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Behavior Research Associates |
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OAKLAND ARTISTS SURVEY REPORT by Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.
Questionnaires Used in the Analysis Some Additional Considerations in Analyzing the Data Characteristics of the Artists Participating in the Survey From Making Art to Sales and Promotion Achieving Success and Recognition Defining Their Artist Community and Ways of Participating and Gaining Recognition Sources of Support and Needs for Additional Assistance Differences in Characteristics Differences in Goals and Interests Differences in Becoming an Artist Differences in Income and Income Sources Differences in Making, Selling, and Promoting Art Differences in Defining Their Artist Community Differences in Sources of Support Differences based on Ethnicity The Relationship between Income and Other Factors
Recommendations for further research EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Oakland Artists Survey was conducted in June 2002 to explore the goals and needs which artists have and their strategies for achieving success. It also looked at differences between artists based on such factors as gender, ethnicity, and income level. The study was conducted through a survey of 74 artist members of Pro Arts, a non-profit educational organization based in Oakland, California with about 1000 members. These were all artists who had participated in Open Studios, Pro Arts largest annual event, featuring 497 artists in 2002. The results of the study show these main points: · The majority of the respondents were predominantly female artists, 40 and older, from European backgrounds, and quite well educated. Most of these artists had been artists for at least 10 or more years; slightly over half for 20 or more years. This artist profile is quite different than that of artists in Oakland as a whole, since it under-represents artists who are male, under 40, and from the ethnic groups which make up about 60% of Oakland. However, this profile reflects the overall make-up of Pro Arts, which is seeking to expand through outreach to these under-represented groups. · The artists are involved in making a wide variety of types of art, and many engage in making multiple types of art. They also change the focus of their art over their course of their careers, from year to year, and from day to day. But certain types of art are most important to the artists generally, most notably painting, followed by mixed-media. Fewer are involved in sculpture, photography, or metal work. · The goals of visibility, recognition, and sales are of about equal importance to the artists as a whole, though different artists place different priorities on their goals. Many artists indicated other goals of importance, including spiritual or personal growth, creating good work and further developing their skill, being able to influence and impact others with their art, and becoming part of a community of artists. · Slightly over half of the artists viewed themselves as emerging or new artists, and most of the others characterized themselves as being mid-career, although the vast majority of the artists had spent over 20 years as an artist. A possible reason for these self-descriptions is the difficulty many artists experienced in gaining visibility and recognition in a very crowded, competitive field. · A majority of artists made the decision to become an artist early on – often as a child, teenager, or just after graduating from high school or college. Most of the others decided in their 20s and 30s, though a substantial minority made the commitment in their 40s or older. · The artists gained their skills as an artist through a wide variety of types of training, most commonly through multiple training approaches, including being self-taught, going to art school, being an art major in college, or studying with individual teachers. Especially common was going to art school or majoring in art in college. · Although almost all the artists hoped to make art their primary source of income, only a few do. For most it is only a hope, though a small percentage see art as more a form of personal expression, and don’t seek to make it a primary source of income. · Generally, artists receive a low income return from their art; almost half earned less than $5000, a quarter less than $1000 – and many of these earned nothing. Only a very small percentage (8%) earned $25,000 or more. · Given the difficulties of earning a substantial income from art, most artists, even those with art as their primary source of income, engage in many other types of work. Many engage in related fields, such as doing graphic design or teaching art, though more commonly artists work in non-arts related professions to provide the income to support their art. Such occupations are very varied, from carpentry and construction to working in management, marketing, and as a doctor and psychologist. · The artists vary greatly in their time making art, averaging about 20 hours a week for all artists. However, artists spend much less time on marketing and sales – only about 4 hours a week. But those who spend more time on selling find this generally pays off in sales: they generally make more than those who spend less time on selling. · In promoting their art, the artists consider their participation in Open Studios especially important. The other major promotional activities include reaching out to friends and relatives and looking to client referrals. Next in importance are making contacts with business and work associates and contacting galleries. Though a majority of artists have a Web site or plan to create one, this is not considered a particularly valuable source for sales. · The artists feel the main ingredients needed for success are to do good work, work hard, and have commitment, determination, persistence, and discipline. Additionally, they feel it necessary to get exposure and promote yourself, network and seek support from artists and others, have good luck, and stay upbeat, positive, and true to yourself. · In defining their community, the artists identify most strongly with Oakland and then with the East Bay and San Francisco Bay area. To become part of this community, besides participating in Open Studios and Pro Arts, the artists mostly commonly participated in local shows, developed friendships and networked with other artists, and joined organized groups of artists. · Generally, the artists notice few differences among artists in different parts of Oakland or in other areas of the East Bay, or Bay Area. Mostly they stress the great diversity of styles and individual interests of different artists, though a few noticed some pockets of differences, such as concentrations of ethnic artists with other styles. · For support, the artists turn especially to other artists, followed by individual and Pro Arts. Among the major types of additional assistance and support they most wanted was more money, more sales, more shows, exposure, and gallery representation. · The major differences between female and male artists were these: o The female artists were generally older and working as artists longer – an average of 22 years compared to 17 years for the males. o The female artists tended to have a higher level of education, with more graduate degrees. o The male artists were slightly more likely to do sculpture, photography, and metal work. o The male artists were slightly more likely to see art as an occupation, whereas the female artists were slightly more likely to see it as a form of personal expression. o While a large majority of both male and female artists do not see their art work as a primary source of income, the male artists were slightly more likely than female artists to regard their art in this way. The male artists also spent more time in making their art each week – about 24 versus 17 hours. o Both the male and female artists spent relatively little time selling their art – about 4 hours a week, though a slightly larger percentage of female artists spent no time at all in selling. o In the case of promotion, females are more likely to promote their art to friends and relatives, males are more apt to look to business and work associates. The male artists are also much more likely to have a Web site. · It is difficult to draw any conclusions about differences due to ethnicity, because of the small number of artists of non-European backgrounds in the survey. However, some of the differences include these: o There are some differences in the types of art done in different groups. Painting seems to be especially important for the Asian-American artists; Latino artists appear to have a higher level of interest in mixed media; and the interest in photography is highest for the African-American artists. o European-American artists are somewhat more likely than others to see their involvement in art as an occupation. They also generally do better in both sales and making their art a primary source of income. o The European-American artists rate Open Studios as much more important than the artists of other groups, while the members of other groups give higher ratings to referrals from clients and from friends than European-Americans. · The major relationships between income and other factors are these: o The older artists tend to earn more, in that the artists earning $10,000 a year or more are 40 or older. o The artists earning $25,000 a year or more are more likely to concentrate on painting and photography than other artists, perhaps because painting and photography have a wider sales potential.
