Arise! According to recently tabulated census data, the National Endowment for the Arts has concluded that there are more artists in America than there are doctors, lawyers, or police officers, more than double the size of the US Army. of course, many of them are "underemployed."
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this group of “artists” includes jobs like announcers, floral designers and window dressers. The group of fine artists numbering 216, 996 also includes art directors and animators while photographers are relegated to a separate category numbering 147, 389. If we were to take the top 10 cities for artists literally then we should all move to San Francisco or Santa Fe not LA or NYC. The biggest problem with this census is that it assumes that all self proclaimed professional artists are just that. Plus the inclusion of professions like architects, designers, and art directors skews the median income and the ubiquity of a second job because there are clear structures for employment as opposed to painters, sculptors, etc.
“The only artists whose ranks declined since 1990 were, as a group, FINE ARTISTS, art directors and animators, to 216,000 from 278,000.”