Ultimate Concern

In asking a simple question, “what do you do,” we find surprisingly complicated answers.

The ideal image of the artist is an individual toiling away in their studio, but the reality is, most emerging and mid-career artists use a day job to enable their creative endeavors. We want to highlight the day job as a critical form of survival, particularly in major cities such as New York City and San Francisco.

In an informal interview format, we’ll ask artists/workers: is your day job an impediment to a studio practice or a source of inspiration? Do you pursue day jobs with consistency and set hours, or do you prefer the flexibility/unpredictability of the gig economy? Talk to us about your best and worst jobs in the open market. Are you trapped in the liminal space between emerging and mid-career? What do those words even mean? We want to know: how do you make a living, manage time, stay hopeful, and carve out a space for yourself.

Our Talk | Show series Ultimate Concern is looking for artists who are either currently working or have worked “day” jobs to support their artistic careers. If you are interested in being interviewed for Ultimate Concern, please click the link below for the Google form.

Ultimate Concern Proposal Form