According to the report from the National Endowment for the Arts, there are about 29,300 professional artists in Indiana. This number is comprised of 13,000 designers; 3,300 fine artists, art directors and animators; 3,000 musicians/singers, 2,000 architects, 600 dancers/choreographers and 100 actors. These growing numbers are recognized by the local arts community.

“We saw Harrison Center sales rise, more of our artists living off their art and more community support in general,” observed Joanna Taft, Director of the Harrison Center for the Arts at 16th and Delaware.

These numbers were part of a new report from the NEA called “Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005″. The report, considered the first nationwide profile of professional artists, is a compilation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other arts organizations that chart the location and impact of the country’s 2 million artists. Artists are broken up into 11 categories including actors; announcers; architects; fine artists, art directors and animators; dancers and choreographers; designers; entertainers, musicians, photographers, producers and directors; writers and authors. The report also notes gender, minority and major metro area trends:

“The time has come to insist on an obvious but overlooked fact — artists are workers. They make things and perform services, just like other workers, and these goods and services have value — not merely in lofty spiritual terms but also in dollars and cents,” the report states. “Without denying the higher purposes of the artistic vocation, this report shows that artists play an important role in America’s cultural vitality and economic prosperity.”

The nearly 2 million artists in the U.S. earn about $70 billion annually. This is an important statistic. The report considered only people who identified their primary occupation as artist for the American Community Survey (see page 138 of the report). The first observation we can make is that this is a large number and surely has an important impact on our culture. According to The New York Times article on the study:

“If every artist in America’s workforce banded together, their ranks would be double the size of the United States Army. More Americans identify their primary occupation as artist than as lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker.”

A significant trend found in the report shows that the majority of artists are “designers”, made up of commercial and industrial designers, fashion designers, floral designers, graphic designers, interior designers, merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and set and exhibit designers. This makes sense in our digital world and one in which designers tend to resist globalization. It’s difficult to outsource this type of work. Copy editing may be done overseas, but you don’t often see U.S. Web sites or magazines designed halfway across the globe.

And it’s interesting to see how spread out these artists are geographically. While still focused in major urban areas in New York and California, artists are taking up residence in diverse cities across the country.

“It’s the impact of a kind of decentralized electronic culture,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia in an article by The Associated Press. “… Artists are no longer confined to living in the three to four metropolitan media centers. You can now live in Santa Fe and email your New York agent every day.”

While the number of Indianapolis artists is on an upward trend, why is the city ranking so low on the totem pole? Indiana ranks 15th on a list of U.S. states by population. Maybe it’s because our overall workforce is much smaller relative to other metro areas. Perhaps it is because the Indianapolis community does not have as many patrons of the arts as other cities? Or in part because of Indy’s tax policies? Please give us feedback if you have any insight on Indianapolis’s low ranking in this survey and share with us your ideas to make the city a more attractive home for artists.

How does Indiana stack up to our neighbors?
(total artists as percent of state’s civilian labor force)

• Illinois: ranks 22nd
• Michigan: ranks 24th
• Ohio: ranks 34th
• Indiana: ranks 40th
• Kentucky: ranks 45th

After an IDADA “First Friday” filled with downtown gallery tours — Road Trip at the Harrison Center, Square One at Stutz Art Space, Focus: Midwest at MiCo, Television Hates Itself in the Sidecar Gallery of the Big Car Gallery — you might think the local media would be full of rave reviews or uninspired remarks.

But alas, Indy hasn’t had an art critic for as long as anyone I talked to can remember. Unfortunately, this news is common as papers across the country are eliminating art critics from their press. Just this week the chief dance critic for the Los Angeles Times was canned. Paul Hodgins of The Arts Blog writes:

There’s a pervasive feeling among many decision-makers at newspapers that arts coverage doesn’t matter anymore – or, more accurately, that it’s not important to the kind of readers they’re trying to reach.

In his post “Now more than ever, newspapers need arts coverage,” Hodgins notes that most papers are measuring the success of their content by how well it does online, and in turn, change their printed paper to reflect that success:

In this regard, a lot of arts stories just don’t measure up. There’s no way to justify publishing a review of a show at a small storefront theater from a reader-interest point of view. No matter how you market or display that kind of piece, its readership will remain small.

Hodgins goes on to say that most Editors aren’t taking into account the source or quality of the Web hits by which they are measuring a story’s success.

The Indianapolis Star used to have several arts reporters and now has an arts & entertainment reporter and a performing arts writer. It does not have an art critic. It does, however, have a sports critic (columnist Bob Kravitz). Note: reporters gather news and write objectively, while columnists have the freedom to criticize and commentate as specialists on a topic. As a graduate of Butler’s Journalism Program, I have a strong sense of public service as the foundation for media coverage, instilled in me by Dr. Kwadwo Anokwa. It is essential for journalists to engage in the culture of the local community, and this includes comprehensive coverage and criticism of the local arts. Not only would this be beneficial to the success of local artists, musicians and performers, but it also makes economic sense by fostering art patrons and elevating our city to the national stage.

While Indianapolis waits for its own art critic, you can pass the time by reading your art reviews in The New York Times from the talented Holland Cotter and Roberta Smith.

Image courtesy of Ricardo Biriba, “art critic” sketch, 2006. Web site: http://www.biriba.net/