In our society, art is valued as a core representation of humanity and essential to our day-to-day lives. However, as illuminated by interviews in The Artist Pay Project, artists across the U.S. regularly struggle to make ends meet. The arts ecosystem can only thrive with the combined efforts of all, including working artists, consumers, policy makers, attorneys, business leaders, administrators, journalists, advocates, etc. Everyone is participating in this system. Join a panel of individuals with diverse professions to explore perspectives on the business of creativity and learn how each of us can contribute to better financial wellness for artists. Art supplies and snacks will be provided!

This discussion is a free, public event presented in conjunction with Making it: $napshots from the Artist Pay Project by Makeda Easter, an exhibition based on an anonymous journalistic series that examines how artists survive and thrive through anonymous money diaries. Developed by 2022-2023 Knight-Wallace and the Ford School's Center for Racial Justice Fellow Makeda Easter, the series includes interviews with over 30 artists from various disciplines — including visual arts, dance, film, and drag — to understand how much artists are paid for their work, how work is priced, and how artists feel about their overall financial security.

Making it: $napshots from the Artist Pay Project is sponsored by the U-M Arts Initiative and Impact Studio. The exhibition is open to the public through December 12, 2024.

Speakers:
- Makeda Easter is an award-winning journalist and creative based in Chicago. The overarching goal of her work is amplifying underrepresented voices and communities. Her journalism has been recognized by the Online News Association, the L.A. Press Club, and the Society for Features Journalism. From 2022 to 2023, she was a Knight-Wallace fellow and a visiting fellow at the Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice.
- Erykah Noelle Benson is a Doctoral Candidate in the University of Michigan's Department of Sociology. Her research focuses on the ideological, financial, and cultural motivations for entrepreneurship among Black creatives. She examines their experiences selling and sharing art on online platforms like Etsy, Depop, and Instagram. Her work is made possible by the support of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Center for Institutional Diversity.
- Gabrielle Piazza (she/her/hers) is the Assistant Director of the EXCEL Lab within the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre and Dance (STMD). Her work focuses on empowering SMTD students to create and sustain a life in the arts, supporting EXCEL's funding initiatives, programming portfolio, and student coaching. A theatre kid turned arts administrator, she has worked for a variety of arts organizations, including Interlochen Center for the Arts, Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and Utah Shakespeare Festival.
- Jake Hooker (he/they) is a theatremaker, educator, scholar, and Co-Founding Director of A Host of People, a Detroit-based transdisciplinary devised theater company. He is also the Head of Drama at UM's Residential College. They hold a BFA in Theatre/Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, an MA in Intercultural Performance from the Centre for Performance Research at the University of Wales, and a PhD in Theatre and Performance from the City University of New York.
Moderator:
- Jerry Davis is the Gilbert and Ruth Whitaker Professor of Business Administration at the Ross School of Business and Professor of Sociology, The University of Michigan. He writes about corporate power, authoritarianism, and how digital technologies change the organization of the economy and society.

Registration link: https://makingitbusinesscreative.rsvpify.com