Pondering: Why is it so hard to talk about money in the arts?
Recently, I shared my 2021 Year in Review post (if you haven't seen it - check my last post - it's a bright pink video!) - within it I list one of my achievements being that I've smashed my earned income target for 2021-22. Already! And there's still 3 months to go to the end of the financial year. This is my first full year as a freelancer.
What I've earned is above the average salary for a Director or CEO of a small organisation. Not momentous but it's significant as it's the first time I've earned way above any previous level I've been working at. It's down to proper hard graft, and also shows that there is a real need for the services that I offer, with the skills that come with them. Some of you will probably say newsflash: you're the director of your own organisation! Well yes, but it's just me at the moment. Some might also say, newsflash: you've been working at senior/executive level for some years now (although maybe not on paper but your skills & knowledge were) so this is long overdue!
And yet, I'm finding it uncomfortable and weird to celebrate this - why?
Maybe because the sector is built on foundations of systemic hardship whereby creatives scrimp & save to get by, end up taking muggle jobs to pay their bills, claim Universal Credit, run projects where they don't pay themselves, don't account for the real time they put into their work (like admin), are on a feast & famine cycle.... the list goes on. Maybe fear comes from the fact that it might all end tomorrow, the arts sector is after all precarious at the best of times, but is still in crisis mode & a state of flux thanks to the pandemic. Why is low pay accepted so widely in the arts? Maybe because I'm also from a working class background, so that adds a layer of discomfort where I question my deserving & worthiness. Would I feel this way in another industry? I doubt it.
What can we do about this unspoken discomfort around money in the arts? Who's had a similar experience? Thoughts?