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CPANDA Artists: Overview of Available Data

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The primary sources of regularly collected data about artists in the United States are the Decennial Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, and the Current Population Survey, jointly conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau. In addition to these governmental sources of data, there have also been a number of significant national, regional, statewide, and local studies of artists conducted over the past 30 years. Unions are another potential source of data on artists, as well.

Decennial Census Data

The Decennial Census contains information about the number of artists in the population, their earnings, and basic demographic characteristics. Artist information is available in 11 occupational sub-categories, including actors/directors, dancers, musicians/composers, painters, and teachers of art/drama/music. The most recent data available on CPANDA for detailed occupation categories such as these are from the 2000 Census. See http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex/ioindex.html.

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Current Population Survey Data

The Current Population Survey is an ongoing study involving monthly surveys of 50,000 households jointly conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census. It provides data on the number of artists in the population, their employment status, and earnings. Artist information is available in 11 occupational sub-categories (the same ones used by the Decennial Census), including actors/directors, dancers, musicians/composers, painters, and teachers of art/drama/music. See http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm.

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Some Significant Studies of Artists

CPANDA has identified a number of important data sets on artists created over the past 30 years, some of which are available through the Archive. For those data sets available through CPANDA, we have provided a direct link to the study's summary page in CPANDA. For data sets available elsewhere, links have been provided to the relevant web sites.

National Studies:

Other significant national-level studies of artists, for which data sets are not currently available, are listed below. For information about these studies, see http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/wrkpap12.html [Butler, Donnell, with forward by Paul DiMaggio. 2000. Studies of Artists: An Annotated Directory. Working Paper No. 12. Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies: Princeton, NJ].

  • Health Care Needs of American Artists (1991)
  • National Survey of Crafts Artists (1980-81)
  • Survey of Contemporary American Writers (1980)
  • Economics of the Creative Artist: The Case of the Composer (1974)

Regional and State Studies: Significant regional or state-level studies of artists conducted over the past 30 years include:

Other significant regional or state-level studies of artists, for which data sets are not currently available, are listed below. For information about these studies, see http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/wrkpap12.html [Butler, Donnell, with forward by Paul DiMaggio. 2000. Studies of Artists: An Annotated Directory. Working Paper No. 12. Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies: Princeton, NJ].

  • Artists in the New England Labor Market (1980-1982)

Local Studies: Significant local-level studies of artists conducted over the past 30 years include:

Other significant local-level studies of artists, for which data sets are not currently available, are listed below. For information about these studies, see http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/wrkpap12.html [Butler, Donnell, with forward by Paul DiMaggio. 2000. Studies of Artists: An Annotated Directory. Working Paper No. 12. Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies: Princeton, NJ].

  • Study of Photographer Social Networks (1990)
  • Surveys of Manhattan Architects (1974, 1979)
  • Visual Artists: Earnings and Exhibition Opportunities (1976-1978)
  • Visual Artists in New Orleans (1976)

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Union Data on Artists

Artist unions periodically collect data from their members, and may make it available to researchers on a case-by-case basis. It is important to keep in mind, however, that data collected by unions is often gathered for purposes unrelated to research, which may make it unsuitable for analyses outside of its original scope. It should also be noted that union data cannot be used to make generalizations about non-union artists. Artists who are not union members may have demographic, behavioral, or attitudinal profiles that differ substantially from those of members. For a list of some of the major artist unions, see Arts and Cultural Policy Resources: Artist Unions.

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For More Information

There are several good sources for additional information about research on artists:

The Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton University has compiled an inventory of studies of artists conducted since the 1960s. Comprising both domestic and international studies, the list includes "only studies that attempted to generalize a sample to a larger population of artists." Each entry indicates, insofar as possible from available materials, the study investigator, the artist population, the way in which artists were identified, sampling procedures, number of respondents and response rates, and publications based on the study. [Butler, Donnell, with forward by Paul DiMaggio. 2000. Studies of Artists: An Annotated Directory. Working Paper No. 12. Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies: Princeton, NJ. ( http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/wrkpap12.html)]

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has conducted analyses of artist occupation data from the Decennial Censuses and the Current Population Survey since the 1970 Census. Their reports on these data can be found at http://www.arts.gov/research/ResearchReports.html#Artists. A series of shorter analyses of artist occupation data, called "NEA Research Notes," can be found at http://www.arts.gov/research/ResearchNotes.html#Artists.

The Research Center for Arts and Culture (RCAC) at Teachers College, Columbia University, has compiled an extensive bibliography of research about artists. The bibliography covers research that has been conducted on artists from numerous disciplines and fields, including arts administration, sociology, medicine, law, arts education, economics, and psychology. Many of the bibliographic entries are annotated. The bibliography can be accessed online from RCAC's home page at http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/rcac/.