Amy L. Bernstein
TOPIC
What if We Treated Artists as Workers and Paid Them a Salary?
In the United States today, the arts—and individual artists—are on the losing end of late-stage capitalism’s priorities. The levers of power are controlled by those who control the purse strings. Now more than ever, this refers to the private sector, and in particular, the handful of extremely wealthy corporations that heavily influence where capital flows and which policies win the day. Behind them come private philanthropies and governments, which also wield power through the budget priorities they create. Simply put, federal, state, and local arts appropriations are flat or down. Wealthy companies and institutions wield outsized influence—in other words, power—over who and what gets funded. They choose winners and losers, and the data suggest that the arts are losing.
In my talk, I wish to explore, in part, what might happen if we rethink power by putting more economic discretion into the hands of artists directly. This is akin to fledgling efforts to offer regular cash payments directly to low-income families. By extension, what might happen if we were to create greater equity—tantamount to a redistribution of power—among artists and other tradespeople and professionals? How might that power shift influence and strengthen our communities and the cultural landscape in general?
ABOUT
Amy L. Bernstein writes stories that let readers feel by making them think. She is the award-winning author of seven books, including, most recently, a topical speculative novel, Tent City, and Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration, which is a popular source of encouragement for all self-doubting creatives.
Amy brings a compassionate and insightful voice to the challenges and joys of the artistic process at writers’ conferences around the U.S. A former journalist in print and public radio, as well as a produced playwright, Amy also runs a book coaching business, helping nonfiction authors craft compelling book proposals. She welcomes followers to her weekly Substack, where she amplifies the joys and challenges of the creative life. Amy is a past recipient of a Rubys Artist Grant, an Onassis Foundation grant, and multiple Maryland Humanities grants, among others. In 2025, she became a Pushcart-nominated poet.