Mon Apr 9, 2012, 03:13 PM

Should artists be paid a living wage? [View all]

What amount should they be paid? Who would decide if they were a real artist? Should their be any volume requirements set for # of pieces of work per month/year?

Seems like as good a time as any to bring up this topic as some people seem to be able to define what a "real" artist is and could serve on the boards.

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131 replies	Author	Time	Post
Should artists be paid a living wage? [View all]	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	OP
Out of Thomas Kinkaide's estate??	izquierdista	Apr 2012	#1
That's an interesting question	el_bryanto	Apr 2012	#2
No	hack89	Apr 2012	#3
How many great artists of various types were popular in their day?	libtodeath	Apr 2012	#11
How many more absolutely lousy artists were there that really needed a career change?	hack89	Apr 2012	#16
We can afford it. But we would rather kill people instead.	Cobalt Violet	Apr 2012	#18
Well said!	libtodeath	Apr 2012	#19
No - the money needs to go to education, heath, housing, social safety networks.	hack89	Apr 2012	#23
We can afford all that too! We're not a poor country.	Cobalt Violet	Apr 2012	#29
You contradicted yourself.	Trillo	Apr 2012	#62
By that I mean the present system of federal, state and local grants to arts groups	hack89	Apr 2012	#64
If we had a strong social safety net, we'd have more artists.	hunter	Apr 2012	#101
And if worms carried .45's the birds wouldn't fuck with them.	hack89	Apr 2012	#106
You put it in the big picture	marions ghost	Apr 2012	#113
Me too.	CAPHAVOC	Apr 2012	#25
So if I label myself an artist, the government should pay me a living wage	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#74
I don't think it right that actual artists should suffer because of a few dishonest folks like you.	Cobalt Violet	Apr 2012	#79
Of course they would	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#102
Yes. If Adolf Hitler had been paid, he might've stayed out of politics. nt	raccoon	Apr 2012	#4
Hitler might have been another Thomas Kinkade!	hunter	Apr 2012	#50
Sounds like a good idea for an alternate history! nt	raccoon	Apr 2012	#83
No	JustAnotherGen	Apr 2012	#5
I'm not sure from what this discussion stems...	vi5	Apr 2012	#6
+1	MadrasT	Apr 2012	#20
I should have also added....	vi5	Apr 2012	#48
Subsidizing sports stadiums is somewhat a transanction on an open market	JonLP24	Apr 2012	#85
No.	Daniel537	Apr 2012	#7
I think the notion that creativity needs to be sacrificed for the sake of a "job" is sad	libtodeath	Apr 2012	#8
LOL	snooper2	Apr 2012	#9
Laugh at FDR then	libtodeath	Apr 2012	#15
well put. A healthy, well-rounded society would do this.	villager	Apr 2012	#26
I think what you and possibly FDR are missing is that most people are assholes	el_bryanto	Apr 2012	#28
what should that basic amount be? nt	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	#59
Most people will choose to contribute by sitting in front of the television.	Codeine	Apr 2012	#81
"...let everyone pursue how best they can fill the needs and desire of society"	OneTenthofOnePercent	Apr 2012	#120
Everybody should be paid a living wage.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Apr 2012	#10
So if I've got a decent amount saved up, can I then become an "artist" so I can get the essentials	dkf	Apr 2012	#53
Yes, if they work hard to sell it.	cbdo2007	Apr 2012	#12
Most artists have 'real' jobs to supplement their meager income	closeupready	Apr 2012	#13
Personally, I would just like the economy to be healthy	NV Whino	Apr 2012	#14
Depends, who do they work for ... no?	JoePhilly	Apr 2012	#17
Actually, there are official qualifications and certifications.	rrneck	Apr 2012	#21
My father was an artist, and he held none of those classifications.	JoePhilly	Apr 2012	#66
That "something else" is at the heart of it, isnt it?	rrneck	Apr 2012	#69
This in an excellent example of why critical thinking should be taught in school...	TalkingDog	Apr 2012	#30
I visited MOMA in NYC a year or two ago with my wife... LOL!	OneTenthofOnePercent	Apr 2012	#123
Everyone should be guaranteed what they need to survive	killbotfactory	Apr 2012	#22
Yes	Cobalt Violet	Apr 2012	#24
They are in other countries and other cultures. Of course those places provide a social safety net.	TalkingDog	Apr 2012	#27
I don't see anything about a living wage in any of those links.	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	#88
No, because anyone can call themselves an "artist".	Nye Bevan	Apr 2012	#31
Depends on the artist's talent, training and work ethic	Freddie Stubbs	Apr 2012	#32
Every artist has to decide how much of the marketplace s/he will allow into the studio.	rrneck	Apr 2012	#33
Impractical, but we should definitely bring back NEA grants to individual artists	frazzled	Apr 2012	#34
How much should the grants be? nt	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	#89
Everyone should be paid a living wage.	Starry Messenger	Apr 2012	#35
Not necessarily, BUT	SoCalDem	Apr 2012	#36
Interesting question. One time,	MineralMan	Apr 2012	#37
If an artist, artisan, brick layer, dentist, hair stylist, etc. cannot support themselves with their	Opportunityknocks	Apr 2012	#38
They are part of "everyone" so I'm going with yes.	TheKentuckian	Apr 2012	#39
If they are just getting a living wage I'd say they need new representation....	Bluenorthwest	Apr 2012	#40
Most artists I know, the ones that stay with it and become successful, make a lot more money	Cleita	Apr 2012	#41
The day we do, I'm quitting my job to become an artist	Taitertots	Apr 2012	#42
