DowntownNYC Survey Shows Ongoing Financial Hardships for NYC Artists

March 15, 2004 - Individual artists of all disciplines continue to be the "silent sufferers" of 9/11, according to a write-in survey conducted last month by researchers who had previously measured the economic impact of the attacks on people who create for a living. The write-in was organized through the ArtsLink program of DowntownNYC! , a nonprofit arts-business alliance that is a fiscally sponsored program of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Testimonies point to continued weakness in the cultural sector, which has caused many established artists to resort to non-artistic work and others to leave the city to avoid economic hardship. The complete report of the write-in is online at: www.downtown-nyc.org/2004write-in.htm.

The new report is a follow-up to the survey, "Artists One Year After: Survey of 9/11's Economic Impact on Individual Artists in NYC," which was released in September, 2002 by The Government Outreach Committee of DowntownNYC! on behalf of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in conjunction with Consortium For Worker Education (CWE). That study revealed, among others, that a year after the 9/11 attacks, about 80% of NYC artists were suffering income loss, with an average reduction in individual income of about 46%. It is online at www.downtown-nyc.org/second_survey/report22.htm.