THE CONTINUING ECONOMIC IMPACT OF 9/11
UPON INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS OF ALL DISCIPLINES IN NYC:
2004 ARTIST WRITE-IN

SUMMARY REPORT

by Jonathan Slaff ([email protected]) and Delphine Veaudor ([email protected])
in consultation with Carolyn Sévos ([email protected])
February 28, 2004

This write-in was conducted by ArtsLink New York (www.ArtslinkNY.org), a program of DowntownNYC!, Inc. (www.downtown-nyc.org).
DowntownNYC!, Inc. is a fiscally sponsored program of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (www.lmcc.net).

The attacks of 9/11 significantly impacted the arts and entertainment sector, causing far-rebaching effects on the livelihoods of individual artists, both those self-employed and those employed by others.

This is a follow-up to our survey, "Artists One Year After: Survey of 9/11's Economic Impact on Individual Artists in NYC" (Fall, 2002), which can be found online at <http://www.downtown-nyc.org/second_survey/report22.htm>. That study was was conducted by The Government Outreach Committee of DowntownNYC! on behalf of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in conjunction with Consortium For Worker Education (CWE). It was an extension of the work done by NYFA’s New York Arts Recovery Fund and DowntownNYC’s previous survey regarding the economic impact of 9/11 on downtown businesses.

The current effort is intended to further track the struggles of New York's individual artists of all disciplines, who are the backbone of the city’s cultural endeavors. We hope it will help to guide officials and policy makers on how the creative economy of NYC can be restored to its pre-9/11 vitality.

We gratefully acknowledge the leadership of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in all matters involving the economic welfare of individual artists in New York City and vicinity. We could not have made this study if NYFA had not made its predecessor, the 2002 survey, possible.

Since its founding in 1971, NYFA has worked in partnership with many private and public funding sources to create groundbreaking programs that serve particular needs in the arts community, taking a leadership role in field studies and advocacy as well as funding. In response to the post 9/11^th fiscal crisis for individual artists and arts organizations, NYFA created and administered the New York Arts Recovery Fund, distributing $4.6 million to 135 organizations and 352 individuals in New York City. NYFA gives more money and support to arts organizations and artists of all disciplines than any other comparable organization in the country: nearly $11 million in grants and services annually. <www.nyfa.org>

We also acknowledge our other partner in the 2002 survey, Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), which provided $500,000 through NYFA for a partial wage subsidy pilot program for small and mid-size non-profit arts organizations affected by 9/11, primarily to stimulate job retention and avoid layoffs by arts sector employers. CWE also worked with The Actors’ Fund of America Actors Work Program to create follow-up services for 2002 survey respondents who indicated interest in supplimental job training toward parallel and new careers. <www.cwe.org>

(1) Income loss for artists of all disciplines is slowing, but not due to any rebound in artistic work. Even though the majority of the artists in our 2004 write-in are still able to make money in the arts and intend to continue in their artistic fields, far less of them can live solely on their artistic work and even fewer on fine art alone. This change is traceable to the impact of the 9/11 attacks upon the creative economy of the City.

• 42% of respondents in this write-in now have or consider having an income source that is not directly related to their specialty in the arts.
• Although 78% of respondents claim to still be able to make money in the arts, the aggregate time they spend in supplemental work is significant and growing.

(2) A migration is underway.

• 8% of the respondents in our write-in report they have left New York City. The main reason for relocation was economic struggle.
• 5% of those in this write-in say they have moved out of the Downtown area. Of those who left Downtown, 78% were visual artists.
• An additional 7% of the respondents are now considering relocating outside New York City area.
• Bitterness toward the general lack of care for individual artists is perceptible in some of the responses.

(3) Almost all respondents in this write-in complain of the steadily increasing cost of living in New York City, and especially that of housing. This is particularly dangerous to individual artists, who were shown in our 2002 survey to be 75% self-employed and 70% working in their living spaces.

(4) Other than the programs surveyed in 2002, no sizable new aid sources were reported in this write-in. So we conclude that there has been no change in the overall deficiency of government and private assistance to artists since our last survey.

(5) 13% of participants in our write-in are considering abandoning their careers in the arts as a result of economic hardships in New York. Others keep faith in the city and claim they will stay there in spite of the high rents and all other high expenses, even if it is not "rational."

