DiverseWorks Signs Up for Fair Pay to Artists

Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) has announced that five more arts organizations are choosing to become W.A.G.E. Certified, including Houston’s DiverseWorks. W.A.G.E. is a New York-based activist organization whose advocacy is focused on regulating the payment of artist fees by nonprofit art institutions and establishing a sustainable model for best practices between artists and the institutions that contract their labor.

W.A.G.E. was formed in the spring of 2008 with the writing of the “wo/manifesto.” Like any decent manifesto, this one is written in all caps. It makes a number of statements, beginning with, “W.A.G.E. (WORKING ARTISTS AND THE GREATER ECONOMY) WORKS TO DRAW ATTENTION TO ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES THAT EXIST IN THE ARTS, AND TO RESOLVE THEM,” and ending with, “W.A.G.E. DEMANDS PAYMENT FOR MAKING THE WORLD MORE INTERESTING.”

These five new arts organizations brings W.A.G.E.’s total to ten (mostly from NY and LA), including Art League Houston (go Houston!), which have been certified or are seeking certification. The list of individual artists and independent curators who have joined the coalition, though, is long and impressive. To add your name, go here.