Alison Gerber (Session Host)
Lisa Dent
Wing Young Huie
Working Artists in the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.)
When and how should artists be compensated for their work? This panel takes as its starting point position statements by diverse practitioners on the question of value in the arts, and aims to use those statements to generate a conversation on the complexities of the valuation of artistic practice. How should we account for the relational value of artists’ activities, for the social value of arts organizations? Should art work be for-profit, non-profit, low-profit, no-profit? As artists professionalize, what’s lost — and what’s gained? How should artists and arts organizations respond to inequities in the arts and in our communities? With this panel we aim to illuminate the political, ethical, affective and relational dimensions of valuation in the arts, and to promote both practical and utopian gestures towards a sustainable artistic practice.