Artists and workers are already at a disadvantage in our economy, and in the face of a new federal administration and elected officials, there is heightened urgency to act now. States like New York already have momentum to implement protections for vulnerable communities, fund new employment programs, and pass policies that expand and strengthen worker rights.

Artists need deeper change in their working and living conditions for creativity to thrive. CRNY has championed a renewed social contract that centers trust and dignity for artists as workers. We’ve connected members of our community with resources to continue working and serving communities, but we need improved policy to improve conditions for all. 

As part of our effort to create lasting impact and ignite systemic change, we’re honored to unveil our recently-released policy playbook, New York Isn’t New York Without Artists, commissioned by CRNY and authored by HR&A Advisors. 

This playbook follows a year-long process of engaging policymakers, artists, and organizers across New York State. It is a long-term, step-by-step program for lawmakers at all levels of government to reference as they enact policies that empower artists, and keep New York the vibrant creative capital it always has been.

We’ve already sounded the alarm that despite the creative workforce’s integral role in the state’s economy, too many artists live on the edge of hardship and economic uncertainty. The playbook’s policy recommendations – 19 in total – put our values into action with intentionally expansive, cross-sector policies, inviting policymakers to consider creative workers not only as critical constituents but also as central to New York’s identity and economy. 

Some of the main recommendations for New York State include: 

• Developing a statewide creative economy strategic plan;
• Establishing a grant program to fund portable benefits and financial security tools for creative workers;
• Increasing public funding for economic development projects that integrate arts and culture;
• Creating a statewide guaranteed income program; 
• Creating artist employment programs to address environmental, health, and safety needs in communities;
• Legislating prevailing wage standards for artists working on publicly funded arts and culture projects.

The policy recommendations span a range of policy areas, including housing and financial security, labor protections and job quality, workforce development, economic development, and arts and culture policies. And our continued commitment to creating transformative change to protect and support the labor of creative workers doesn’t stop here.

At CRNY, we’ve been working to embed sustainability into our work: launching a variety of new programs and findings in pursuit of changing NY arts and culture for the better — not just today, but in the future. Here are some examples:

• In May, CRNY released data on NY State artists, the first comprehensive survey on the financial and general wellbeing of artists in the state. Now publicly available, we hope that these data highlight the need for more comprehensive and more correct data about individual artists – something our country and our state just don’t have. These data paint a different picture of NYS artists than we get from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data we often rely on. They also paint a bleak picture for our creative workforce.  Among other findings, we discovered that nearly two-thirds of artists don’t have a financial safety net.
  
• In August, we awarded grants of $15,000 to 11 organizations to incorporate data from the “Portrait of New York State Artists” Survey into an advocacy initiative or strategic communications campaign around the needs, circumstances, and experiences of artists across the state. 
• In July, we launched the Artist Power Building School, a home to support artists, arts collectives, and organizations  to spread knowledge about economic justice and foster base-building within the guaranteed income movement. As part of this initiative, we have 23 artists who are spending six months building bridges across varied facets of the movement for equitable economic justice policy—as well as reflecting on and activating their experiences as Guaranteed Income participants.
  
• In September, we released our Guaranteed Income for Artists Preliminary Findings. This report demonstrates that guaranteed income improves artist finances, well-being, and career prospects. You can read more about these findings in this great piece in Hyperallergic.
  
• Finally — in partnership with Win, Children’s Defense Fund-New York, and other advocates — we announced the formation of the New York State Cash Alliance on September 17. The Alliance has been formed in response to economic problems facing New Yorkers: the rising cost of housing, inflation, wage stagnation, and the increasing demand for working multiple jobs. 
  

Beyond CRNY, many of the artists and organizations we’ve supported continue to make waves in their communities:

• The Daily Orange, the student newspaper at Syracuse University, profiled the collaboration between AEP writer Víctor María Chamán and Jessica Maxwell, executive director of labor advocacy group Workers Center of Central New York.
  
• Next City and Teen Vogue profiled several artists who received guaranteed income payments from CRNY. The artists discuss how this financial stability allowed them to hone their craft, spend more time with their loved ones, and expand the types of job opportunities they could pursue.

Over the next two months, you can expect even more exciting developments in research, advocacy, and narrative change, including an Artist Employment Program impact evaluation from the Urban Institute, a series of briefs outlining the impacts of Guaranteed Income on artists, a collaborative, in-process Artist and Cultural Worker Bill of Rights, and a stunning visual campaign that celebrates the hard work of artists across New York State. Thank you for continuing to follow CRNY’s work, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store as we close out 2024.

Photo of CRNY’s Guaranteed Income Director of Strategic Initiatives Maura Cuffie-Peterson, YouthInPower’s Amal Kharoufi, CRNY Artist Peggy Robles Alvadaro, and Women In Need’s Jennifer Ortiz at the NYS Cash Alliance launch party.