Racial Diversity Among America’s Working Artists Virtually Non-Existent

By Jamilah King Oct 23, 2014

It’s hard to make a living off of your art, but that’s especially true for artists of color, according to the Roberto A. Ferdman at Wonkblog:

Nearly four out of every five people who make a living in the arts in this country are white, according to an analysis of 2012 Census Bureau data by BFAMFAPhD, a collective of artists dedicated to understanding the rising cost of artistry. The study, which surveyed more than 1.4 million people whose primary earnings come from working as an artist, represents a broad population of creative types in the country, and reveals a number of troubling truths.

The study digs a bit deeper, finding that 80 percent of people with art school degrees are white. That’s important when you’re talking about gaining access to the institutional structures — faculty connections, business direction — that are often pre-requisites for a successful professional career. So as the country grows more diverse, its crop of working professional artists remains stubbornly white. Read more at Wonkblog