o
The artists earning more tend to be more likely to see art
as an occupation, and they spend more time both making and selling their
art. INTRODUCTIONHow do new artists become part of a local community of artists? What do they do to become successful in achieving their goals as an artist? What sources of support do they look to? What types of assistance do they need to help them achieve success? Those questions were used in framing this research to study how new artists become part of the arts community in Oakland. In conducting this study, I worked as a research intern in an applied anthropology M.A. program at Cal State, Hayward, with Pro Arts, a non-profit educational organization based in Oakland, California. Pro Arts has about 1000 artist members, most of them new and emerging artists, who represent a subset of the many new and emerging artists in Oakland. While about two-thirds of their membership is composed of women artists in their 40s and older of European backgrounds, it was not possible to conduct a much broader study of the whole Oakland community of artists – perhaps 5000 or more artists -- during a 2 month internship. Thus, I focused on this subset – and many of their goals, sources of support, and needs of assistance will parallel those of other artists. The results of this study will also be useful for Pro Arts in helping them to better serve the needs of their artist members. The survey was distributed to Oakland artists who participated in the East Bay Open Studios 2002, which is the organization’s largest event, put on annually for 20 years. This year there were 497 artists, about 250 of them with studios in Oakland, and the survey was distributed to the artists when they picked up their work and were asked to fill out a Pro Arts Evaluation Survey to assess the event. These survey results are based on the questionnaires that were turned in by 74 of the Oakland artists – about 30% of the Oakland artists in the event. Most of the artists turned in their questionnaires on the day they picked up their art, and about a dozen others mailed them in over the next two weeks. The analysis includes a breakdown of the artists based on which section of Oakland they are in – North, West, Central, or East Oakland in order to explore any differences in different communities of Oakland. In addition, the analysis looks at three other key factors affecting the artist’s participation in the arts community –gender, ethnicity, and income from art. Although the number of artists from ethnic backgrounds is very small – and some did not answer some of the questions, making the number of respondents even smaller, I included an analysis based on ethnicity, since Pro Arts is especially interested in the responses of these members, due to an interest in outreach to involve more ethnic artists. But any analysis of the breakdowns by ethnicity is only suggestive, because of the low numbers. Additionally, the study explores how the income artists earn from their art is related to the time they spend making and selling their art, their backgrounds, their goals, their sources of support, and their needs for assistance. Besides the statistical analysis, the study draws on the comments the artists made about their goals, perception of the arts community, and their efforts to gain recognition. Since only some of the artists voluntarily responded to these open-ended questions, these responses have been treated as qualitative data, with only some brief descriptive data about the artists making the comments noted, such as the artist’s city and gender.
Finally, the analysis concludes with a
discussion about: 1) how these findings have contributed to developing a
pilot research project based on conducting a small number of in-depth
interviews with both emerging artists to learn about their needs and with
more established full-time or successful Oakland artists to learn how they
have achieved their success; and 2) how these findings might be used to
develop a larger study of the artist community in Oakland or other cities. METHODOLOGYIn designing the study, I originally planned to do a series of in-depth interviews with 20 artists, selecting 4 from each section of Oakland, based on selecting those who were most successful or who engaged in art full-time, after I briefly met with about 125 artists at their Open Studio receptions on June 1-2 and June 8-9. Then, I had planned to use these interviews to help design the questionnaire, which would be distributed to the Pro Arts members in Oakland with the help of Pro Arts. However, after
I developed a preliminary interview guide for these in-depth interviews,
it appeared more feasible to distribute the questionnaires at the same
time that the Pro Arts staff distributed an Evaluation Survey to the
artists participating in Open Studios. Thus, the research design was
changed to turn the preliminary interview guide into the questionnaire,
and then I planned to use these results to guide the in-depth interviews,
though eventually these were scaled back to include interviews with 6
artists – 3 emerging artists, 3 more established, full-time, or successful
ones -- in pilot interviews for a possible future expanded study. This
approach was used given the two-months time frame to conduct the research,
which was refocused on doing an in-depth analysis of Pro Art’s Open
Studios Evaluation and the Oakland Artists Survey. Questionnaires Used in the Analysis Given the change in focus, I turned most of the questions from the interview guide into a series of questions which the artists could answer by checking off their preferences and ranking or rating different activities and sources of support. Additionally, there were some open-ended questions, so the artists could respond freely and raise issues and topics not included in the other questions. These questionnaires, titled: “Additional Questions on Artists in Oakland” were duplicated and attached to the EBOS Evaluation Forms for the Oakland artists. While all of the Oakland artists were asked to complete the survey for Oakland artists along with their EBOS 2002 Evaluation Forms, many artists did not either complete or mail in their forms, and some artists picked up their work late or not at all, so they did not receive any survey forms. Additionally, about 20 Oakland artists who submitted Evaluation Forms did not fill out the survey, and four artists sent in their forms two weeks after the survey analysis was completed, so their surveys could not be included. Ultimately, completed surveys were obtained from 74 artists – a response rate of 30% of the 250 Oakland artists participating in Open Studios. This rate is just slightly below the 38% rate of return for all artists responding to the EBOS evaluation, which is approximately the same rate of return Pro Arts has experienced in its past years of evaluating the Open Studios event.
