The following comment was written by Mike Licht of Notions Capital in response to my posting on June 13 about the latest artist census numbers released:

Despite advances in statistical studies of the arts economy at the University of Minnesota and elsewhere, it seems this NEA report uses overly-broad interpretations of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System to identify and inflate the number of “artists.” A dead giveaway is the inclusion of 2330 Announcers in the DC artist population. Does NEA give grants to “Voice-Over Artists” now? I think not.

Dollars to donuts the press corps is included in the artist category, too. While much of today’s journalism is indeed fiction, it is bad form to admit it, and reporters get fired when caught.

The NEA, I fear, will also be caught red-handed in this absurd statistical misrepresentation, and the repercussions for the entire arts community will be grave.

Thanks Mike. Very useful.

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