Jonathan Slaff and Carolyn Sévos, the authors of "Artists One Year After: Survey of 9/11's Economic Impact on Individual Artists in NYC" (Fall, 2002), organized a write-in between January 31, 2004 and February 15, 2004 in order to maintain contact with the participants in their survey and to keep current on the status of New York's individual artists of all disciplines. They were particularly interested to learn how the sample had fared economically since the close of the last survey on August 15, 2002.

The 2002 survey, with a sample of 705 individual artists, had been conducted by The Government Outreach Committee of DowntownNYC! on behalf of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), in conjunction with Consortium For Worker Education (CWE), in an effort to ascertain the economic impact of 9/11th on the estimated 150,000 working artists of all disciplines, who are the key drivers for the arts and entertainment industry in New York City. The findings of that survey can be found online at: <http://www.jsnyc.com/report22.htm>.

Carolyn Sévos came up with the ingenious suggestion that the follow-up study could simply be a write-in, based on the experience of the previous study. In 2002, there had been an abundance of rich anecdotal material collected and the articulate, deeply personal testimonies of the participating artists nearly overshadowed the survey's statistical data. A simple, six-question format was adopted.

The questions were:

It was hoped that these questions could help to discover new developments and identify trends. Personal comments were solicited so that a general state of mind could appear. The aim was to catch the general mood and expectations of the City's individual artists, whom our previous work had identified as the "silent victims" of 9/11.

A document containing the six questions was emailed on January 31 to the 426 artists of all disciplines for who had provided their email addresses during the 2002 survey. The deadline for replies was February 15, 2004. Responses were requested by return email. A total of 175 responses were received.

Our 2002 survey was not designed as a random sample, but rather as a snapshot portrait of a community. It was not a "representative" cross-section, but rather an achievable cross-section of the artists of New York achieved through online and mail outreach to groups of artists known to the soliciting organizations. Its diversity was evident in many places in the survey, which polled for respondents' artistic disciplines and indicated nearly equal percentages of artists involved in theater, visual arts, and music.

This follow-up also collected a "balanced" and diverse sampling of artists from numerous disciplines. Again, respondents typically described themselves as employed in more than one artistic discipline. Within their disciplines, they often had more than one specialty. 37% of respondents said they lived Downtown.

See the Appendix for a breakdown by neighborhoods of residence as well as a breakdown by artistic discipline and specialty.

In all cases, the percentages cited in this report refer to manual counts of statements in the testimonies we received.

The organizers of the survey are obligated to a guarantee of privacy to the respondents. Thus, the anecdotal comments they supplied are quoted without attribution.

Following is an attempt to fairly recap the testimonies of the respondents. The testimonies are organized by topic.

The initial survey in 2002 found that a significant percentage of artists were in danger of losing their work and/or living spaces. Over 70% of surveyed artists reported that they worked at home. Thirteen percent of surveyed artists who rented their homes reported they were facing eviction (or had been evicted) and 16% of surveyed artists who rented their workspaces reported they were facing eviction (or have been evicted).

Now, 8% of the respondents in our write-in report they have left New York City. The main reason for relocation was economic struggle. Only one of the respondents had moved abroad (London). Three moved to California, two to New Mexico, and others resettled in other states including Indiana and Virginia. A photographer wrote, "I was forced to leave New York City after 9/11. I moved to Wisconsin in March of 2003 due to economic hardship. I am relocating again to San Diego, CA in March of 2004."

About 5% of those in this write-in say they have moved out of the Downtown area. Of those who left Downtown, 78% were visual artists.

An additional 7% of the respondents are now considering relocating outside New York City area. Bitterness toward the general lack of care for individual artists is perceptible in some of the responses. A percussionist wrote, "I obviously have no choice but to move from this town and do something else since my masters degree in performance is being used as toilet paper." But real estate issues--and more generally, the unaffordable cost of daily life--are most often behind the impulse to leave New York City.

--freelance writer on the Upper West Side

--dancer/choreographer living in Park Slope, Brooklyn

--Manhattan TV interviewer, covering Arts and Lifestyle

--Manhattan artist who works in film

--Artist and Art Historian, Battery Park City

Some artists continue to cite the fear created by the 9/11 attacks. They described how it has affected their creativity and prompted their leaving the City.

--Brooklyn theater/digital media artist

--Painter who has moved to Rhode Island

But many others keep faith in the city and claim they will stay here in spite of rents and skyrocketing expenses.

