We are the 48% (A-Corp update #3)

The common perception is that artists and creative people are a small slice of the population. But how true is that actually?

According to a study by the American Center for the Arts in 2023, 48% of Americans have an active creative practice. Half of Americans actively sing, paint, dance, write, craft, play, act, perform, photograph, sculpt, print, design, film, animate, woodwork, and whatever else as part of their regular lives. 48%! That’s the same percentage of Americans that played a sport in high school or college.

Most of these people aren’t professional artists with professional “creative jobs.” They’re people who do this for enjoyment, as a hobby, and a way of expressing who they are. Their creative practice is likely more their side gig than their main one.

But thanks to the internet and the tools available to us now, more of us are making money from our work than ever before, and some are making much more than what anyone would have imagined a decade ago. Underestimate the power of artistic and creative voices to galvanize and inspire people at your own risk.

In the past the living and working conditions of artists and creative people was an issue that impacted a small number of people. That’s no longer the case. Today, challenges faced by creative people are potentially faced by up to half the population. Which also means that innovations that benefit creative people would also see up to half of the American population gain as a result.

Mainstream culture celebrates the stars of this system, but it also tends to question the value of the creative pursuit. Studying and pursuing art is still seen as frivolous and “not a real job.” This belief is so deeply ingrained we as creative people frequently question the merits of what we do. In our darkest moments we wonder: do art and creative output actually matter or are we just stroking our egos?

But this is outdated thinking! Today 48% of Americans feel the call. Half of the population identifies with the drive to express and all the joys and challenges and highs and lows that come with that. This is not frivolous. This is not fringe. This is mainstream.

The next step for all of us, on behalf of future generations of us, is to make sure we as a group have what we need. This is very much not the case right now. Creative people are three times more likely to be gig workers than the average person. They struggle to get access to quality health care. They lack benefits and access to tools for collective wealth and economic outcomes bigger than what their own hands can make.

This is what we are here to change. This is what all of us together can address. When we act together, we’re more than capable of changing this. We are not small, we are mighty. We are the 48%.