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Wisconsin Policy Forum report shows the impact the pandemic has had on artists

Wisconsin Policy Forum
/
WUWM

The arts have never been an easy way to make money, but the pandemic made things even more challenging for artists in Milwaukee. To gauge what this time has been like, a local organization called Imagine MKE surveyed artists at different points throughout the pandemic. The survey culminated in a report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, called “The Work of Art,” which analyzes how local artists have been impacted by the pandemic and the different strategies that could help them.

"We got responses from close to 400 artists and creatives," says Joe Peterangelo.

Peterangelo is a senior researcher with the Wisconsin Policy Forum and one of the authors of the report. He shares insight about what the report found and what these trends mean for Milwaukee artists.

"A core part of it was asking about the pandemic's impacts. When we asked whether they had income loss due to the pandemic, close to 70% said that their incomes were reduced in 2020," says Peterangelo.

The report also found that while most of the 400 respondents still earned income from their creative work, 60% were also employed outside of their artistic practice.

Peterangelo says there was a jump in unemployment applications for practicing artists as the pandemic limited creative opportunities.

"We also saw a pretty considerable increase in people applying for BadgerCare, FoodShare, other public benefit programs during the pandemic," says Peterangelo.

Before the pandemic, about 58% of artists said they were able to earn income from their practice. That number dropped to 19% during the pandemic. But, the report finds some good news on that front. That number has recovered to 43% of artists who are once again earning income from their art.

Still, there's a gap, says Peterangelo. Artists cited needs like better compensation for their work or performances, better access to grants, and residencies and fellowships to support them.

"There are other suggestions we got, like businesses could do more for advocacy to support the art sector and also could employ creatives as artists and residents. So, those are some of the suggestions we were hearing from local artists," says Peterangelo.

Local artist and photographer Samer Ghani shares how Milwaukee can better support our artistic community.

"Very often, working artists are a reflection of their community, in the end, how well the businesses are doing in their community," says Ghani. "Because those are often the people who are hiring working artists."

He found earning an income as an artist during the pandemic was incredibly unreliable.

David Lee is the CEO of Imagine MKE and a member of WUWM’s Advisory Board. Lee has seen first hand how artists have struggled making ends meet during the pandemic. Imagine MKE started a relief fund at the beginning of the pandemic to help artists stay afloat.

"The ability to support our region's artists and creatives is part of the work of philanthropy and the work that we do. Moreover, it requires a system-level, policy-level response to ensure that our region's creators have the help that they need to get through really, really tough times like a pandemic," says Lee.

As a first generation American and as a person of color, Ghani agrees. He says he has directly benefited from public art funding through Milwaukee Public School's funding. He says without that funding, he wouldn't be the artist he is today.

"Statistically, I shouldn't be a working artist. And statistically, I shouldn't have benefited as much from that public funding as I did. I'm very blessed to say that I did, but it opens avenues and doors for children, for people who have dreams and who want to make a difference in their communities," says Ghani.

Joy is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
Kobe Brown was WUWM's fifth Eric Von fellow.
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