Thus, while this report describes the
respondents as Oakland artists, these results are based on only the
artists responding to the survey, with an inference that their responses
reflect the views in the total Open Studios population of artists in
Oakland. However, since this is a self-selecting sample – the artists who
picked up their art and voluntarily filled out the survey -- not a random
sampling, it could be affected by this bias. (For example, the artists
filling out the survey could be those who had a better experience at the
Open Studios and so were more willing to fill out the Evaluation and then
complete the survey attached to the Evaluation Form.) The data was analyzed using an Access spread sheet for entering the data. As appropriate, the responses were entered as numerical, text, or yes/no responses. While most of the respondents did not add in comments, the questionnaires of those who did were flagged for a more in-depth analysis. Once the data was entered in Access tables, a series of queries were used to look at the relationship of various factors based on the responses of all artists in Oakland and at the breakdowns based on their studio location in North, West, Central, and East Oakland, gender, ethnicity, and income. The artist’s studio location was identified by the way Pro Arts divided up Oakland into four sections – G (North), H (West), I (Central and Downtown), and K (East Oakland). The four Oakland artists who were included among the artists in Emeryville and Southwest Berkeley (Section F) were grouped with the West Oakland artists.
Finally, the query results were
used to create a series of Excel charts showing these results. Since not
all artists answered all questions, the bases for the responses of some
questions will be less than the total artists in the survey, since the no
answer responses were eliminated, so the results would more clearly show
the differing responses of the artists who did answer. Some Additional Considerations in Analyzing the Data The questionnaire analysis revealed a few problems in questionnaire design and categorizing answers that might have been resolved had there been time to test out the questionnaire with a pilot project. Then, the questions might have been modified or the responded provided with a further explanation for how to respond to the question. In addition, the comments of the artists revealed that a few other categories should have been included in some of the questions, as noted in the discussion of the findings. Here I wanted to briefly mention the problems that came up in the data coding and analysis and how I dealt with them. · In the question about gender, two artists wrote in that they did not considered themselves either male or female, but identified themselves as “transgendered.” While they might have been classified as “male” based on my meetings with them at their studio, I used their self-identifications, and put them in a third gender category. As a result, their responses are included in the study, but they are not included in the comparison of males and females. · The questions asking artist to rank items order of importance (implying that they should use 1 for their most favored item, 2 for their next favored item, and so on) and rate items based on their importance (based on giving ratings from 0-5) were confusing to the artists. These terms should have been clarified and probably it would have been better to use one system – based on the 0-5 ratings – and provide a Likert-type scale of choices, so the artists could check or circle their choice. The comments by the artists also suggested additional categories that should be included in future research on this topic. While some artists correctly made the expected distinctions, many did not or simply checked off or rated one or two of the items that were most important to them. Accordingly, I compensated in the analysis as follows. o Where artists clearly made rankings and ratings as expected, I used their responses as is. o When artists checked off the goals items to be ranked from 1 on down or added additional items, I gave each item checked a “2”, since there were 3 items listed. (Actually, there should have been 4 or 5 items included here, since artists identified a number of additional goals in their comments; the items used in the questionnaire were based on a discussion with Pro Arts members about what they thought were the most important goals of the artists). o When artists checked off items that they were supposed to rate from 0-5 or when they appeared to rank these items instead of using the rating system, I gave each item checked a “3”, since this was the mid-point of the 0-5 rating scale and gave any items not checked a 0. o When artists did not answer a question, I did not enter any data, so their responses would not be included in the results for that question.
Finally, I reviewed the
comments made by some artists to look for common themes and patterns.
