Financial Help for Starving Artists

Live/work spaces and cooperatives have proven attractive to artists in expensive urban areas.

The starving artist is often romanticized in popular culture, yet few earn more than a marginal living from pursuing their creative passions. However, various forms of financial assistance are available -- such as cooperative groups, or live/work spaces, which like-minded artists create to pool resources. Grants and endowments offer another avenue of support at the local or regional level. Investment clubs have also sprung up to assist struggling artists and provide money management advice.

Cooperatives

By forming a cooperative, artists can maximize their earning power. Members pay monthly dues and volunteer time, in exchange for space to create and show their work. Artists reduce the costs of exhibiting at individual galleries, keep more of their profits and put extra money into special projects -- such as marketing campaigns, the Tacoma News-Tribune reported in January 2010. Carolyn Burt ran her gallery like a cooperative -- while keeping the books herself, to ensure consistent management, she told the newspaper.

Foundations

For local artists, getting help from foundations is problematic. Contributions typically go to nonprofit groups, who are deemed more acceptable than individuals, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. During the fall of 2002, the Heinz Endowments launched Creative Heights to provide up to $150,000 in grants for artists who collaborated with local organizations. This method upheld endowment policy of supporting incorporated groups, while exposing lesser-known artists, the newspaper reported.

Grants

Following the culture wars of the early 1990s, federal and state funding for individual artists largely dried up, National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman acknowledged during a March 2010 visit to Philadelphia. For most artists, local initiatives offer their best chance of grant funding. A notable example is "Southern Exposure," launched with help from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. As of August 2010, 50 San Francisco Bay area artists had received $150,000 through the program.

Investment Clubs

Investment clubs offer another method to help artists build earnings. Members put their money into a larger pool, which they invest in securities -- with the group making all decisions. Dancer and corporate financial officer David Sharp formed one of the first examples in 1998. According to Sharp, he conceived the Thriving Investment Club to give his peers the chance to freely discuss financial matters without feeling intimidated. Members are encouraged to make outside investments by using information they learn from the club's monthly meetings.

Live/Work Spaces

Live/work spaces refer to the development of building areas to house artists and studios. This enables artists to live cheaply, while offering the communal feel needed to stimulate creativity, according to the Tacoma News-Tribune. Such plans aroused interest in Olympia, Washington, which is known for its strong arts scene. However, this ideal has remained elusive, as Tacoma arts administrator Amy McBride told the newspaper. City code restrictions pose a major hurdle, as well as the realities of development costs and lack of suitable spaces, she added.

References

• Crane Arts: "Press: Culture Wars"
• New York Foundation for the Arts Quarterly: "The Long Run: A Performer's Life"
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "New Grant Program Aims to Help 'Starving' Artists"
• San Francisco Appeal: "Attention Starving Artists: Southern Exposure's Grant Program Might Be For You"
• Tacoma News-Tribune: "Artist Cooperatives Easier to Start Than Live/Work Spaces"

Resources

• Actors Federal Credit Union
• Starving Artists Law: "Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts"
• The Pauper
• WNYC: "The Brian Lehrer Show: Artists And Their Day Jobs"