Want to Make a Living as a Professional Artist? Here’s How Much You’ll Get Probably Get Paid

Professional artists can expect to work 45 hours a week and supplement their income with other jobs, new research reveals.

Though some of the findings by the Australia Council for the Arts may send some artistic hopefuls screaming from their arts degrees, a third of the artists surveyed are apparently happy with their situation.

However, the survey is raising valid questions about Australia’s commitment to nurturing and funding artists.

Today we launch a summary of, and response to: "Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia" by David Throsby and Katya Petetskaya from Macquarie University https://t.co/mbmleG0jSP pic.twitter.com/zEDiXASoKe

— Australia Council (@auscouncilarts) November 12, 2017

As published by the ABC, the research shows the average artist earned $48,400 in the 2014 – 2015 financial year. The average income in Australia during that same period was $77,121. However, the poverty line is considered $22,167, so at least the average artist isn’t starving. Cool?

The last time the survey was conducted was 2007 – 2008, and the average income for professional artists was four per cent higher then.

What makes an ‘artist’?

The survey included writers; visual artists; craft practitioners; actors and directors; dancers and choreographers; musicians and singers; composers, songwriters and arrangers; and community cultural development artists.

On average, those surveyed earned $18,800 from their primary creative work and a further $13,900 from other art-related work (mostly, teaching). To make their way to a living wage, artists also earned $15,700 from a job that had nothing to do with the arts.

It’s even worse for women, which reflects the gender pay gap in other industries. Women artists earned 32 per cent less than men overall. And, when it came to their creative work, they were paid 44 per cent less.

There are apparently 48,000 practising professional artists in Australia, with musicians making up the largest segment. The Australia Council for the Arts says the number of artists in Australia has remained “relatively steady” since the 1990s, despite the growth in population. Gee, we wonder why more people aren’t taking on careers in the arts?

Photo: iStock.com/eclipse_images