Scholars have often portrayed the arts as a winner-take-all market. However, data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project suggest that many artistic aspirants who do not work within the arts still incorporate artistic elements within their diverse careers and often engage in art avocationally. Further, these individuals continue to mobilize the skills and human capital involved in arts training in diverse realms. There are compelling reasons to examine the careers of the high numbers of aspiring artists who do not earn money in this capacity, and to pay attention to their alternative ways of putting together creative careers.
Alper, N., Wassall, G., Jeffri, J., Greenblatt, R., Kay, A., Butcher, S., & Chartrand, H. H. (1996). Artists in the work force: Employment and earnings, 1970–1990 (National Endowment for the Arts report). Santa Anna, CA: Seven Locks.
2.
Americans for the Arts. (2012). National Arts Index 2010. Washington, DC: Author.
3.
AutorD.LevyF.MurnaneR.The skill content of recent technological change: An empirical exploration. Quarterly Journal of Economics2003; 118, 1279–1333.
4.
Baumol, W. J., Jeffri, J., & Throsby, C. D. (2004). Making changes: Facilitating the transition of dancers to post-performance careers. New York, NY: Advance Project.
5.
BeckerH. S.Art worlds1982; Berkeley: University of California Press.
6.
Becker, H. S. (1997). The culture of a deviant group: The “jazz” musician. In K. Gelder & S. Thornton (Eds.), The subcultures reader (pp. 55–65). New York, NY: Routledge.
7.
CougerJ. D.Key human resource issues in the 1990s: Views of IS executives versus human resource executives. Information & Management1988; 14, 161–174.
8.
DavenportT. H.Process innovation: Reengineering work through information technology1993; Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
9.
FloridaR.The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life2004; New York, NY: Basic Books.
10.
FrankJ. M.Carlisle-FrankP.The role of relationships in labor markets for the popular arts and its impact on product quality. Journal of Socio-Economics2009; 38, 384–390.
11.
FreidsonE.EriksonK.VallasS. P.Labors of love: A prospectus. The nature of work: Sociological perspectives1990New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, pp. 149–161.
12.
FriedmanT. L.The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century2007New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
13.
GriffM.WilsonR.The recruitment of the artist. The arts in society1964Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 63–94.
14.
JeffriJ.ThrosbyD.Professionalism and the visual artist. European Journal of Cultural Policy1994; 1, 99–108.
15.
JeffriJ.ThrosbyD.Life after dance: Career transition of professional dancers. International Journal of Arts Management2006; 8, 54–63.
16.
KillingsworthM.Labor supply1983Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
17.
KosutM.Mad artists and tattooed perverts: Deviant discourse and the social construction of cultural categories. Deviant Behavior2006; 27, 73–95.
18.
Kris, E., & Kurz, O. (1987). L`image de l’artiste [The image of the artist]. Marseille, France: Rivages.
19.
LermanL.Toward a process for critical response. High Performance1993; 16, 46–49.
20.
Lindemann, D. J., Tepper, S. J., Gaskill, S., Jones, S. J., Kuh, G. D., Lambert, A. D., …Vanderwerp, L. (2012). Painting with broader strokes: Reassessing the value of an arts education (SNAAP Special Report No. 1). Bloomington: Indiana University and Vanderbilt University, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project.
21.
MengerP. M.Artistic labor markets and careers. Annual Review of Sociology1999; 25, 541–574.
22.
MengerP. M.Artists as workers: Theoretical and methodological challenges. Poetics2001; 28, 241–254.
23.
National Science Foundation. (2006). National survey of recent college graduates. Arlington, VA: Author.
24.
SmithV.New forms of work organization. Annual Review of Sociology1997; 23, 315–339.
25.
Stern, M. J. (2005). Artists in the winner-take-all economy: Artists’ inequality in six U.S. metropolitan areas, 1980–2000 (Dynamics of Culture Working Paper #2005-3). College Park: University of Pennsylvania.
26.
Strategic National Arts Alumni Project. (2012). A diverse palette: What arts graduates say about their education and careers—annual report 2012. Bloomington: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. Retrieved from http://www.snaap.indiana.edu/pdf/2012/2012_Annual_Report.pdf.
ThrosbyD.The production and consumption of the arts: A view of cultural economics. Journal of Economic Literature1994; 32, 11–29.
30.
TowseR.Copyright, risk and the artist: An economic approach to policy for artists. International Journal of Cultural Policy1999; 6, 91–107.
31.
TowseR.Chapter 24: Human capital and artists’ labour markets. Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture2006; 1, 865–894.
32.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2008). 21st century skills, education & competitiveness: A resource and policy guide. Washington, DC: Author.
33.
WassallG.AlperN.TowseR.KhakeeA.Toward a unified theory of the determinants of the earnings of artists. Cultural economics1992Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Verlag, pp. 187–199.
34.
WoodmanR. W.SawyerJ. E.GriffinR. W.Toward a theory of organizational creativity. The Academy of Management Review1993; 18, 293–321.
