A look back in time reveals that the artists were generally regarded as avant-gardists, the torch bearers of the dawn. The best artworks are considered evidence of power, riches, and wealth of nations. Moreover, the people who inhabit the countries that possess such exemplary artworks are held in high esteem. Today, more than ever, the arts are expected to offer a general view of things to come. Yet, many artists are starving because they are unable to generate sufficient annual revenues from their artworks. Most of these artists facing this challenge are compelled to work from nine to five (9-5). Instead of doing what they love, they end up at jobs that they hate. So far, the solution to the financial risk that prevents investment in the art has not been found. The promise of economic benefits for artists from Non-Fungible Token (NFT) in the fine arts market is unsubstantiated (https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/nft-non-fungible-token/).

Nonetheless, the arts confer an advantage to the extent that the goods, products, and services the artists bring to the market could not have been created without creativity. “Given this edge, the creativity and collaboration of the arts have been woven into the free-market economy to create work and wealth, in what is called the creative economy” (https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/the-creative-economy/). This term, creative economy was first referenced as an independent discipline within economics in the 1960s. In 2001, John Howkins brought the term to life in his book, “The Creative Economy: How People Make money from Ideas.” International organizations such as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), American for the Arts, and the World Intellectual Property Organization “have developed different criteria in an attempt to classify the creative sectors.”

Industries include those whose major outputs have symbolic values, mainly advertising, architecture, books and newspapers/magazines, gaming and movies, music and performing arts, radio, TV, and the visual arts. The creative economy contributes just over 6.1% to global gross domestic product (GDP), averaging between 2% and 7% of national GDPs around the world. According to UN estimates, the creative economy industries generate annual revenues of over $2 trillion and account for nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. About half of these workers are women, and these industries employ more people ages fifteen to twenty-nine (15-29) than any other sector. Television and the visual arts make up the largest industries of the creative economy in terms of revenue, while visual arts and music are the largest industries in terms of employment (https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/the-creative-economy/). There are industries, like advertising, architecture and design, digital media, education, film and entertainment, publishing, and tourism that seek the services the artists offer. The artists can also provide general business services, for example, financial management and chasing overdue payments. According to Samareign© Hassan, “The opportunity exists for artists to monetize their creativity, winning clients by proving their unique value, which can be done through a range of tools, such as artistic examples of past work, pitches that show how they would multisolve a business problem, creative output, reflected in website, logo, and other marketing materials, and specialties that set them apart from others”. At this phase, it must be pointed that, this article is written to help the visual artists generate earned income from their art and craft. Toward this end, it provides resources that the artists can access to increase annual revenues to two hundred fifty thousand dollars and/or more. These means are as follows:

• Business plan: The Start-up School is a free online course on how you can start a business (https://www.startupschool.org/). It is for anyone at the early stages of building a startup, turning a side project into a company, or anyone curious to learn about becoming a founder. Every ambitious startup founder gets the essential advice, taught by Y Combinator partners and industry leaders. The founder can go at own pace. It will take approximately seven weeks if a founder spends one to two (1-2) hours per week. By joining Start-up School founders can: create a profile to let other founders know their preferences for interests, skills, location, and more; see potential co-founders best suited based on requirements and preferences; connect with matches by sending invitations to founders that seem like a good fit and explore the possibility of working together.
• Crowd funding: Patreon allows you to build a lasting business outside of the ad-based ecosystem, with revenue streams ranging from membership for offering ongoing benefits, to online shops for selling individual videos, podcast episodes, and more (https://www.patreon.com/). Patreon is not just for creative growth, it is for professional growth as well. Creators can get in-depth analytics about their fans, dig into powerful relationship management tools, and tap into a growing creator community. Hundreds of thousands of creators use Patreon to share videos, podcasts, writing, art, music, recipes, and more with their most passionate fans. Through real-time group chats, comments, DMs, and even directly over email, businesses can connect more deeply and directly with their communities on Patreon than anywhere else. Moreover, it can be used to obtain investment from individuals involved in alternative financing, who then receive interest and future payment of principal backed by art with a market value subject to market fluctuations.
• Public Policy: Americans for the Arts serves, advances, and leads the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. Founded in 1960, Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education. (https://www.americansforthearts.org/). Its mission is to build recognition and support for the extraordinary and dynamic value of the arts and to lead, serve, and advance the diverse networks of organizations and individuals who cultivate the arts in America. Its main goal is to ensure that the arts always play an important part at the decision table. It connects best ideas and leaders from the arts, communities, and business working together to ensure that every American has access to the transformative power of the arts, which is a catalyst to set innovation into motion, and maximize the impact of the Arts in the US. The Americans for the Arts uses hashtag #ArtsTransform for artists and creators to share stories, thoughts, and photos on social media.

In conclusion, the information contained in this short essay is not intended to be definite. This means the discussion on income must continue because it is the lever to lift people out of poverty. Interestingly, the artists are well positioned to contribute to the goal of higher standard of living. “This is despite of artificial intelligence (AI), which is expected to lead to layoffs, except among the creative class” (Hsu, 2022).

References

1. American for the Arts. Retrieved from: https://www.americansforthearts.org/
2. Eugenija, M., Kregzdaite, R. (2015). The factors of creative industries development in nowadays state. Article in Economics and Sociology.
3. Hsu, C. Welcome to the “Doc Charles” MIT Page. Retrieved from: https://memstar.mit.edu/home
4. Patreon. Retrieved from: https://www.patreon.com/
5. Potts, J. & Cunningham, S. (2010). Four models of the creative industries. Revue d'économie politique, 120, 163-180. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.3917/redp.201.0163
6. Start-up School. Retrieved from: https://www.startupschool.org/
7. The Creative Economy. Retrieved from: https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/the-creative-economy/
8. What is an NFT? Non-fungible Tokens Explained. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/nft-non-fungible-token/