However, I did not break these down by location, gender, ethnicity, and
income, because there were too many different responses and too few
artists responding to meaningfully categorize these responses. Also, it
was not meaningful to analyze these responses statistically, since these
were voluntary responses by a small number of artists who choose to
respond. Thus, I have only included used these comments in discussing
the findings, though I have characterized the respondents with a brief
mention of background information about their gender, age, ethnicity,
and/or income, as relevant. The findings are presented in the following sections: · An overview of findings based on the responses of all the artists in the different areas of Oakland, including a discussion of their comments · Differences based on the artist’s gender · Differences based on the artist’s ethnicity
·
The relationship between
income and other factors, such as the artist’s goals and background. MAJOR FINDINGS
The major findings from the Oakland
Artists Survey are these, based on location, gender, ethnicity, and the
artist’s income from art. Characteristics of the Artists Participating in the Survey The participating artists were distributed throughout Oakland in much the same distribution of artists participating in Open Studios, where 48 (19%) from North Oakland (H), 62 (25%) from West Oakland (H), 57 (23%) from Central Oakland (I), and 80 (32%) from West Oakland (K) – a total of 247 Oakland artists. In the survey of 74 artists the comparable figures are 20% from North Oakland, 24% from West Oakland, 19% from Central Oakland, and 36% from East Oakland. (Chart 1). Thus, those responding are broadly representative of the larger Open Studios group. This group is a subset of the larger Oakland community of visual artists, which is a much larger and more diverse group, of about 5000-10,000 artists, depending on how artists are defined or define themselves. It can be hard to know this number precisely, since visual artists term themselves “artists” in many different ways, and they range from full-time or established practitioners to the occasional artist who engages in different art forms on an occasional basis, but still describe him or herself as an artist. Then, too, various groups of non-artists – from academics to journalists to the consumer going to an art gallery or reading about art in the paper – characterize artists in different ways. Plus, some artists change over their lifetime in whether they are practicing art or not. For instance, several artists noted on their questionnaires that they became artists as children, put their art aside for many years, and took it up again later on. Some commented that they went back and forth in practicing as an artist, and now were involved again. Overall, like Pro Arts artists and Open Studios participants as a whole, the respondents were predominantly female artists, 40 and older, from European backgrounds, and quite well educated, with some variation in different areas of Oakland. Most respondents have also been artists for many years – at least 10 or more years for the vast majority of artists, and slightly over half have been artists for 20 or more years. This artist profile is quite different than that of artists in Oakland as a whole, since it under-represents the artists who are male, under 40, and particularly from the ethnic groups which make up about 60% of Oakland, though Pro Arts is seeking to reach out to these unrepresented groups. More specifically, the respondents can be characterized thus: · In Oakland as a whole, 71% are females and 26% are males, plus 2 respondents (3%) characterized themselves as “transgendered”. The greatest percent of female artists are clustered in North Oakland (87%) and Central Oakland (92%), with the smallest percentage in West Oakland (47%) – the one area where males are a slightly larger percentage of the responding artists (53%). (Chart 2). · Overall, the vast majority of respondents – 85% -- are 40 and older. The largest age group is from 40-49 (34%), while artists 50 and older comprise 41% of the group. Slightly over 10% are 60 or older. There is quite a bit of variation from area to area in Oakland, though in general, the youngest artists (those under 40) are based in North Oakland (41%), compared to 16-27% in other areas of Oakland. By contrast, the oldest artists (those 50 and older) are concentrated in North and East Oakland (46-47%) compared to (34-36%) in other areas. (Chart 3) · The artists have spent an average of 21 years in the field – 80% have been artists for 10 or more years; 56% for 20 or more years; and 43% for 25 plus years. Only 10% describe themselves as very new to art (from 1-4 years). The artists in North Oakland report the longest number of years as artists (24.3 years), while those in Central Oakland claim the smallest number of years (15.9). (Charts 4 and 5). The more specific percentage variations in different areas are described in Chart 5. · Ethnically, the vast majority of respondents (80%) are white artists from European backgrounds. Only 3-6% of the artists come from each of the ethnic groups – much smaller than the representation of their ethnic groups in Oakland. Though artists of African, Asian, and Latino backgrounds represent about 15-25% each of the ethnic make-up of Oakland, their representation among Pro Arts artists and in the study is much less – there were only 4 African and 4 Latino artists (6% each) and only 3 Asian and 2 Mixed background artists (3% and 5% respectively). While the neighborhood breakdowns in Oakland reflect to some extent the ethnic distinctions in Oakland, many European artists have moved to West and East Oakland because of the lower rents, availability of large warehouse spaces, and increasing costs of rents in San Francisco. As a result, the highest percentage of artists is not only in North Oakland (79%) but in West and East Oakland (84-96%). But otherwise, the ethnic breakdowns do reflect some of the ethnic characteristics of those neighborhoods, with a small percentage of Latino and African artists in North Oakland, Latino and Asian artists in West Oakland, Mixed and African artists in East Oakland, and Asian, Latino, and African artists in Central Oakland. (Chart 6). ·
Mostly, the respondents are a well-educated group, since
almost 90% have a college degree, and 54% have graduate degrees. None of
the artists indicated having only a high school degree. Within Oakland,
the highest percentage of those with graduate degrees is in West and East
Oakland (61-69%), possibly due to the concentration of artists with
European backgrounds. They may be more likely to get higher degrees than
members of other ethnic groups, other than Asians (who are only a very
small number in this study). Those with the lowest level of education are
in Central Oakland: 25% with some college, compared to 9-13% in other
