By Ciza Zoya
A recent article posted on Arts Managed and compelling statistics from Hill Strategies shedding light on the state of the arts sector has made me reflect on an urgent issue: While arts organizations proudly claim (and rightfully so) that they enrich and nourish communities, providing spaces for creativity, culture, and connection to thrive, but they often struggle to support the well-being of their own workers, artists and arts managers alike. This oversight becomes particularly glaring for immigrant and racialized workers like myself, who face systemic challenges not only in pay equity but also in access to leadership opportunities.
The question is: How can we build a thriving arts sector while not neglecting the well-being of those who make it happen?
Passion Exploitation in the Arts
A recent study by Kim et al. (2020) found that assumptions of passion and purpose in the workforce can “license poor and exploitative worker treatment”. Across seven experiments and a meta-analysis, the authors found that:
“…people do in fact deem poor worker treatment (e.g., asking employees to do demeaning tasks that are irrelevant to their job description, asking employees to work extra hours without pay) as more legitimate when workers are presumed to be “passionate” about their work.”
Rather than assuming passion should compensate for fair pay and work-life balance, what if human flourishing became a central goal for arts organizations, not just for their audiences but for their workers as well?
Defining Human Flourishing in the Workplace
Founded in 2016, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social Science aims to study and promote human flourishing, and to develop systematic approaches to the synthesis of knowledge across disciplines.
The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard defines flourishing across five essential domains (VanderWeele 2017) :
Both the emotional state of happiness and overall life satisfaction are key to flourishing.
Flourishing requires a balance of both mental well-being and physical vitality.
Individuals should feel that their work has a purpose and that their lives are worthwhile.
Flourishing involves embodying traits like courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance.
Supportive relationships and social connections are critical to a flourishing life.
It may be surprising to learn that “Financial and Material Stability” is not considered a core domain, but rather a supporting variable that helps individuals maintain well-being in the other domains over time.
Centering flourishing within our arts organizations could achieve much more than improved performance. It could create environments where workers feel valued, supported, and integral to the mission.
Immigrant Arts Workers: A Double Burden
Upon their arrival, newcomers to Canada are typically dealing with the stress of settling in, providing for their families, and adapting to a new culture, all of which can significantly affect their mental and physical well-being. On top of these challenges, they face persistent income disparities that further complicate their integration into Canadian society, particularly within the arts and cultural sectors.
A recent analysis by Hill Strategies, drawing from the 2021 census, sheds light on the relatively low incomes of immigrant artists and arts leaders. While immigrant artists and arts managers contribute significantly to the sector, their earnings are behind those of their non-immigrant peers. When racialization is factored in, the income gap widens further.
Immigrant artists, for example, have a median income of $29,400 - 5% lower than non-immigrant artists ($30,800). The income gap grows more substantial among arts leaders, where immigrant leaders earn 10% less than their non-immigrant counterparts.
Racialized immigrant artists earn 16% less than non-racialized immigrant artists. In fact, racialized artists, regardless of their immigration status, consistently earn less than their non-racialized peers. The income gap for racialized arts leaders is even more significant, with racialized immigrant arts leaders earning 24% less than non-racialized non-immigrant leaders.
Personal Reflections
As a Newcomer immigrant and person of color, I have personally encountered these barriers. Despite the arts being a non-regulated field, where formal certifications are not mandatory, there are still no straightforward pathways for immigrants to enter the sector, let alone rise to leadership roles. I’ve often found myself asking: why is it so difficult to break into arts organizations, and why are leadership opportunities so inaccessible?
The Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI) is doing an incredible job helping immigrant artists navigate the complexities of the Canadian arts landscape. Yet, even with such support, there remains a lack of direct, transparent pathways into leadership roles.
How Can We Change the System?
There’s tremendous opportunity for arts organizations to adopt a more holistic approach to supporting their workers. Aubrey Bergauer, in her podcast on creating a healthy company culture in arts organizations, outlines several key strategies that can help create such environments:
Leadership Accountability: Leaders must model transparency and integrity.
Building Trust: Encouraging open communication and feedback helps maintain trust within teams.
Empowerment: Giving staff the autonomy to take initiative increases motivation.
Clarity of Vision: Organizations need a clear mission that aligns with their employees' values.
Sustainability: Cultivating a culture that supports long-term success requires consistent attention to these elements.
To pursue these strategies, organizations should invest in their workers' well-being, advocate for pay equity, and create transparent pathways for advancement. This could include mentorship programs, leadership training, and targeted initiatives to help everyone rise within the organization. By doing so, we can build stronger, more resilient organizations and create an arts sector that truly reflects the values we espouse.
I would like to hear from the community: What steps does your organization take to prioritize the well-being of artists and arts managers? What practices or initiatives have you found effective in supporting a healthy and sustainable work environment, especially in terms of leadership, trust, empowerment, and inclusivity?
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