This report provides an analysis of artists residing in small and rural municipalities in Canada. One-quarter of the 140,000 artists in Canada reside in small and rural municipalities (36,500 artists, or 26%). West Bolton (in Quebec’s Eastern Townships) is the only municipality in Canada with over 10% of its labour force in arts occupations.
Based on a series of consultations in 2007 with Aboriginal artists, arts administrators, elders, youth and other community members, this report attempts “to better understand the specificities of Aboriginal art practices; to explore the impact of the arts within Aboriginal communities; to investigate the impact of Aboriginal arts in Canada and internationally; and to generate interest in research related to Aboriginal arts”.
This brief fact sheet notes that “artistic expression is at the heart of Aboriginal culture”. The fact sheet reminds us that there is not a single, uniform Aboriginal culture or art. “There has always been a great diversity of Aboriginal cultures and languages.”
This brief fact sheet notes that there is a rich tradition of creativity and artistic ability in Inuit communities, with many artists blending “traditional knowledge with modern-day techniques”. “Elements of mixed cultural experiences meld with traditional Inuit culture to form a new and exciting genre of Inuit art.”
Based on a two-stage survey of Canadian visual artists, this study delves more deeply than any existing reports into visual artists’ sources of revenue, art practice expenses and time use. More than half of all visual artists (56%) lose money on their artistic practice. The report argues that visual artists themselves are the primary funders of artistic practices.
This report provides an analysis of artists residing in 93 large Canadian cities, including statistics concerning the number of artists, artists’ earnings, and trends between 1991 and 2006. Overall, 103,500 artists reside in the 93 large cities included in the study. This represents three-quarters (74%) of the 140,000 artists in Canada.
Using unpublished labour statistics, this report finds that artists have particularly “high unemployment rates and discouraging job prospects” in the U.S. during the current recession.
This report from Hill Strategies Research shows that there are 140,000 artists in Canada who spent more time at their art than at any other occupation in May 2006. The report indicates that the number of artists is slightly larger than the number of Canadians directly employed in the automotive industry (135,000). The report highlights the relatively low earnings of artists.
Like the report on artists in the country as a whole, this report from Hill Strategies Research examines the situation of artists, with a focus on the Canadian provinces and territories. Among the 10 provinces, British Columbia has the largest percentage of its labour force in arts occupations (1.08%).
This report indicates that there are about 2 million artists in the U.S., or 1.4% of the overall American labour force. Median income from all sources is $34,800 for artists, which is higher than the overall labour force median ($30,100) but lower than the median for other professionals ($43,200).