areas. (Chart 7) The artists are involved in making so many different types of art that it is difficult to categorize what different artists do. Making categorization even more difficult is that many artists engage in making multiple types of art, and they change the focus of their art over the course of their careers, from year to year, and even from month to month or day to day. Still, certain types of art are most important to the artists generally, based on their ratings of five major categories of art – painting, sculpture, metal work, photography, and mixed media. In addition, based on the artists’ comments, many artists are involved in printmaking and drawing, and these art forms should have been added to the categories listed. Of the listed categories, painting is far and away the most important (with a 2.8 rating), with mixed media a distant second (a 1.3 rating). Relatively few artists are involved with sculpture (.9), photography (.8), or metal work (.4), though a reason for the low interest in sculpture might be because Pro Arts offers little space for large pieces, and so sculpture is de-emphasized. (Chart 8) There are slight differences in ratings for different types of art in different areas. While painting is rated most highly in all areas, particularly in East Oakland (3.3) sculpture and metal work have a much higher rating in East Oakland, possibly because of the larger studio space available at lower rents for artists in this area. (Chart 8). Apart from these few generalities, what stands out the most about the types of art being done is the difficulty of making any generalities, because the artists do so many different types of art and describe their work in many different ways. For example, here are the many ways that artists doing painting describe what they are doing: - Abstract painting - Figurative - Figurative oil, figurative acrylic - Oil painting - Oil – representational - Painting – political, ethnic - Ritual painting - Representational landscapes - Folk painting - Painted furniture - Photo paintings Many artists also list multiple types and combinations of work, such as in these listings: - Cast paper, beeswax - Drawing, acrylics, collages - Figurative, oil, drawing, printmaking - Mixed media, collage, photo transfers, acrylics - Mixed media, painting, drawing, installations, functional art - Oil paintings, drawings, painted eggs - Oil, pastel, urban-industrial landscapes - Painting, enamel on metal, stained glass - Painting, multimedia, assemblage - Painting, multimedia, collage - Painting, paper, acrylic, photography, film, mixed media, collage - Sculpture, paper mache, found things - Watercolor, digital prints, mixed media - Watercolor, painting, mosaic - Watercolor, pencil, ink, photocopy, transfer In short,
just as art is done for many purposes by different artists and varies
greatly as a form of creative expression, so such differences are
reflected by the Oakland artists surveyed in the extremely varied nature
of their work. Just as the artists vary greatly in their type of work, so do they vary greatly in their goals, interest in art, stage of development, and commitment. In fact, many artists had difficulty putting themselves in the research categories, because they had so many varied perspectives and ways of conceiving of their identity as an artist. In fact, one of the Pro Arts volunteers who helped to distribute the questionnaires expressed this frustration as she took the survey. She paused for a moment in taking to say: “I just think answering all these questions is ridiculous. I always have trouble with surveys because your responses are supposed to fit in little boxes. Well, mine don’t.” Yet even after she expressed this view, she tried her best to fill out the survey, before she helped to give it out to others. Many other artists appeared to have similar difficulties with the restrictions of the survey, so they added comments to create new categories, explain their answer to a question, or object to a particular question. Generally, though, with respect to goals, the artists throughout Oakland and in the different sections were similar in considering the three goals listed on the survey – visibility, recognition, and sales -- of about equal importance. However, different artists placed different priorities on these goals. Some felt visibility or recognition were most important; others identified sales as most important; and some ranked all of the goals of equal importance or thought they were all important. As one artist noted: “They are all important.” (Chart 9) Significantly, in their comments, about a third of the artists noted that other goals besides the three listed were of great importance to them. Had these goals been included on the questionnaire, many other artists might have noted their importance, too. In particular, the artists identified these goals of special importance: - spiritual or personal growth, identified with such terms as “spiritual,” “transcendence,” “transform consciousness,” and “healing self and others”; - creating good work and further developing their skills, identified by comments such as: “improving my art,” “Making strong work,” “making work,” “developing and maturing my work,” “do the finest work I can,” “paint every day,” and “accomplish something memorable;” - being able to influence and impact others with their art, reflected in comments such as: “chance to touch/impact people,” “get people feeling, thinking, talking, looking;” - becoming part of a community of artists, reflected in comments like: “share with the community,” “community,” and “make contacts with other artists;” - achieving a balance of doing their art and making a living doing it, expressed in comments such as: “to make 50% of my living from art”, “to see this as a life style and make art,” and “to do art so some is for sale, some is for awareness;” - gaining day-to-day practical results, such as noted by one beginning artist who said her goal was “to have more work”, while another asked for “repeat customers.” These varied goals were reflected in the artists’ multifaceted interests in art, based on whether they regarded their involvement more of an occupation, vocation, or personal interest. While a third of the artists did identify it as more of an occupation (35%), another third (30%) indicated that it was more of a vocation (30%), and the remaining artists had varying ways of characterizing their interest. Some said it was more personal; others identified a mix of interests; and some passionately noted that they considered art “my life.” (Chart 10) Thus, while about two-thirds of the respondents did choose among the three categories, their comments suggest it is more accurate to see an interest in art as reflecting multiple interests, with different ones more important at different times, as noted in these comments by a number of the artists who had trouble choosing among the three categories or added their own descriptions. - “A life” - “All three – a life expression and a livelihood.” - “My life” - “Occupation – vocation – personal interest” - “Occupation, maybe vocation” - “Vocation – personal – occupation (hope)” - “Vocation, then occupation, then personal” - “My interest is personal and spiritual.”