--Tribeca film animator

Although 71% of respondents claim to still be able to make money in the arts, the aggregate time they spend in supplemental work is significant and growing.

• 14% report having a "day" job to support their artistic activities.
• Another 9% are considering taking a part-time job.
• 20% have a teaching job
• Among those who already have a teaching or a day job, 13% think they will have to work more for these jobs in order to maintain their income.

--Actor/playwright living in Midtown

"I am stuck in this temp job that really is not paying well, but because of the lack of other available work in NYC, I am forced to stay at it due to lack of other options, which means I have to work more hours - or get a second job, which I am strongly considering - but I need more writing time for my own project I've been working on so I need to have time budgeted for that."

--Actor who moved from Midtown to Washington Heights

--Midtown musician

Overall, 13% expect that they will have to teach more or devote more time to their part-time or day jobs.

In 2002, a year after the 9/11 attacks, about 80% artists who responded were suffering income loss and this income loss was directly tied to the arts and entertainment sector. The average loss in individual income was about 46%. No other industry in NYC has reported a 9/11-related income loss this great. Only one in five artists reported having income losses as a result of the weak economy prior to the attack in 2001. Almost 70% of the respondents who reported income loss indicated that it was in the arts and entertainment sector. Reported loss of income from other sectors was negligible in comparison.

Now, only 66% of respondents in our write-in describe their income as going down, although 87% of respondents answered "no" to the question, "Are things back to where they were in 2000 before the 9/11 attacks?" Income is described as up by 16%, the same by 11% and variable by 5%. No answer was given by 2%. Those who claimed their income had risen often tied the rise to 2003, which seems to have been a slightly better year than 2001 and 2002. However, the rise of income is not particularly linked to artistic activities. Most of the income which has been replaced since 2001 appears to have been through "day jobs."

--Union Square documentary filmmaker

--Upper West Side actress

"My income has gone up slightly in the past few months, but it's been very difficult. I have to find a day job to support myself, and it's been almost impossible to find any work. I work as a temp--and even that is competitive. I haven't made any money in the arts for at least a year."

--Upper East Side figurative painter

Often, the rise in business in 2003 was not enough to restore hope. A Greenwich Village playwright, who claimed to be "barely" able to make money in the arts, said his income had gone up last year due to two writing assignments he had received, but added, "It is quite likely that I will cease being a writer, something I have been for twenty-two years, and find another line of work."

4. HOUSING AND LIVING COSTS MARCH RELENTLESSLY UPWARD
Almost all respondents complain of the steadily increasing cost of living in New York City, and especially that of housing.

--Soho sculptor

--Seaport actor and potter

--Greenwich Village jazz journalist and radio broadcaster

--Musician and recording studio operator

In 2002, our initial survey showed that relief efforts had by and large not reached New York artists in need after 9/11. Despite the fact that a majority of surveyed artists suffered substantial income loss, only approximately one-third of the respondents reported they had applied for some form of public or private disaster aid. Many survey respondents expressed frustration at their inability to obtain accurate information about sources of aid, the amount of time required to apply for aid, and eligibility requirements that did not reflect the economic base of the arts community or the geographic scope of the loss.

The NYS Department of Labor (through regular and disaster unemployment insurance) and FEMA provided assistance to far more 2002 respondents than any other public or private agency. The NYS DOL assisted 161 respondents. FEMA, via three distinct programs, provided assistance in 110 cases. Some of the respondents may have received assistance from more than one FEMA program. Twice as many respondents (108) received regular state unemployment insurance than disaster unemployment insurance (53). The private agencies that assisted a significant number of respondents were the Red Cross (59), Safe Horizon (40) and the Arts Recovery Fund (31) administered by NYFA.

The percentages have shifted, however, in the number of people who say they received aid from various sources. This could be caused by a number of things, including our smaller sample in 2004 and people who got aid having a greater tendency to stay in our radar. Now, 43% of participants in our write-in said they received some assistance in the aftermath of 9/11, 54% said they did not, and 2% did not answer the question. Some did not apply for it; others did not match the criteria. Some beneficiaries of post 9/11 programs mentioned that they know artists who could have applied but were unaware of existing programs.

The most significant source of aid cited by the artists in our 2004 write-in was still the Arts Recovery Grant offered by the New York Foundation for the Arts: 13% of our 2004 respondents had received assistance from it and many wrote how helpful it was.

