short amount of time.
“The time that I have is precious,” she says, “and when I’m not making art, I kind of have that bubbling in the background. I’m thinking about it and I’m mentally preparing for what I want to do when I do have the time.” Then, when she goes to paint, it all just comes together.
“I’m really passionate about environmental issues and conservation,” she says, “and I definitely believe that people protect what they love, so I’m interested in communicating that attachment to place and especially these iconic special places in New Brunswick, like the forest and in particular the Bay of Fundy and the Fundy Biosphere. Most of my work is really focused on that part of the world.”
THE FRUGAL NB LIFESTYLE
There is one thing the romanticized portrait of a professional artist gets right: the pay. According to the Campbell report, the median annual income for NB artists is $12,984, which is 59% less than other fields.
However, since so many have second and third jobs, only 13% of the arts and culture workforce is considered low income. All three artists I interviewed made significantly more than $13,000 per year, but a lot of that income came from non-art work, whether it be their full-time work or contract work.
“[My income] is fairly inconsistent and requires careful budgeting,” Amy says. “I will have days where I get cheques for a lot of money, and then I have to make sure that I budget that appropriately and not spend it, which is really tempting.”
Maggie also does her best to live a frugal life. On the odd occasion when she takes vacations, she ties them into some kind of professional development opportunity.
“I make specific trips around wanting to see a particular exhibit or hear a particular artist talk, something like that,” she says. “If I am going to take that luxury, I kind of want to combine those two luxuries into one.”
While it isn’t the main reason that all three artists have chosen to stay in New Brunswick, they all agree the cost of living is a plus.
“You get a lot more bang for your buck in New Brunswick than you do in other places,” Emily says. “That was something when I first moved here that kind of blew my mind, because the part of the U.S. that I grew up in is highly developed, so when I moved to New Brunswick, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can actually afford to buy a house.’”
When Maggie speaks about her reasons for living here, she includes potential for growth and contribution among the deciding factors.
“The Saint John Arts Centre was a place where I could have more of an opportunity to be creative,” she says, “to understand the gallery systems and get to know the people involved in making art happen here. I also wanted to stay here in order to create those opportunities so that young people do have a future in the arts in New Brunswick, and it doesn’t have to be a struggle and it doesn’t have to be, ‘Oh, that’s so great that you decided to stay here.’ The question can hopefully become in the future, ‘Why would you ever want to leave?’ So that is the goal of staying here.”
AN UNBALANCED EQUATION
Our active and accessible arts community is often cited as another reason to stay in New Brunswick.
“I love the community here,” says Amy. “The community is ready. People are interested in engaging with art here. Although there is plenty happening, it’s not overwhelmed with so much that people are jaded. People are warm and open for the most part, and ready to participate, which isn’t the case everywhere. It means you can measure what you put in, and, as an artist, you get more out of it, as well.”
Unfortunately, there are some gaps. The ArtsLink report points out that we are the only province that lacks anchor organizations (supportive cultural establishments of 50+ employees). This is a factor that has been shown to correlate to higher cultural GDP in other provinces of similar size, like Nova Scotia and Manitoba, who each have at least six such organizations. Despite this shortcoming, we make the most of our grassroots initiatives.
“I think making your own opportunities is really important,” says Maggie. “I think we all have to be involved in creating the environment where we all can flourish, and that means volunteering on boards, understanding the structures that create our cultural identity and creating the opportunities you’d like to see here. I think it’s just really important to be adaptable, no matter where you are.”
New Brunswick artists are highly resilient. Many have found a way to have a full- or part-time creative career without as much financial assistance as artists in other provinces. New Brunswick receives far less government funding for arts and culture, ranking 9th of 10 provinces for per capita funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the amount awarded to individual artists is 53% below the national level.
Given the impressive impact our artists have each and every year on the economy of New Brunswick (visual and applied arts alone yielded 53 million in GDP in 2017), it’s time we start seeing more of that money in return. We can each get started in our own communities by giving local artists the encouragement and resources they need to apply for grants with confidence. Just imagine the potential if we address the shortfalls in funding and support.
Issue 13 - Working Art celebrates New Brunswick’s role model entrepreneurs, patient and hardworking craftspeople, and our combined achievements for economic security. Within hardship, we can inspire one another to innovate, adapt, and even thrive. Help support this industry by sharing our free sample with your friends, followers, and loved ones. Help us support these individuals by purchasing a subscription at www.createdhere.ca/shop/annual-subscription
