With Ireland passing the first federal guaranteed income program for artists, could the U.S. potentially do the same?

As the decay of a global pandemic closed in around us, paint brushes dashed, keyboards clacked, and microphones captured the living gears of our collective consciousness in countless isolated rooms around the world. We untryingly benefit from the way that all kinds of artists help us to both make sense of and escape from the world, especially in times of crisis. But now more than ever, artists navigate uncertain waters themselves.

In just the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. arts economy shrank by 6.4%, nearly double the shrinkage of the economy as a whole. All over the world, independent artists, writers, and performers were hit particularly hard. In the U.S., their share of the arts economy plummeted by 20.6% in the first year of lockdowns. Even now, with recovery efforts underway worldwide, notable indie figures like Santigold and Little Simz have shared how they had to regrettably cancel tours because it wouldn’t be financially feasible.

The pandemic has drawn more attention than ever to the need for a new system of assigning value to the cultural product of art and supporting the livelihood of the artists who labor to produce it. … Link to full-length article at okayplayer.com