Arts Hub, Grace Macpherson
2 October 2023

The golden standard of a successful independent arts practice is to appear to be making as much art as you can, as often as you can. Being able to make art the majority of your time or having the opportunity to make art “full-time”, is a dream come true for most artists. The problem with this golden standard is that it is extremely difficult to achieve, fundamentally due to a lack of resources, infrastructure and opportunities, and for similar reasons is even harder to sustain in a stable manner over time.

Even those independent artists who appear to be achieving this are not making their own art 100% of the time. Theatre Network Australia’s ‘This is how we do it 2022‘ report found that across emerging, mid-career and established performing artists, 78% of respondents maintained at least one other form of employment outside their creative practice. For those exclusively working in their arts practice, this does not equate to creating their own art all the time.

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