--Brooklyn visual artist

--Greenpoint writer

Additionally, 12% received a rental assistance from the FEMA and 6% were beneficiaries of the LMDC residential grant program. The Red Cross helped 6% and 6% had unemployment insurance benefits. 5% got financial help from their families.

In 2002, the arts as an industry was probably more critically affected than the City economy at large. The work-related income of 82% of our sample was in decline, with an average loss of income of approximately 46%.

We knew our last survey had collected information on "established" artists because we reached out only to those who were known members of performing unions, those who had applied for or received artist fellowships, or those who fit criteria of being active in an artistic discipline.

But we were actually afraid to ask the most bitter question: would economic hardships force artists who were this established out of their chosen professions? In 2004 we asked, and found that 13% of participants in our write-in are considering abandoning their careers in the arts as a result of economic hardships in New York.

--Visual artist who has moved to Woodstock, NY

"By summer 2002 I decided to leave the city. I live now in New Mexico, I still try to live from my art work, I do sales in the city around the holidays, and I always am on the verge of getting a corporate job."
--artist who also wrote, "the entire situation with 9-11 also made my child sick."

--Equity actor living in Weehawken

Some intend to move into less creative and more "commercial" art, including commercial media and design.

--a sculptor in Tribeca

--Queens playwright, photographer and filmmaker

--Artist living in the Financial District

--Visual artist living in Westbeth

About 19% of respondents do not expect any change in the way they will continue their artistic careers.

"Frankly, I can't imagine giving up writing or acting because of the economy or because of a catastrophic event. I write because I am a writer. My theater company has produced plays with almost no money at all. It is inconceivable that my fellow artists or I would stop because of money. There has never been any money in theater or writing for anyone but the big names. In difficult times, and in good times, we are who we are."

--Manhattan actress who works with a small not-for-profit theater company but does not make a living by it

--Head of a Manhattan arts promotion company which is a 501 (c) 3 and "umbrella" for performing artists in puppetry, dance, music and theater.

--East Village composer-director-performance artist

--Tribeca actress, singer, playwright/composer

--Upper West Side musician and stage performer

As many as 22% of our respondents are considering a change in their artistic career but cannot be precise about it; their thoughts often include moving into more commercial forms of the arts.

There is a wide realization that the creative economy in New York has been unalterably changed. Even though most of the respondents are still able to make money in the arts and intend to continue in their artistic fields, far less of them can live solely on their artistic work and even fewer on fine art alone. Assistance and part-time jobs have been necessary for most of the respondents who have chosen to go on as artists. Over 43% of respondents now have or consider having an income source that is not directly related to their specialty in the arts.

The responses offer insight into the effect of the attacks on the general artistic mood. Some wrote that 9/11 directly affected their art and the way they consider it. A Tribeca performance and mixed media artist wrote, "I worked in the rescue effort for a couple of weeks and was so estranged from my thought and artistic process I thought I would never make art again." A painter who lived 2.5 blocks from Ground Zero wrote, "Financial and psychological effects have changed my life forever. Marriage and family crises seem to have been a delayed reaction sparked by 9/11."

"Paris on Hudson" has an odd view of its dependency on its artist population. New York supports arts institutions, but it hardly at all supports artistic individuals. Jonathan Larson, working alone in an apartment in the East Village--a self-employed arts worker--wrote "Rent," a musical which went to Broadway, creating tourism and employment opportunities. His work product was an economic stimulus not only for actors and musicians, but also for hotel workers, restaurants, the taxi and travel industries and onward throughout the economic chain. Such arts workers are important intellectual capital to the city, but they are rarely acknowledged publicly in that way.

This write-in demonstrates that we are in the midst of a flight of this capital, as artists with long and stable careers are leaving New York, driven out by the effects of 9/11 on the artistic marketplace and the relentless pressure of housing costs. High real estate prices are overwhelmingly cited as the reasons for any past or potential migration by the artists. Yet no publicly sponsored programs aimed at helping individual artists have been initiated since the time of our last survey, over a year ago. Insufficient measures have been taken to keep open our small and midsize theaters--most have made cuts to their programming--and the City is doing nothing to help rebuild the art market.

