Why must artists be poor? | Hadi Eldebek

I come from a family of five brothers,

all scientists and engineers.

A few years ago, I sent them the following email:

"Dear brothers, I hope this message finds you well.

I am emailing to let you know

that I'm dropping out of my master's program in engineering

to pursue a career as a full-time musician.

All that I ask from you is not to worry about me."

Brother number one replied.

He was encouraging but a bit skeptical.

He said, "I wish you the best of luck.

You're going to need it."

(Laughter)

Brother number two was a little bit more skeptical.

He said, "Don't do it!

This will be the worst mistake of your life.

Find a real career."

(Laughter)

Well, the rest of my brothers were so enthusiastic about my decision,

they didn't even respond.

(Laughter)

I know that the skepticism coming from my brothers

is out of care and concern for me.

They were worried.

They thought it would be difficult to make it as an artist,

that it will be a challenge.

And you know what? They were right.

It is such a challenge to be a full-time artist.

I have so many friends who need to have a second job

as a plan B in order to pay for the bills,

except that plan B sometimes becomes their plan A.

And it's not just my friends and I who experience this.

The US Census Bureau states that only 10 percent of art school graduates

end up working as full-time artists.

The other 90 percent, they change careers,

they work in marketing, sales, education and other fields.

But this is not news, right?

We almost expect the artist to be a struggling artist.

But why should we expect that?

I read an article in the "Huffington Post"

saying that four years ago, the European Union

began the world's largest ever arts funding initiative.

Creative Europe will give 2.4 billion dollars

to over 300,000 artists.

In contrast, the US budget for our National Endowment for the Arts,

the largest single funder for the arts across the United States,

is merely 146 million dollars.

To put things into perspective,

the US budget for the military marching bands alone

is almost twice as much as the entire NEA.

Another striking image comes from Brendan McMahon for the "Huffington Post,"

saying that out of the one trillion dollar budget

for military and defense-related spending,

if only 0.05 percent were allocated to the arts,

we would be able to pay for 20 full-time symphony orchestras

at 20 million dollars apiece,

and give over 80,000 artists

an annual salary of 50,000 dollars each.

If that's only 0.05 percent,

imagine what a full one percent could do.

Now, I know we live in a capitalist society,

and profits matter a lot.

So let's look at it from a financial angle, shall we?

The US nonprofit arts industry

generates more than 166 billion dollars in economic activity,

it employs 5.7 million people

and it returns 12.6 billion dollars

in tax revenue.

But this is only a financial angle, right?

We all know that the arts is way more than just an economic value.

The arts brings meaning to life.

It's the spirit of our culture.

It brings people together and it supports creativity

and social cohesion.

But if the arts contributes this much to our economy,

why then do we still invest so little in arts and artists?

Why do more than 80 percent of our schools nationwide

still experience budget cuts in arts education programs?

What is it about the value of arts and artists

that we still don't understand?

I believe the system is flawed and far from being fair,

and I want to help change that.

I want to live in a society

where artists are more valued

and have more cultural and financial support

so they can focus on creating arts instead of being forced to drive Ubers

or take corporate jobs they'd rather not have.

There are other sources of income for artists, however.

There are private foundations,

grants and patrons who give money,

except a vast majority of artists don't know about these opportunities.

On one side you have institutions and people with money.

On the other side you have artists seeking funding,

but the artists don't know about the people with the money,

and the people with the money don't necessarily know

about the artists out there.

This is why I am very excited to share "Grantpa,"

an online platform that uses technology

to match artists with grants and funding opportunities

in a way that is easy, fast and less intimidating.

Grantpa is only one step towards solving an existing problem

of funding inequality,

but we need to work collectively on multiple fronts

to reevaluate how we view the artists in our society.

Do we think of arts as a luxury or a necessity?

Do we understand what goes on in the day-to-day life of an artist,

or do we still believe that artists, no matter how struggling they are,

are happy simply because they're following their passion?

In a few years, I plan to send my brothers the following email:

"Dear brothers, I hope this message finds you well.

I am emailing to let you know that I am doing great

and so are hundreds of thousands of artists

who are being valued more culturally and financially

and getting enough funding to focus on their crafts

and create more art.

I appreciate all of your support.

Couldn't have done it without you."

Thank you.

(Applause)