A New way of Funding Visual Artists

 

There are a few lucky artist that can make a living selling their art. There are a few more, that have a job that supports them, but they are still dedicated artists exhibiting and selling their work. But I have found in San Diego that there are a large number of artists that have to have a job to support themselves, that do show their work, but they rarely sell it. Maybe the work is too expensive for those living here or maybe the work is too challenging. And yes, maybe they are not good at marketing themselves, but there are also lots of showing spaces that don’t promote sales.

Although this is not a condition exclusive to San Diego, it is exclusive to a county and cities the size of  those in San Diego. I am delighted that over $1million from the county and $1million for Arts Matter will goi directly into the pockets of deserving individual artists.  But I would like to support another initiative: to pay artists to show their work.  

In the performing arts, we pay the singers, actors, dancers etc. but usually it is expected that visual artist are not paid since they can sell their art. But since the art is not selling, they struggle. Mesa College Art Gallery pays a stipend to every artist that shows in their space. I was astonished to hear this and I actually benefitted from this when I exhibited there. San Diego Visual Arts Network has been giving grants to artist for the last 19 years as part of the SD Art Prize which includes an exhibition, a catalog and wide promotion. Couldn’t we start with all city and county housed galleries, libraries and educational institutes budgeting to pay artists to put their work on display? Hopefully that would spread to Museums,  art associations and even private sales galleries

But that is just the beginning. We need a county policy written to designate Arts and Cultural District and it needs to be funded so those districts can market and promote all the arts. The state has a budget that includes funding of $4 million for their Arts and Culture districts of which San Diego has 4 official ones including the latest Arts District Liberty Station. Let’s do this in our county and add to the 4-6 existing arts districts we already have.

And while we are at it, let’s get an ordinance passed that allows for affordable housing for artist throughout our county, not just in Arts and Cultural Districts. Let’s make sure our artist do not have to leave to make a living.

Finally, we should constantly be working to simplify the process of supporting the arts. For Artists this means limited the questions on grants application. Everything should be online and no licenses or insurance should be required. If this was standardized county-wide , once an artist fills out one form, that could be used for multiple applications. Here is a very short example:

·       Residency: Should live in a specific geographic location (city, state, or country) for a set time (e.g., 1 to 5 years).

·       Career Stage: Should state a specific group: emerging artists or mid-career/established professionals.

·       Artistic Merit & Quality: Evaluated through a portfolio of recent work and an artist statement and CV.

·       Financial Need: personal or professional financial necessity

·       Budget Feasibility: a clear timeline and proposed budget

So there you have it. My four suggestions:
Pay artists to show their art,.
Fund Arts and Culture District.
Make sure affordable housing is available for artists.
Simplify the grant/employment process for artists.