Artist $napshot: Chicago-based painter and designer

The Artist Pay Project is a series exploring how artists in the U.S. survive and thrive amid a cost of living crisis.

This Artist $napshot tells the story of a 22-year-old painter and freelance designer who makes between $1,300 and $2,000 monthly. This interview was conducted in October 2024.

Survey

Art Practice: Painter and freelance designer

Location: Chicago, IL

Age: 22

Pronouns: she/her

Earnings

Income:

$1,300 to $2,000 a month

How much of your income is from your art practice?

20%

Where does the rest come from?

I'm a part-time substitute teacher and I make $21/ hour.

How much did you make from recent art-related gig work?

My last two clients were a smoke shop and a fashion brand. I made $330 from the smoke shop and $700 for the brand.

How do you price your work?

For my freelance design work, I have my price set at $105 for each original custom clothing design.

Expenses

Housing:

I live with 3 other roommates, so my rent is $625.

What are your major monthly expenses?

My largest expenses outside rent are my four different credit card payments and my iPad payment plan. My monthly payment for all cards is about $200 each and my iPad is about $120 a month.

Do you have any monthly expenses related to your art practice?

I use my iPad for my design freelance which is $120 and Adobe Photoshop which is a monthly bill of $23.

Larger financial picture

Do you have any financial support from outside sources?

None

Have you received any grants to support your art?

None

Do you have health insurance?

None

Do you have any debt?

Yes. I was unemployed for 3 months last year that accumulated into $13,000 in credit card debt.

Do you have any savings?

Trying to start a saving account so far about $400 in savings.

Did you pursue higher education?

Yes! I graduated a year ago with a bachelors in design.

Q&A

Responses edited for length and clarity.

How do you feel about your financial security right now?

I'm starting to get the hang of it. I work as a substitute teacher, and I also do some freelance work on the side. Lately, that's been picking up a little bit more working with different brands, so that's been giving me a better sense of security. But I was unemployed for about 3 months earlier from June to September [2024], so I wasn't financially comfortable. And now I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with everything.

With substitute teaching, how many hours a week do you typically work? 

32 hours

Do you feel like working 32 hours gives you enough time to work on your art?

Substituting has a really great work-life balance, because I'm usually done with work around 3, sometimes 4 p.m. So that gives me about 3 to 4 hours before evening time to work on the freelance stuff. And my freelance projects are usually two weeks long, then I get a two week break, and then it restarts.

What did your recent gig for a smoke shop entail? 

They wanted to start a clothes section of their new shop in Cleveland, Ohio. And not just like a t-shirt [with the smoke shop label]. They wanted more pieces where customers can come in and be like, “oh, this is fire.” I made custom designs for them while including their brand elements.

How has your experience been transitioning out of college and what are your career goals?

It's been the biggest switch from college to day to day, 9 to 5. I have really struggled with finding jobs in design, especially right now with the job market. That was a bigger hit to me, I expected to have gotten something quicker. One thing I am realizing is I've been trying to network more, whereby I've just been locally connecting with other artists to share my design work, because I'm very heavily based in graphic and industrial design. Right now, I’ve been really enjoying doing custom designing for brands. And ideally, long term, I’d like to become an in-house designer for a fashion brand.

Do you think college prepared you for the “real world” as a working artist? 

Yes and no. I went to school in Ohio and I was taught a lot of technical skills, especially in graphic design, but I wish there were more talks about how the real world is more who you know, versus what you know. Because I noticed that that's been how a lot of my colleagues tend to get into positions. It's just who you know really is a defining factor in the field.

As a young artist in Chicago, what has that experience been like for you? 

It's really fast paced. I've been going out more into social art settings lately, and I've noticed that it's very fast. Chicago brings in a lot of artists, especially artists from the Midwest. You have to really have a very strong brand and identity. I've been picking up little skills of just talking about my art, so that in situations like that, I can be recognized. 

What do you feel are your biggest challenges right now when it comes to being a working artist or making a living as an artist?

My biggest challenge has been striving. One thing school gave me was that discipline of doing stuff. As an artist, it's really difficult balancing your day to day mishaps and the real world, and realizing I'm doing art for a reason even though I’m not seeing a reward immediately — just having that drive. I really love what I'm doing and I would love to make a living off of this long term.

Getting that self discipline and reminding myself that what I'm doing is important not just to me, but it is a way of making money. With capitalism reinforcing that I'm not doing enough, I’m breaking down and deconstructing that idea of my work not being productive.

What's been rewarding about being an artist working in Chicago? 

Even the idea that it can be done, genuinely. This year has been a lot of great opportunities that a year ago, I never thought would be done. I really love art as a passion, so seeing my projects given to someone, especially with the brand designing, seeing these pieces come to life, it puts things into perspective that there is a way.

What’s your ideal working situation? Would you be doing art full time and not substituting? 

In an ideal world, I would love to be doing art as a full time job. It's something that I love, and that I get a lot of drive for.

How much money would you need to earn to live comfortably? 

Ideally, if I could make up to $80,000 a year on just my art, I would live a little bit more comfortably. I've never been someone who needs to have the most money in the world, but being able to [manage] my day to day, pay off my bills, and things like that.

What resources would be most helpful to you as an artist?

It would be really lovely if each state had a central page for artists, whereby you can find groups. Chicago has a website with art stuff and art grants. If it went a layer deeper, where it's not just grants, but it also talked about art groups, or art communities. Back in Ohio, we used to have this thing called Transit Art, where art students would meet on Thursdays and collaborate together. So more spaces where people can be artists together, I feel like that can make a better and stronger art community.

How are you thinking about your credit card debt and paying that off — how does that feel?

It's very overwhelming and I've finally gotten a bit of a grasp on it. I have never had debt before until I moved to Chicago. I first had been working as an insurance agent, and then I hated that so much I ended up quitting, not considering how difficult it would be to get a job. I was unemployed for a few months. Now that I'm finally in a spot where I'm a little bit more comfortable, I have been tackling it one day at a time. I've reached out to all the places that I owe to see if they have payment plans, and usually they understand that if you're paying it, they work with you. I take from every paycheck and put it towards the credit card debt, making a little bit of a chip. Going forward, with the more projects I'm able to gain, I just really want to tackle all that in the next two years so I can be free from it.

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