If you’re lucky enough to earn a living from your art, you’re probably white

*I’m sure this comes as no surprise to my Latino artist friends. We’ve had conversations about this many times. VL

By Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post

The thing about racial diversity among working artists in America is that it pretty much doesn’t exist.

Nearly four out of every five people who make a living in the arts in this country are white, according to an analysis of 2012 Census Bureau data by BFAMFAPhD, a collective of artists dedicated to understanding the rising cost of artistry. The study, which surveyed more than 1.4 million people whose primary earnings come from working as an artist, represents a broad population of creative types in the country, and reveals a number of troubling truths.

The lack of diversity is, for instance, even more pronounced for those with art school degrees — more than 80 percent of people with undergraduate art school degrees are white, according to the analysis. And it’s most severe among art school graduates who go on to make it (or, at the very least, a living) in the art world — more than 83 percent of working artists with an art school degree are white.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Stephanie Watson/Flickr]

Subscribe today!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Must Read