The number of professional craft artists in Australia is in decline. From a peak of 5,500 in the early 1990s, the most recent estimate puts the number of professional craft artists at around 3,800. That's lower than the numbers for 1987. Such a statistic may come as a surprise to many, directly contradicting the widely held view that we are currently in the middle of a crafty revival.

But the crafts are not alone. Other arts occupations have also recently seen declines in numbers. According to the estimates in Do Your Really Expect To Get Paid?, the latest report by respected cultural economist Professor David Throsby, the long term growth trend in professional artist numbers appears to have stalled. Throsby's study indicates that between 2001 and 2009 there have been small increases in the number of writers, actors and dancers, but the number of professional musicians has remained static, and there have been falls in the number of composers, community cultural development artists, visual artists and crafts people. The result is that the overall estimated professional artist population of Australia has fallen slightly, from 45,000 in 2001 to 44,100 in 2009.

Published by the Australia Council in August 2010, Throsby's study provides the latest demographic and economic data on artists in Australia today, with information drawn from a detailed sample survey of around a thousand professional artists undertaken in 2009. It also shows that the average incomes of artists have fallen in comparison to incomes generally, and that Australia's professional artist population is ageing.

Comparisons with census data

Another report published by the Australia Council in August is What's your other job? (Cunningham & Higgs et al) which provides a comparative analysis of selected arts and arts related cultural occupations, drawing on data from the 2006 census. It's an awkwardly titled report, as rather than focussing on the 'other' jobs held by many artists, it is concerned only with those artists who listed an arts occupation as their 'main job' on their census form. Like Throsby's study, this report also indicates that there have been significant declines in many key arts occupations - perhaps the most dramatic being an almost 70% decline in the number of potters and ceramic artists over the decade since 1996. While these figures have been available for some time, many in the arts have been reluctant to rely on census data to provide an accurate picture of either artist numbers or incomes, mainly because of the fact that the census fails to count all those part-time artists who have a 'main job' in another occupation. Despite these concerns, it is important to note that the trends revealed in these two studies are roughly aligned.

Significantly, What's your other job? also examines a number of occupations that are classified as 'arts related' and are not covered in Throsby's studies of professional artists. In stark contrast with the declines in arts occupations, numbers in these 'arts related' occupations have almost doubled over the last decade, with the most significant growth occurring in four design occupations - Interior Designers, Graphic Designers, Fashion Designers and the more general category of Designers and Illustrators.

From the point of view of the craft sector, which increasingly combines the 'craft' and 'design' fields, the data from the census study presents a confusing picture of significant declines on the craft side and dramatic increases on the design side. This is made even more complex when it is realised that census occupational data related to other craft occupations - such as 'jeweller' - is either excluded from the study, or only included buried within very general categories such as 'Visual Arts and Craft Professionals nec (not elsewhere classified)', a category that includes everything from 'textile artist' and 'lead lighter' to 'ephemeral artist' and 'new media artist'. Another reason that the census data is difficult to use in developing a comprehensive picture of trends in the craft sector, is that many occupation titles in the crafts are coded within technical and trade classifications, rather than the cultural sector. This said, it is worth noting that within the catch all category, 'Visual Arts and Craft Professionals nec', mentioned above, numbers have actually fallen some 8% below the 1996 figures.

The occupational mix of craft practice

In examining the diversity of artistic occupations, and the way artists are often involved in a variety of artistic practices within their professional careers, Throsby's study sought to identify both the way artists might work in a variety of ways within an artform, or even across artistic disciplines. From the point of view of the crafts, the highest percentage of craft artists were involved as metal worker or jeweller, with 30% identifying this as the artistic work they were engaged in the most. The proportions for other craft practice areas were, fibre/textile artist (24%), ceramic artist/ potter (17%), glass artist (9%), and wood worker (5%). It is worth noting that in Throsby's similar 2003 study, Don't Give Up Your Day Job, the proportion of craft practitioners engaged mostly as ceramic artist/ potter was the same as for metal worker/ jeweller (24%), while 21% were mainly working as fibre/ textile artists.