- “My
interest is personal. It’s a healing for the soul.” So how did these artists view their current stage of development and how did they become artists? The majority (53%) saw themselves as emerging artists, with a few noting that they were new artists or that they were unsure if they were still emerging or entering the mid-career stage. Most of the others characterized themselves as mid-career (41%), while a few others described their career more as a process, such as noting that it was a “life-long development” or explaining that they were “re-emerging” or that their art was something they did “forever.” (Chart 11). Yet, even while the majority described themselves as emerging, as a group, the respondents indicated that they had spent many years as artists – 20.6 years as previously noted (Chart 4), while 43% had been at it for 25 years or more (Chart 5) – perhaps reflecting the difficulty of gaining visibility and recognition in a very crowded field. These stages of development vary in different areas of Oakland. The newer artists are concentrated in Central and East Oakland (60-67%), followed by West Oakland (50%). By contrast, about two-thirds of the North Oakland artists (62%) viewed themselves as mid-career. Perhaps a reason for these differences is that many newer artists have gravitated towards the lower rent and warehouse areas of West, Central, and East Oakland, whereas more of the North Oakland artists, working out of their own homes or retail stores, are more established. In turn, these patterns are reflected in the average years the artists have been in the field as described earlier (Chart 4). As previously noted, the North Oakland artists have averaged 24.3 years in the field, compared to 20.6 years in Oakland as a whole. For many artists, the decision to turn to art was made early on – about a quarter (25%) made the decision as a child, and another quarter (28%) made the decision as a teenager or just after graduation from high school or college. Most of the remaining artists decided in their 20s or 30s (28%), though a substantial minority (14%) made the commitment in their 40s or older. And then there were a few who made the commitment at varying times, reflecting their varying career paths in an out of the field, such as one artist who said she made the commitment as a child, but then abandoned it until later. A few others noted how they made the commitment at various times in their lives – as a child, as a college graduate, and then later in life as one noted, or as a child and then later in her 40s. (Chart 12). With some variation, this overall pattern is true throughout Oakland with about half of the artists making the commitment to be an artist as a child, teenager, or after their graduation from school. To acquire their skills as an artist, the respondents reported participating in a wide variety of types of training, and most (about 75%) reported multiple combinations. In general, the types of training listed as choices – being primarily self-taught, going to art school, being an art major in college, or studying with individual teachers -- were about equally popular, engaged in by 36-43% of the artists, with a slight variation from section to section. (Chart 13) For example, a much smaller percentage of North and West Oakland artists were self-taught (27-28%), while the greatest percentage of self-taught artists was in Central Oakland (57%). By contrast, the East Oakland artists were much more likely to turn to individual teachers (52%), while the Central and West Oakland artists were much less likely to do so – only 22-29%. (Chart 13) In addition, a number of artists noted that they gained training by participating in workshops and taking classes, which might have been true for other artists, though they didn’t write this in. A couple of other types of training which a few artists mentioned was learning from one’s family -- noted by one woman who descended from a family of artists, while one man stated that he had worked as an apprentice. Among the
many combinations of approaches, the most common were going to art school
and being an art major in college. Many artists noted a combination of
art school, being a college major or taking classes, and studying with
teachers. Some artists who didn’t go to art school, got their training
through a mix of majoring in art in college and individual teachers. A
few noted different types of work experiences, such as working in
advertising. Others who were primarily self-taught gained their training
from a variety of sources, including attending art school, majoring in art
in college, studying with individual teachers, and taking classes. One man
who was primarily self-taught combined this with working as an apprentice. Although almost all the artists hope to make art their primary source of income or regard it as their primary source now (86%), for the vast majority (66%), this is only a hope for the future. Only 14% of the artist don’t have making art their primary source of income as their goal. (Chart 14). A primary reason for this result, as many artists commented, is that their primary interest in art is for personal reasons (14%), as previously noted (Chart 10). Some of them even viewed creating art as a spiritual quest, so earning a living from their art is not very important to them. But others who do want to make this a primary income source find it a difficult struggle, as is common for many artists generally. While not all artists answered the question about their income, those that did (82% of the artists) paint a bleak picture of the low income return from art. Almost half of the artists earned less than $5000, 28% earned under $1000, and many of these earned no money at all, as noted in their responses on the Open Studios Evaluation Survey. (So a category for “No Income” should be included in the future). Only a quarter of the artists earned over $5000 (26%); and only 8% earned $25,000 or more. (Chart 15). There are some significant differences within Oakland, too, in that the artists in East Oakland were much more likely than artists in other areas to see art as both their primary source of income and goal (96% versus 86% for Oakland as a whole). These artists are also more likely to report higher earnings. About 16% of the East Oakland artists reported they earned $25,000 or more compared to 0-7% elsewhere in Oakland, and 28% earned $10,000 or more versus 7-9% elsewhere. Perhaps a reason for this difference is because many of the artists who have moved to East Oakland are more focused on being artists as a professional goal. (Chart 15). Yet, given the difficulties of earning a substantial income from art, most artists, even those with art as their primary source of income, report engaging in many other types of work. A great many are in related fields, such as doing graphic design or teaching art at various levels from teaching children and middle school to teaching in college or an art school. Some of the other arts-related occupations mentioned include: - art modeling - artisan