Eva Barrie - Thought #13 - Precarity

It's Eva. This is thought number [thirteen]. I read this thing on facebook today that got me a bit frustrated. It was a post saying how versatile artists are, and how they're used to having multiple jobs and hustling to make ends meet, especially in challenging times. And the thought behind this was very well-intentioned and I believe it's true as well, but what frustrates me is the romanticization of that. Because we're forced to do that hustle, because often being an artist is undervalued and not seen as a job in Canada. There will be a significant amount of people - especially emerging artists - who will come out of this and decide the arts aren't possible for them. Precarity isn't romantic.  I'm hoping that rather than being so impressed with how scrappy artists can be, we can out of this thankful that artists exist, because of the vital service they do for their communities.