The employment status of craft practitioners

While there may be challenges in clarifying trends in the number of professionals working across all occupational groups within the crafts, one thing is fairly clear from both Throsby's study, and the census data. Within the crafts, and across the arts in general, the majority of practitioners work freelance or are self-employed. The census study, with its focus on 'main job', has just over half of all artists working as non-employees, while Throsby's study indicates that 72% of all professional artist work this way in their main artistic occupation - only actors and community cultural development artists work mostly as employees. In fact, Throsby's study shows that 92% of professional craft artists work freelance or are self-employed (only composers have a lower proportion of practitioners working for salary or wages). In other words, the vast majority of craft practitioners (along with writers, visual artists and composers) could perhaps best be described as operating within a small or micro-businesses model, as freelancers, consultants, or small scale 'manufacturers'.

Drawing on the data from the census study, we also find a further tension between visual arts and crafts, and design occupations. For while the highest levels of 'non-employee' status in arts occupations are to be found in the visual arts and crafts, the design occupations skew the opposite way, with higher levels of employee status than other 'arts related' occupations. In the workforce as a whole, around 90% of people work as employees, with the levels of non-employee status workers in the arts being one of the highest of any sector of the economy.

Incomes in the crafts

While some 47% of professional craft practitioners earn less than $10,000 from their craft work, this is actually a little better than the average for all artists (56%), and significantly better than the performance of visual artists (64%) and writers (69%). At the other end of the scale, only 12% of craft artists earn more than $50,000 from their creative work, which is the average for all artists.

However, while Throsby's study shows that some art forms and the sector in general have seen a decline in both average and median income levels from primary creative work, in the crafts both average and median income levels have increased. In the crafts, the average income from primary creative activity in 2007/08 was $22,000 (up 18% on 2000/01), while the median was $10,000. Overall the income of craft practitioners from all sources also increased, while for the sector as a whole there was a slight fall.

But because Throsby's figures for income are derived before expenses are taken into consideration, and because levels of self-employment in the sector are so high, it is very difficult to identify the proportion of creative practices that actually make a profit. Significantly, in the crafts when we look at both the average and median levels of expenses we find that there is a positive margin of $12,600 based on average expenses, or $4,000 based on the median. In other words, on the average, craft practices in general are in profit. This compares favourably some other artform areas, such as the visual arts, where median expenses significantly outstrip median income, with only a relatively small positive margin based on the difference between average income and expenditure. Thus, while it may well be the case that many craft practitioners still need to undertake other work to survive, it is also possible that fewer craft practices require significant cross-subsidy from other income sources to ensure they remain viable.

Summary conclusion

While there are many other details about the crafts revealed in these two reports on the arts, the main points above do seem to suggest further consideration. While incomes in the crafts seem to be performing relatively well - certainly when compared with the visual arts - should we be concerned about the falling numbers of craft practitioners? What is driving this change - the viability of craft practice, changes in craft education, a shift away from craft to 'design'? Perhaps a proportion of the declines in the number of professional craft practitioners are a 'statistical artefact' - simply the result of a shift in the way that craft practitioners identify their occupation. Given the fact that the vast majority of craft practitioners operate more within a small business model, rather than as employees, perhaps we also need to think differently about how we deal with the question of craft practice income levels, rather than focussing on raw numbers we might perhaps give greater consideration to issues of profitability and cross-subsidisation. Within such a model we'd look less at the raw numbers and more at the way a craft practice might contribute to a portfolio of professional activities - does the craft practice make a positive economic contribution to an overall income? This might also allow us to examine career development stages within the crafts, allowing us to better understand the how craft practices move through various stages - from emerging start-up to an established (and economically self-sustaining) practice.

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Peter Anderson
November 2010