Sharing some new work

When Chappell Roan took the stage to accept a Grammy Award for Best New Artist a few weeks ago, the pop star used her time on stage to advocate for a living wage and health care for emerging artists.

Holding a trophy in one hand and a notebook in another, she spoke about her challenges finding a job and affording health insurance after getting dropped by her label during the pandemic.

It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system, and so dehumanized to not have health [insurance]. If my label would have prioritized artist health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to. Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a living wage and health insurance and protection. Labels we got you. But do you got us?

Seeing Chappell Roan address these issues on a mainstream platform in a room full of the most powerful people in music was energizing. Pay equity, access to healthcare, and affordable housing for artists, and really for all people, feels like a movement that is continuing to pick up more steam. (In an interesting twist after the Grammys, a nail artist accused Chappell's team of asking her to work for exposure — creating nail sets for a tour last year. There are levels to this.)

Filmmaker Sean Baker, who is currently stacking up awards for "Anora," also used a win, Best Director at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, to speak about the state of independent filmmaking.

Gone are the days of DVD sales that allowed for a greater risk to be taken on challenging films. That revenue stream is gone, and the only way to see significant back end is to have a box office hit with profits that far exceed what any of our films will ever see.

The average number of years dedicated to making a film is around three. If you are writer, director trying to break in right now, there's a good chance you're making a film for free, or making next to nothing on production or sale. How do you support yourself with little or no income for three years?

Let's say you're lucky enough to be with the guilds. Take the DGA and WGA minimums and then divide them by three, take out taxes, and possibly percentages that you owe agents, managers, and lawyers, and what are you left with? It's just simply not enough to get by on in today's world, especially if one is trying to support a family.

If those in the upper, upper echelons of commercial success are feeling like their craft is not sustainable, what does that mean for everyday working artists across the US? It's beyond clear that the system is untenable and it's why my own journalism has moved in this direction as well.

We need drastic, radical change.

A virtual tour of Making It: $napshots from the Artist Pay Project

YouTube is fast becoming one of my go-to sources for media and entertainment. You can see how inspired I am by storytelling on that platform through some recent videos I've published.

For those who weren't able to make it to the installation last year, here is a virtual tour I shared to YouTube.

And in 2024, I visited the Butter Fine Art Fair in Indianapolis. Butter features the work of Black visual artists and has an unusual art fair model where 100% of sales proceeds go directly to artists. In this vlog-style video, I talked to artists about what it means to sell their work at Butter and how it feels to make a living as an artist today.

Photos from the Artist Pay Project

As part of the "Making It" installation, I was able to commission three photographers to shoot three of the artists I interviewed. These photos offer additional insight and depth to written interviews, sharing an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the creative process.

Here are a few photos by the talented Sylvia Jarrus, who documented a Detroit-based artist in her studio at Cranbrook Academy of Art's sculpture department. Read the artist interview here:

Artist $napshot: Detroit-based artist and writer

“Living here allows me to maintain a pretty comfortable lifestyle and focus on my art, whereas I would not necessarily be afforded the same opportunity elsewhere.”

the art rebellionMakeda Easter

Linky links

• Last week, a group of dancers performed Pina Bausch's, "The Nelken Line" in protest of leadership changes at the Kennedy Center — a board appointed solely by Trump, with the president now serving as chair.
• I found this story about "people with parents with money" so fascinating. A deep dive into how family support allows these NYC residents to afford their lifestyles.
• I was featured on the University of Michigan's Creative Currents podcast talking about the Artist Pay Project.
• For the "Making It" installation, I commissioned filmmaker Marc Cunningham to create something for the video compilation. Earlier this month, Marc premiered his film "Wildflowers," a beautiful video poem about the mystification of art and creativity in our society. Watch the film here and read Marc's thoughts about the process.

I hope you all are hanging in there and finding bits of joy when you can. As always, thank you for supporting my work.

See y'all next time! 🫶🏽