Rhode Island #7 in US for Working Artists, Says NEA Report
Monday, November 07, 2011
There are some hard numbers behind Providence's self-designated definition as The Creative Capital, if you apply it to all of Rhode Island.
So says a new report on the state of working artists in America, issued recently by the National Endowment for the Arts.
According to the report, Artists and Arts Workers in the United States, there are currently 2.1 million artists in the United States workforce. And Rhode Island ranks #7 nationally for percentage of its total workforce in the arts. That's a big number, according to the report, and puts the state on par with New York and California (#1 & #2), Oregon and Vermont (tied for #3), Colorado and Connecticut (tied for #5). Rhode Island shares the #7 slot with Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Nevada, and Minnesota.
The working artist, counted
To arrive at its numbers, the NEA analyzed data from the US Census American Community Survey, a new annual survey that complements the decennial census. They analyzed 11 distinct artist occupations:
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actors
announcers
architects
dancer and choreographers
designers
fine artists
art directors and animators
musicians
other entertainers
photographers
producers and directors
writers and authors
The NEA used a data set of five years (2005-2009) to get a large enough sample size for thorough analysis.
The data reveals that not only does Rhode Island contain a percentage of working artists among its workforce that is higher than the national average, but it also gives a snapshot of working artistic life in the Ocean State.
Rhode Island's Top Artistic Sector: Manufacturing
Is it a surprise that within the state, the highest saturation of arts works is in what the report categorizes as "custom architectural woodwork and millwork"? After this sector, work at historical sites was the second-richest area, followed closely by museum-related employment, then performing arts companies and musical groups/artists.
National trends
• More than one-third of artists in the survey (39 percent, or 829,000 workers) are designers (such as graphic, commercial, and industrial designers, fashion designers, floral designers, interior designers, merchandise displayers, and set and exhibit designers.)
• Performing artists make up the next largest category (17 percent). In addition, each of the following occupations make up 10 percent of all artists: fine artists, art directors, and animators; writers and authors; and architects.
• Between 2000 and 2009, the artist labor force increased by 5 percent while the civilian labor force grew by nearly 8 percent.
Artists work in many industries and job sectors
• More than half of artists (54 percent) work in the private, for-profit sector; 35 percent are self-employed.
• One in three artists (34 percent) works in the "professional, scientific, and technical services" sector, which includes architectural and design firms, advertising agencies and consulting firms, and companies offering computer or photographic services.
• One in five (18 percent) of artists work in the "performing arts, spectator sports, and independent artists" category, including more than half (53 percent) of all musicians.
• Fourteen percent of all artists (73 percent of producers and directors, 23 percent of actors, and 20 percent of writers and authors) work in "information" industries, such as the motion picture, video, and broadcasting industries, or newspaper, book, or directory publishing.
Wage gaps persist
• Women artists earn $0.81 cents for every dollar earned by men artists. This gap is similar to that in the overall labor force (where women earn $0.80 cents for every dollar earned by men); professional women earn even less -- $0.74 for every dollar earned by professional men. (ii)
• Artists' median wages and salaries ($43,000 in 2009) are higher than the median for the whole labor force ($39,000). Yet artists as a whole earn far less than the median wage of the "professional" category of workers ($54,000), to which they belong. Architects make the highest median wage ($63,000), while workers who are classified as "other entertainers" had the lowest ($25,000).
For the summary and link to a downloadable PDF of the report, go here.
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