Why must artists be poor Hadi Eldebek
I come from a family of five brothers,
all scientists and engineers.
A few years ago,
I sent them the following email:
“Dear brothers, I hope
this message finds you well.
I am emailing to let you know
that I’m dropping out
of my master’s program in engineering
to pursue a career
as a full-time musician.
All that I ask from you
is not to worry about me.”
Brother number one replied.
He was encouraging but a bit skeptical.
He said, “I wish you the best of luck.
You’re going to need it.”
(Laughter)
Brother number two
was a little bit more skeptical.
He said, “Don’t do it!
This will be the worst
mistake of your life.
Find a real career.”
(Laughter)
Well, the rest of my brothers
were so enthusiastic about my decision,
they didn’t even respond.
(Laughter)
I know that the skepticism
coming from my brothers
is out of care and concern for me.
They were worried.
They thought it would be difficult
to make it as an artist,
that it will be a challenge.
And you know what? They were right.
It is such a challenge
to be a full-time artist.
I have so many friends
who need to have a second job
as a plan B in order to pay for the bills,
except that plan B
sometimes becomes their plan A.
And it’s not just my friends and I
who experience this.
The US Census Bureau states that only
10 percent of art school graduates
end up working as full-time artists.
The other 90 percent, they change careers,
they work in marketing,
sales, education and other fields.
But this is not news, right?
We almost expect the artist
to be a struggling artist.
But why should we expect that?
I read an article in the “Huffington Post”
saying that four years ago,
the European Union
began the world’s largest ever
arts funding initiative.
Creative Europe
will give 2.4 billion dollars
to over 300,000 artists.
In contrast, the US budget
for our National Endowment for the Arts,
the largest single funder
for the arts across the United States,
is merely 146 million dollars.
To put things into perspective,
the US budget for the military
marching bands alone
is almost twice as much as the entire NEA.
Another striking image comes from
Brendan McMahon for the “Huffington Post,”
saying that out of
the one trillion dollar budget
for military and defense-related spending,
if only 0.05 percent
were allocated to the arts,
we would be able to pay
for 20 full-time symphony orchestras
at 20 million dollars apiece,
and give over 80,000 artists
an annual salary of 50,000 dollars each.
If that’s only 0.05 percent,
imagine what a full one percent could do.
Now, I know we live
in a capitalist society,
and profits matter a lot.
So let’s look at it
from a financial angle, shall we?
The US nonprofit arts industry
generates more than 166 billion dollars
in economic activity,
it employs 5.7 million people
and it returns 12.6 billion dollars
in tax revenue.
But this is only a financial angle, right?
We all know that the arts is way more
than just an economic value.
The arts brings meaning to life.
It’s the spirit of our culture.
It brings people together
and it supports creativity
and social cohesion.
But if the arts contributes
this much to our economy,
why then do we still invest
so little in arts and artists?
Why do more than 80 percent
of our schools nationwide
still experience budget cuts
in arts education programs?
What is it about the value
of arts and artists
that we still don’t understand?
I believe the system is flawed
and far from being fair,
and I want to help change that.
I want to live in a society
where artists are more valued
and have more cultural
and financial support
so they can focus on creating arts
instead of being forced to drive Ubers
or take corporate jobs
they’d rather not have.
There are other sources of income
for artists, however.
There are private foundations,
grants and patrons who give money,
except a vast majority of artists
don’t know about these opportunities.
On one side you have institutions
and people with money.
On the other side
you have artists seeking funding,
but the artists don’t know
about the people with the money,
and the people with the money
don’t necessarily know
about the artists out there.
This is why I am very excited
to share “Grantpa,”
an online platform that uses technology
to match artists with grants
and funding opportunities
in a way that is easy, fast
and less intimidating.
Grantpa is only one step
towards solving an existing problem
of funding inequality,
but we need to work collectively
on multiple fronts
to reevaluate how we view
the artists in our society.
Do we think of arts
as a luxury or a necessity?
Do we understand what goes on
in the day-to-day life of an artist,
or do we still believe that artists,
no matter how struggling they are,
are happy simply because
they’re following their passion?
In a few years, I plan to send
my brothers the following email:
“Dear brothers, I hope
this message finds you well.
I am emailing to let you know
that I am doing great
and so are hundreds
of thousands of artists
who are being valued more
culturally and financially
and getting enough funding
to focus on their crafts
and create more art.
I appreciate all of your support.
Couldn’t have done it without you.”
Thank you.
(Applause)