Study shows arts’ impact on Montana

Art is rarely simple, although those who are good at it can make it look easy. It’s rarely lucrative, either, although some artists earn remarkable incomes.

But a new study shows that art in Montana generates $233 million in spending and brings in an estimated $179 million annually in out-of-state money. That’s enough to provide the equivalent of 4,200 full-time jobs, according to Ann Adair, chief economist at the Center for Applied Economic Research at Montana State University-Billings, which conducted the study for the Montana Arts Council.

The 2000 Census found 5,840 Montanans who declared art as their profession, according to the study released last month.

That means the state has 1,000 more artists than it does miners and slightly more artists than sawmill workers. However, not all of them are making a living.

Forty percent of those surveyed reported sales of $5,000 a year or less, reinforcing the stereotype of the starving artist and supporting another widely held dictum in the creative community: It helps to have a spouse with a job.

The study’s definition of artist is inclusive: on the roster are crafts people, visual artists, photographers, ‘‘traditional artists,” musicians, dancers, actors and writers of all forms of literature.

Only half the people surveyed said art accounted for 100 percent of their personal income. Only one-third reported sales of $25,000 or more.

Few people get rich at art. Just 3 percent reported sales of $250,000 or more.

Still, when you add it all up, art money winds up in a lot of pockets.

By SCOTT McMILLION – Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Full Story:http://helenair.com/articles/2005/04/10/sunday/c01041005_02.txt

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