Skip to main content
NORC at the University Chicago

National Survey of Artists

Close up of someone shaping clay on a pottery wheel
A nationally representative portrait of working artists in the United States
  • Client
    The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
  • Dates
    2023 – 2025

Problem

There is no consensus on the number of working U.S. artists. 

A crucial segment of the U.S. artist population is largely uncounted in federal population and labor surveys because they do not structure their artmaking in a way that those surveys typically define and measure “work” and “labor.”  

Thus, there is insufficient data on the number of working artists nationwide and how their lives and livelihoods are structured. This limits the ability of funders and policymakers to make crucial decisions about how best to support them.  

Solution

NORC is pioneering a survey and sampling approach to identify and learn about U.S. artists. 

With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we are engaging artists, sector experts, and researchers to inform a new survey that will reach an expansive, nationally representative sample of artists. This sample includes what we are calling the  previously “invisible” population of artists and will come from NORC’s AmeriSpeak® panel and multiple nonprobability panels. Data from the latter will be calibrated using NORC's True North methodology.  

Our survey explores the following questions: 

  • How many artists live and work in the United States today?  
  • Who are these artists?  
  • How do they describe their creative practice(s)?  
  • How do they support themselves financially?  
  • What can we learn about their physical and mental health and wellbeing?

Result

Our study will provide funders and policymakers with critical new insights about artists. 

Accurately counting and characterizing the lives and livelihoods of working artists will unlock an understanding of the infrastructure required to support this population across the United States. 

Survey fielding will be completed by the end of 2024. Results will be publicly available in summer 2025. A public use dataset will also be available through the National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture (NADAC). 

Project Leads

Explore NORC Society & Culture Projects

Smoke-Free Screens Initiative

Updating surveillance of on-screen tobacco imagery after pandemic-driven changes in video viewing

Client:

Truth Initiative

Facilitating Criminal Records Analysis

NORC helps researchers study recidivism at a lower cost with more accuracy and greater efficiency

Client:

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Survey of Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife-Associated Recreation

Streamlining, economizing, and increasing the reach of a venerable national survey

Client:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
Society & Culture Projects