In our 2002 survey on the impact of 9/11 on the City's artists, at least three-quarters of our respondents were self-employed people who work from home and who did not live below Canal Street. Those are the very reasons the relief system failed them. The vast relief network that came into place post-9/11 focused on residents and businesses below Canal Street. While the physical devastation and dislocation wrought upon that area clearly merited a focused approach, the ripple effect of 9/11 upon the City’s economy quickly became clear, calling for a re-focus in approach and a wider net being cast. Yet none has appeared.

But it is to be noticed that many artists still keep faith in the city and claim they will stay there in spite of the high rents and all other high expenses. One wrote she would do so, even if it is not "rational" at all.

Our 2002 survey showed that while there may have been a recession prior to 9/11, its effects were minimal on the community of NYC artists until after 9/11. Whether 9/11 directly caused the economic losses suffered by the artists in our sample (which it certainly did for those whose lives were based downtown and had to shut down their businesses) or indirectly accelerated what was already a worsening economy (which is the case for the vast majority of our 2002 respondents, 67% of whom were not based below 14^th Street), it was clear one year later that all artists throughout the City had lost work and income, invaded their savings and had not yet seen a rebound in their circumstances. Our follow-up shows that there still has not been a rebound in the arts marketplace, only that some artists have replaced lost income with more "commercial" work or non-artistic work.

We appeal for official recognition of the important role self-employed artists play in New York City’s cultural endeavors and wider economy and a financial investment in them proportionate to what they bring to New York’s economy.

Government arts budgets--local, state and federal--can and must be preserved. We are gladdened by news of the prospect of an increase to the National Endowment for the Arts. We appeal for restoration of the $6.6 million cut from last year's budget of the New York State Council on the Arts. We also apeal for an increase to the budget of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

We also repeat our 2002 call for affordable housing and workspace, and for creation of a public-private safety net for artists, as well as for other self-employed people who are suffering from the ongoing impact of the 9/11 attacks. This includes knitting together health and other insurance programs, rent and mortgage assistance and jobs programs.

Aid for artists must always include aid to the institutions that nurture and employ them. Both commercial and nonprofit arts organizations provide jobs and income for individual artists. Since small and medium-sized non-profit organizations are often the entry point for new artists into the marketplace, their economic stability is highly important in this regard. DowntownNYC! has proposed two programs to strengthen small and midsized arts organizations:

• ArtsVan--a mobile hospitality center and ticketing truck aimed at capturing Downtown tourism and channeling it into the district's cultural organizations, including theaters, museums and community tourism attractions.
• "Cultural Concierge"--a city-wide program of site-specific neighborhood-based arts promotions, including kiosks with hip and friendly staff, to assist visitors and residents in planning cultural activities. Includes remote ticketing and co-promotions between neighborhood arts organizations, community tourism providers and surrounding businesses.

We repeat our endorsement of ideas for strengthening the arts which were proposed in the report Creative Downtown, commissioned by NYFA and written by The New York City Arts Coalition. These include:

• Creation of an Arts and Culture Land Trust to spur the development of affordable real estate to retain artists and nonprofit arts groups using tax incentives such as exemptions and credits to help solve the real estate crisis for artists and arts organizations
• Construction of more performance spaces and a media arts building downtown, and commissioning new art for downtown
• Offering of joint-purchasing options for products and services to nonprofit arts groups, utilizing the existing purchasing processes of the City
• Marketing of a renewed New York with wider public information about its cultural activities, capitalizing on national and international concern for the City and interest in its arts.

Finally, we appeal for more surveys of this type, to help us understand not just the economic losses in the arts community since the terrorist attacks, but also losses suffered in the Citywide workforce of self-employed people in professions other than the arts. We also appeal for surveys that will track the pace of recovery in the creative economy and to pinpoint specific ways to revive the economic health of the arts community. And we call for action on the findings from this and other surveys.

Norma Munn, Chair of the New York City Arts Coalition, who inspired this whole effort

Barbara Okishoff

Ted Berger

Amy Schwartzman-Brightbill, for her invaluable contributions to the 2002 study

As in our last survey, respondents typically described themselves as employed in more than one artistic discipline, and within their discipline, having more than one specialty. Those who indicated more than one discipline or specialty within a discipline are counted in each of the disciplines or specialties they indicated. Therefore the total number exceeds 175. We do not consider the relative size of these segments as reflective of the relative size of these industry segments in New York. Rather, they simply reflect the cross-section of artists who were reachable by us in this time period.