The Guaranteed Income for Artists Impact Study was a multidisciplinary, collaborative research effort to document and assess the impact of guaranteed income payments on artists’ lives and livelihoods. The study reveals the profound benefits of guaranteed income on artists’ financial stability, creative output, and overall well-being — offering critical insights for funders, policymakers, and advocates in the cash transfer space.

Creatives Rebuild New York selected two research teams to evaluate our Guaranteed Income for Artists program: one led by the Indiana University Center for Cultural Affairs, and the other led by the Family Economic Policy Lab at Appalachian State University in collaboration with the Cash Transfer Lab at New York University, Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, and City University of New York. This dual approach was strategic and intentional—ensuring multidisciplinary analyses and a range of research outputs that can reach the diverse fields of practice engaged in the guaranteed income movement.

These research partners collaborated on a mixed-methods evaluation that included an artist advisory group who provided input on the research design, a comprehensive quantitative survey, analysis of spending data, qualitative interviews and focus groups, collaboration with interview participants to transform their narratives into research poetry, and an invitation for artists to contribute a “creative expression”—any form of art that reflected their personal experiences with the guaranteed income program.

The findings are presented through seven research briefs that explore key themes: demographics of artists, spending patterns, financial well-being, artists’ labor, juggling responsibilities, health and well-being, and community/family impacts. The introduction includes a summary of findings, a detailed description of data collection and analytical methods, and an introduction to the scholars and research institutions involved.

Each of the seven briefs offers data-driven lessons about New York State artists and the impacts of the GI program. As a whole, the Guaranteed Income for Artists Impact Study underscores the transformative potential of cash transfer programs tailored to specific populations like artists.

For more information, read the February 12, 2025 press release or download the research briefs below. (N.B.: An appendix featuring participants’ research poetry is forthcoming.)

Honoring the many ways that knowledge can be collected, understood, and shared, CRNY commissioned two approaches to evaluating the impacts of the Artist Employment Program on participating artists and community-based organizations.

Urban Institute

Using data and cases from the Artist Employment Program, Urban Institute conducted research that focuses specifically on the two employment models comprising the AEP: artists were either employed directly by their partner organization or employed by Tribeworks, a worker cooperative that provided salaries and benefits for artists. Tribeworks made it possible for smaller organizations with less infrastructure to support employment and benefits for AEP artists.

The resulting report, Empowering Artists through Employment, along with an accompanying web feature, captures the results of the two-year-long employment period and analyzes the implementation, outcomes, and impact of the AEP through these employment models.

For more information, read the November 22, 2024 press release.

SUNY Rockefeller Institute

Through a competitive RFP process in Spring 2023, CRNY selected a team led by Hester Street Collaborative, working in collaboration with Museum Hue and SUNY Empire State, to conduct state-wide participatory action research (PAR) focused on the impacts of AEP on artists and organizations. This team led the creation of a PAR evaluation toolkit co-designed with program participants, including data collection methods to be conducted by participating artists and organizations.

Due to changes among the research partners in 2024, the study and final deliverables are being completed by Maria Figueroa, the Labor Policy Director at SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government; social practice artist and scholar Sol Aramendi; and independent researcher Ryan Westphal — all of whom were part of the original team assembled by Hester Street.

Rockefeller Institute shared preliminary findings at a virtual half-day conference for AEP participants, policymakers, and funders on February 6, 2025. A final report will be released in March 2025.

Between 2022 and 2024, CRNY supported Artist-Organizer Kevin Gotkin to work on a range of projects about the lives and livelihoods of Deaf and disabled artists. Kevin’s background in research and cultural organizing helped them identify initiatives that match what artists and organizations need in our rapidly evolving contexts. The projects span CRNY’s program areas to offer data, programming, and documentation to support the vibrant fields of Deaf and disability artistry.

For more about this work, see our recent blog post, “Supporting New York’s Deaf and Disabled Artists.”

Click below to access the reports and resources. 

In 2023, CRNY collaborated with external research partners to document and assess the design and implementation of both the Artist Employment Program and Guaranteed Income for Artists program. These partners reviewed internal documentation and surveys, conducted interviews and focus groups with program participants and key partners, and worked with staff to synthesize the strengths, weaknesses, and key learnings that have emerged from our programs. These process evaluations are intended to provide transparency into CRNY’s process—including the choices we made and the implications of those choices—so that others who are considering launching similar programs can learn from and build on CRNY’s experiences.

Because CRNY is a time-bound entity, we believe it is critical to workshop our process evaluation learnings with a community of peers who are leading similar programs across the country and beyond.

In Fall 2023, CRNY convened two working groups—one focused on guaranteed income for artists and another focused on artist employment—to collectively reflect on challenges, opportunities, and best practices. Both groups considered how to amplify our shared learnings to leverage new support systems for artists, resulting in a set of strategic recommendations for the field.

The Guaranteed Income for Artists working group identified five areas where strategically aligned action between the guaranteed income and arts sectors can help advance the guaranteed income movement’s goals:

1. Challenge harmful narratives about work and deservingness
2. Build a base of artists who support guaranteed income
3. Focus on public policy wins
4. Match new pilots with movement priorities
5. Don’t wait! Integrate GI values into arts funding now

The Artist Employment working group saw an opportunity generated by policy shifts and artist employment programs initiated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offered six recommendations to build on this momentum nationally:

1. Deepen the analysis of artist employment programs nationwide
2. Develop tools, resources, and guidance for future artist employment programs
3. Create a national research and policy center focused on artists’ lives and livelihoods
4. Pilot a national worker cooperative for artists and cultural workers
5. Develop an artists’ and cultural workers’ bill of rights
6. Convene state policymakers committed to creative workforce development

We invite fellow funders, government officials, cultural leaders, artists, and organizations to build better economic and financial support for artists and cultural workers. Download the full recommendations from each working group below.