Supporting Artist Careers: Resources
Grant Supported Research
Strategic National Arts Alumni Project: Special Report
Career and Entrepreneurial Skills Training for Artists
Recent graduates with arts degrees have better career and entrepreneurial training than those who came before them, according to a report released by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project at the Indiana University School of Education.
The research, based on a survey of arts graduates, demonstrates that new approaches to arts education are helping prepare students for careers and give them tools they need to succeed.
Students who graduated with arts majors between 2011 and 2015 reported higher confidence than older alumni in their abilities to be resilient and adaptable and to recognize opportunities to advance their careers. The majority of recent alumni said their arts curriculum emphasized creativity, risk taking and innovation. Recent alumni are also 10 percent more likely than those who graduated in 1985 or before to have had coursework that emphasized generating new ideas or brainstorming.
Of the recent alumni surveyed, those who developed financial and business skills while at their institutions are:
The research, based on a survey of arts graduates, demonstrates that new approaches to arts education are helping prepare students for careers and give them tools they need to succeed.
Students who graduated with arts majors between 2011 and 2015 reported higher confidence than older alumni in their abilities to be resilient and adaptable and to recognize opportunities to advance their careers. The majority of recent alumni said their arts curriculum emphasized creativity, risk taking and innovation. Recent alumni are also 10 percent more likely than those who graduated in 1985 or before to have had coursework that emphasized generating new ideas or brainstorming.
Of the recent alumni surveyed, those who developed financial and business skills while at their institutions are:
- 39 percent more likely to feel their education integrated all aspects of career development
- 36 percent more confident in managing their finances
- 35 percent more likely to feel they were exposed to a broad view of careers in and outside the arts
- 14 percent more satisfied with their income from their primary job
- 8 percent more likely to have had coursework emphasizing multiple approaches to problem solving
- 6 percent more likely to locate a job within four months of graduating
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However, a significant skills gap still exists in basic business and financial management. Only 34 percent of recent alumni and 26 percent of all respondents said they developed entrepreneurial skills in school.
The SNAAP Special Report, "Career Skills and Entrepreneurship Training for Artists," analyzed data from over 26,000 arts graduates from 43 institutions in the United States. Arts graduates responded to questions about their educational experiences with entrepreneurship and other career skills, and how confident they are in their abilities to act in creative and entrepreneurial ways in their careers -- both in and out of the arts. |
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Original Research
How it's Being Done: Arts Business Training in the US
“How It’s Being Done: Arts Business Training in the US,” is the result of research conducted in the inaugural year of the Tremaine Foundation Fellowship in Arts Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University. The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation (EHTF) supported the Pave Program in Arts Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University to conduct a web-sourced inventory of field-based arts business training opportunities. The fellow and the Director of the Pave Program in Arts Entrepreneurship also surfaced trends and patterns in available business-related resources and training within the United States.
"We commissioned this report to better understand the growth in the types and range of professional practices that are available to artists. When we began funding artist training programs in the mid-90’s, the number of providers could be counted on a single hand. Based on this web scan, we now know that more than 78 organizations are directly empowering artists with the skills needed to survive and thrive with their artistic businesses," commented Heather Pontonio, Arts Program Director at EHTF. Beyond identifying the programs and organizations that are providing business training specific to the arts, the research also examines how the training is being delivered, and where there are gaps in this training.
The report identified 162 programs or services offered by 78 distinct organizations. These organizations serve a wide variety of constituencies and are providing this training in formats ranging from blog series to weekend intensives, as well as year-long programs delivered in-person
and online.
The primary audiences for this report are organizations serving artists, such as state and local arts councils, and artists seeking this kind of training. The secondary audience is funders supporting the arts sector as well as those engaged in community and economic development.
"We commissioned this report to better understand the growth in the types and range of professional practices that are available to artists. When we began funding artist training programs in the mid-90’s, the number of providers could be counted on a single hand. Based on this web scan, we now know that more than 78 organizations are directly empowering artists with the skills needed to survive and thrive with their artistic businesses," commented Heather Pontonio, Arts Program Director at EHTF. Beyond identifying the programs and organizations that are providing business training specific to the arts, the research also examines how the training is being delivered, and where there are gaps in this training.
The report identified 162 programs or services offered by 78 distinct organizations. These organizations serve a wide variety of constituencies and are providing this training in formats ranging from blog series to weekend intensives, as well as year-long programs delivered in-person
and online.
The primary audiences for this report are organizations serving artists, such as state and local arts councils, and artists seeking this kind of training. The secondary audience is funders supporting the arts sector as well as those engaged in community and economic development.
Marketplace Empowerment for Artists Assessment Findings
In 2011, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation commissioned the development of an “ongoing improvement” process for the Marketplace Empowerment for Artists (MEA) program. This report presents the results of a 2013 assessment intended to answer the question, “How can we strengthen the effectiveness of professional practices training for visual artists?”
The purpose of MEA is, “To empower visual artists with tools to help them succeed in artistic endeavors without being strictly reliant on patrons, grants or federal funding.” The results of this assessment strongly suggest that MEA is effectively fulfilling this purpose. Grantees and their training sites have proliferated throughout the US and are now broadly distributed and among the success factors for artists participating in the survey are that they are almost all continuing to make art and their careers have benefitted from their professional practices training.
While the sustainability of training absent Tremaine support remains an issue, the Foundation’s investment has not only created greater access to training but appears to be making changes in the mindset supporting such training. Also, artists are actively sharing their career skills with other artists.
The purpose of MEA is, “To empower visual artists with tools to help them succeed in artistic endeavors without being strictly reliant on patrons, grants or federal funding.” The results of this assessment strongly suggest that MEA is effectively fulfilling this purpose. Grantees and their training sites have proliferated throughout the US and are now broadly distributed and among the success factors for artists participating in the survey are that they are almost all continuing to make art and their careers have benefitted from their professional practices training.
While the sustainability of training absent Tremaine support remains an issue, the Foundation’s investment has not only created greater access to training but appears to be making changes in the mindset supporting such training. Also, artists are actively sharing their career skills with other artists.
Additional Resources from Tremaine Foundation
Other Research from the Field
Markusen, Ann, Sam Gilmore, Amanda Johnson, Titus Levi, and Andrea Martinez. 2006. Crossover: How Artists Build Careers across Commercial, Nonprofit and Community Work. Minneapolis, MN: Project on Regional and Industrial Economics, University of Minnesota for the James Irvine Foundation. http://irvine.org/news-insights/publications/arts
Rendon, Marcie and Markusen, Ann. 2009. Native Artists: Livelihoods, Resources, Space, Gifts. Minneapolis, MN: Project on Regional and Industrial Economics, December. http://www.hhh.umn.edu/projects/prie/PRIE--publications.html
Rendon, Marcie and Markusen, Ann. 2009. Native Artists: Livelihoods, Resources, Space, Gifts. Minneapolis, MN: Project on Regional and Industrial Economics, December. http://www.hhh.umn.edu/projects/prie/PRIE--publications.html