fdr did and around her we still have the post office murals that were painted in the 30s..	madrchsod	Apr 2012	#43
Our post office too! I love it that we have that mural!	CTyankee	Apr 2012	#47
There was a group of painters known as the Florida Highwaymen who did paintings of	Opportunityknocks	Apr 2012	#61
Sure same as everybody else should. Artists are a special breed, I know many, mostly musicians,	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#44
Should an original poster respond to replies to a ridiculous proposition?	Lint Head	Apr 2012	#45
not when he's out looking for an obscure car part all day	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	#58
Why not? Look at what FDR did:	CTyankee	Apr 2012	#46
I'm not sure that "wage" is the proper measure	onenote	Apr 2012	#49
Ain't that the damn truth	guitar man	Apr 2012	#75
It worked during the Great Depression.	hunter	Apr 2012	#51
fat chance	kpete	Apr 2012	#52
Fine artists should be paid based on what their talent produces -	lynne	Apr 2012	#54
Everyone should be guaranteed the minimum needed to sustain their lives	CreekDog	Apr 2012	#55
Bingo. nt	rrneck	Apr 2012	#72
Of course ...	surrealAmerican	Apr 2012	#56
Yes, my music should be subsidized.	MrSlayer	Apr 2012	#57
I would say yes. It's kind of sad really. Artists are among the most	Proles	Apr 2012	#60
This guy did a Groupon and ended up selling about 1,000 drawings of cats!	IndyJones	Apr 2012	#63
Paid by who?	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#65
In 1987, some "artist" dropped a crucifix in a jar of urine and photograped it	badtoworse	Apr 2012	#67
So, you would live in a world where market value is the sole determinant of art?	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#77
I would live in a world where market value should be the determinant of what an artist is paid.	badtoworse	Apr 2012	#84
Your idea would mean the world would never have known the beauty of Van Gogh, as just one example.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#91
If your art isn't good enough for you to make a living on your own,...	badtoworse	Apr 2012	#94
Was Van Gogh paid a living wage by the government?	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#103
No he wasn't. He was, thankfully, sustained by his brother who also didn't like his work.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#104
No I got that you were trying to create a strawman	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#105
Got it, government bad, bootstraps good.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#107
Where are you going with this?	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#109
So, are you saying you'd get rid of the NEA?	geardaddy	Apr 2012	#112
I am saying that I don't think the government should decide what is art	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#118
So, would you, if you were in gov't, advocate the closing of the NEA.	geardaddy	Apr 2012	#121
You forgot a comma	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#122
Yes, I forgot a comma.	geardaddy	Apr 2012	#124
It's not a little program. I think Adam Smith created a brilliant system that taken in whole works,	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#115
I believe in equal pay for equal work	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#117
How are you going to define equal work? It's relative.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#126
My point exactly	aspieextrodinare	Apr 2012	#127
I think this would be an excellent topic to discuss further.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#129
Yikes, this sounds like right-wing drivel from 1993	frazzled	Apr 2012	#130
So why don't you explain what makes it so artistic	badtoworse	Apr 2012	#131
Why is it OK to judge one person's profession and not another's?	ecstatic	Apr 2012	#68
For emplyed or self-employed artists? nt	Snake Alchemist	Apr 2012	#86
Thank you!	Cobalt Violet	Apr 2012	#111
By whom? nt	Honeycombe8	Apr 2012	#70
Yes, if they are an employee.	HooptieWagon	Apr 2012	#71
Kinkade was a "real artist"...	GReedDiamond	Apr 2012	#73
You seem like as interesting person. I have 2 questions for you, if you are willing.	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#76
Response...	GReedDiamond	Apr 2012	#92
Thanks. Did you know that The Constitution specifies the power to	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#96
I said that I support govt funding...	GReedDiamond	Apr 2012	#97
No, and I am an artist	quaker bill	Apr 2012	#78
Artists should be paid for what ever they can sell	JonLP24	Apr 2012	#80
I am an artist. Everyday, all day, I create beauty.	babydollhead	Apr 2012	#82
Fantastic stuff you have, there	IDemo	Apr 2012	#95
thank you!	babydollhead	Apr 2012	#100
Should everybody be paid a living wage?	nadinbrzezinski	Apr 2012	#87
Being an artist is a calling...	WCGreen	Apr 2012	#90
...is answered and addressed in this context I think	LanternWaste	Apr 2012	#93
Artists can claim exemption from income tax in the Rep. of Ireland	geardaddy	Apr 2012	#110
That's it right there. Thank you. n/t	Egalitarian Thug	Apr 2012	#116
Beat Plowshares into Paint Brushes?	One_Life_To_Give	Apr 2012	#98
Yes, but they are small business owners in essence.	aikoaiko	Apr 2012	#99
Artists are paid a living wage, if they choose to do commercial work.	Marr	Apr 2012	#108
My dad is an artist. His career was teaching.	hunter	Apr 2012	#128
Yes--everyone should be paid a living wage.	Puregonzo1188	Apr 2012	#114
No... by whom would they be paid?	OneTenthofOnePercent	Apr 2012	#119
Yes.	guardian	Apr 2012	#125