According to a survey, there are 4.4 million active artists in the USA, of which 600,000 are professional artists, 3.2 million recreational artists, 600,000 degree-seeking students taking art classes, and 122,000 art-degree-seeking college students.
The average number of artworks created in 2008 was 75 for professionals, 36 for recreational artists, and 57 for students. The kinds of art (as percentage of all art produced by recreational artists) was 17% paintings, 23% drawings, 30% mixed media and 18% digital art.
The survey ("Artists & Art Materials 2009") was conducted for the International Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA) and Interweave's American Artist magazine. An eight-page summary of the survey is available free; Namta members can read all 190 pages. It was based on "2,714 active artists, 141 specialty art materials retailers, and 78 art materials suppliers, as well as analysis of government data and numerous industry interviews."
What's the population of the USA? 307,212,123 according to the CIA's World Fact Book. So <1.5% are artists? That's something that needs fixing!
Comments
Thank you for the fun stats and link to more detail.
Not sure whether to feel overwhelmed by so many artists and images or underwhelmed by so few people connected to their visual creativity.
I agree, on the one hand it’s fabulous there are so many but on the other, how many people aren’t there missing out!