in a foundry - draw storyboards - create faux finishes for homes and businesses - graphics editor - interior design - MFT/art therapist - museum preparation - work in an gallery - art gallery coordinator A few report being retired from arts related careers, such as being a retired art teacher. More commonly, though, the artists indicated they work in non-arts related professions provide income to support their art. Among the many different occupations mentioned were: - carpentry/construction - co-manage a bookstore - data entry - gardening - investment manager’s assistant - work in a law office - librarian - make-up, hairstylist - management - market research - medical doctor - non-profit work, putting on special events - performance - plumbing contractor - programming - psychologist - public defender - math tutor - self-employed financial consultant - sell vintage jewelry - yoga teacher Several artists noted that they have multiple types of work, such as one woman who engaged in massage, healing, decorating and trade shows; a second, who combined care giving and teaching with graphic arts work; and a third who taught and had a private income. Three married women gained support from their husband’s income, plus one used her savings, too. In short,
just as the artists have multiple career paths to become artists, along
with multiple interests, goals, and types of training, so they have
multiple ways to supplement any income from art. They have both
art-related and non-related occupations, and some have other sources of
income, from supportive husbands to savings and private funds. From Making Art to Sales and Promotion How much time do artists spend on their art compared to selling and promoting it, and what are their major ways of doing this marketing and promotion? In general, artists spend relatively little time in the business or marketing of art, despite the importance of these activities to gain the visibility, recognition, and sales most artists want, along with making art their primary source of income. A key reason for this limited business activity, reflected in the artists comments and interviews, is that they don’t like the business side of the art business. They like making their art, not marketing and promoting themselves. This lack of interest in the business of art is reflected in the fact that artists spend about 4 times as many hours making art (19.3 hours on average) versus selling it (5.1). In percentage terms, they spend nearly 80% of their time making art; only 20% selling it. (Chart 16). This distinction is particularly great in East Oakland, where artists spend about 5 times as much time making art (24.4) as selling it (4.5 hours). However, there is a great variation among individual artists in how they spend their time making and selling art, reflecting the great variation in their commitment, interest, and goals. As Chart 16a indicates, about a quarter of the artists (24%) average 1-9 hours a week making their art, while most of the rest average 10-19 hours (30%) or 20-29 hours (30%). Only a relatively small percentage (16%) devote 30 or more hours to creating their art work. But this is just an overall average. As many artists noted, the time they spend on making their art varies greatly from week to week and month to month. For some, this is because they are fitting in their art work between other activities. For others, this variation is because they do their art when they feel inspired to do something. Thus, it is hard to pin down averages. These times spent making art vary for different sections of Oakland, with the East Oakland artists spending the most time (65% spend 20 or more hours a week) whereas the artists in North and Central Oakland spend the least time – 74-75% spend less than 20 hours a week compared to 53% in West Oakland, and 35% in East Oakland. (Chart 16a) In terms of sales, the great majority of artists – 67% -- spend less than 5 hours a week on selling their art, and 10% report spending no time at all. Only a third of the artists (33%) spend 5 hours or more, and only 12% devote 10 or more hours to this task. (Chart 16b). While there is great variation in the different areas of Oakland in how much time artists spend on sales, perhaps the most notable difference is that a much higher percentage in North Oakland spend no time at all in selling their art – 23%, compared to 4-13% in the rest of Oakland. When it comes to what they do for promotion, the artists mainly use a few key strategies. As might be expected, since the respondents all participated in Open Studios, the artists generally rated this participation as a very important strategy, giving this their highest rating (2.9). This rating was especially high in North and East Oakland (3.1-3.3), and it was lowest in West Oakland (1.9), though still the highest rating there. (Chart 17). The other major promotional sources included reaching out to friends and relatives (2.2) followed by client referrals. Additionally, the artists found their contacts with business and work associates and contacting galleries next in importance (1.1-1.4 ratings). Much less important was putting on shows in local retail establishments, such as coffee shops, contacting collectors, or going to networking events. Least useful were placing newspaper ads, sending out press releases, or contacting radio or TV. (Chart 17) Some artists also noted a few other promotional strategies they used, which might be included on future questionnaires to determine their importance to artists generally. Among the other strategies mentioned were: - art school referrals - participating in or attending other shows and exhibits, including juried shows - contacting art consultants - contacting dealers and agents - sending slides and promotional packets to galleries - contacting museums - participating in festivals and street fairs - developing and contacting people on their mailing list - using the Internet for contacts and promotion - creating a Web site How valuable was having a Web site? In the East Bay Open Studios Evaluation[1], most artists reported that they didn’t get any sales through their Web site, and those who had a Web site said they got relatively little value for promotion or sales from it or weren’t sure. Only a half-dozen artists firm stated that their Web site had been valuable in generating sales or promotion for them. By contrast, most of those who had sites and commented on the value of their site felt it contributed little to sales or weren’t sure, though a few said it was “good for marketing”, a “good tool,” “very helpful,” and it “makes my portfolio available worldwide 24-7.” But more commonly, the artists made comments like these: “I had one for 2 ½ years, but with no results.” “It wasn’t of much value. It was hard to find.” “Not too much (value).” “Not very (valuable).” “People see it, but I don’t get any sales.” “It’s too soon to tell.” “I had 500+ hits, but few sales.” “It’s not valuable for sales, but a quick reference for those who are interested.” Yet, while
