Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

In New York City, the most famous, historic neighborhoods have at some point been home to painters, writers, musicians and cultural provocateurs. SoHo, Harlem, Washington Square park and the East Village were pollinated (not colonized) by artists. We value these places because they were sites of creative production and cultural experimentation; artistic laboring brought them to life and made them matter. Today these neighborhoods are landscapes of consumption, colonized by urban development that caters to the tastes and the wealth of the 21st century consuming class. Artists are still in New York, but are forced to live and work under conditions that are increasingly inhospitable due to sweeping structural changes that leave less privileged cultural producers scrambling – always on the run. Running from landlords, student loan bills, crummy credit scores and a profound feeling of powerlessness. There is a darkness. Some call it neoliberalism, the billionaire economy, hyper-gentrification, or global post-industrial capitalism. Whatever the label, the social contract is shattered. How can artists make it in an era of extreme wealth and widespread precarity? We may be coming to the end of a period where being an artist is synonymous with being urban. To quote Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, “Without artists in many ways the city will be without life”. Artists are essential to the cultural landscape of the city…We need artists for New York to be New York.” Drawing on a five year ethnographic study, I explore artistic precarity in 21st century New York City.