the value of a Web site for promoting and selling art might be uncertain,
the majority of the respondents in the Oakland Artist Survey have a site
(41%) or plan to create one within 6 months (21%) – almost a third of the
artists. Only 38% have no Web site and no plans to create one. (Chart
18). In general, the artists are more likely to have a Web site or plan
to create one in North and Central Oakland (71-75%), whereas the artists
in West and East Oakland are the most likely not to have a Web site or to
have no plans to create one (41-49%). Perhaps a reason is that the West
and East Oakland artists have lower incomes and don’t want the expense of
creating and maintaining a Web site, particularly when its value is often
uncertain. Achieving Success and Recognition These efforts to market, promote, and sell their work is part of the goal most artists have for achieving visibility, recognition, and sales. The process also makes them feel a part of the community of artists and gain satisfaction for doing the work, which are both important goals for many artists. When asked more specifically about what was needed for success, the artists suggested a variety of strategies. While a few wondered about the meaning of success – “Define successful?” said one, “What is success,” said another -- most viewed success in terms of gaining visibility/recognition and sales. They offered these key suggestions, which they stated in various ways. Many made several suggestions. Among the most common suggestions were these: - Do good work! Again and again, artists stated this, often using the same or similar words: “Do the work…Do the best work possible, get it out…Make good art…Make great art…Create wonderful art…Make art, think it’s great.” - Work hard. Here artists emphasized the need to put time and effort into producing art, with statements like: “Tireless work…Keep working…Good work and energy… Continuous effort.” Repeatedly artists used the phrase “Hard work” or “Work hard.” - Commitment, determination, persistence, and discipline. Again and again, many artists used these words, singly or in combination. “Have commitment, persistence…Have determination, time, and commitment…Have discipline and commitment…Do good work with determination…You need perseverance and discipline…Never give up…Have tenacity, combined with inspiration, time and luck.” For a few artist, such qualities were necessary to overcome fears and doubts, such as one artist who said: “Go to your studio each day, and overcome your feelings of isolation and doubt.” - Get exposure and promote yourself. Here artists highlighted the marketing/sales side of the business. Although fewer artists made these suggestions, most who did spoke of promotion generally, though a few had specific recommendations. Some typical general comments were: “Hustle…Market yourself well…Have marketing and business acumen…Do promotion….Get visibility…Be committed to the whole business of art, not just the creative side…Make great art, then spend time promoting it…Besides creating wonderful art, engage in aggressive sales…Create art, then get exposure.” Some of the specific suggestions about how to do promotion were: “Keep in the public eye, talk about yourself and your work, do mailings…Enter shows, network, contact buyers…Find your market…Find a local dealer who believe in and promotes your work…Show in a variety of local exhibits…Get free representation…Promote yourself or hire a promoter…” - Network and seek support from artists and others. Fewer artists offered these suggestions, but those who did usually made the suggestion to network or seek support in combination with other recommendations. They made comments such as: “Do good work and make good connections…”Do good work and network”…”Put the art first, handle the business, and join the art community”…”Work hard and connect with other artists”…”Seek out family support and focus”…”Have determination and community”…and simply: “Network.” - Good luck. A few artists pointed up the need for good fortune, too, such as one who said: “Get lucky,” and another who pointed out: “Have a small ambition, luck, and contacts in the art world.” A third commented: “You need hustle, pretty work, luck, being frugal, and supportive relationships.”
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Stay upbeat, positive, and true to yourself. Finally, a few artists
suggested different qualities artists should have to stay on track, such
as “be authentic, prolific…Be focused. Do quality art with integrity…Be
loving, curious, positive.” Defining Their Artist Community and Ways of Participating and Gaining Recognition The artists were also asked how they defined their community, participated in it, and gained recognition from it. The artists most strongly identified with Oakland (a 2.5 rating) and then with the East Bay and the San Francisco Bay Area (2.1 and 2 respectively). They did not generally identify with Alameda County (.9) or more broadly with Northern California (1) or California (.6). (Chart 19). Despite some variation from section to section, these identifications were generally shared by the artists in different areas of Oakland, with one exception. The artists in West Oakland, closest to San Francisco, identified most strongly with the San Francisco Bay area as a whole (2.4), even more so than with Oakland (2.1). The artists did a number of things to become a part of the arts community, as indicated in their comments. A great many mentioned participating in Open Studios and Pro Arts, which might be expected, since the artists in the survey were all Open Studios participants, and those who filed out the questionnaire were most likely to be supportive of Open Studios and Pro Arts. About a third of the artists who made comments (20 out of 54) noted their Open Studios or Pro Arts participation, and several artists noted they volunteered, too. Some of the other activities frequently mentioned were these: - Participate in local shows, reflected in comments such as: “Shows in the local area, attending local art functions…Show…Entering and going to local art shows.” - Contact or network with other artists, reflected in comments like: “Cultivating individual friendships…Hang out with creative friends…Making contacts, doing things together…Meeting artists through work, friends, and openings…Network with other artists…Friends with many artists; we offer each other mutual support.” - Join organized groups of artists, and here some of the groups the artists mentioned, besides Pro Arts, included TAOLB (The Art of Living Black), the Kala Institute, and City Arts in San Francisco. One artist noted that she was just beginning to join organized artists, while another said she had joined a critique group and a painting group. A third stated that she had become part of an artist support group and participated in a group show. Some of the other ways the artists joined the community were these: - Becoming an advocate for art education in the schools - Being an art model - Going to art discussions, breakfasts, and workshops | |||