Artists Space

W.A.G.E.: Feeling the Shape of the Arts Economy

Talk & Discussion
January 9, 2012, 7pm

Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.), in partnership with Artists Space, presents a series of public forums that will take place from January through September 2012. These events will include contributions from invited speakers presenting perspectives on the arts economy, alongside open discussion.

Please join us on Monday January 9th at 7pm for the first of these forums:
Feeling the Shape of the Arts Economy:
Think Tank Coalition/Agenda Formation/Alliance Building Marathon (nourishment provided!)

Stamped yellow text spelling out "W.A.G.E" at a slight angle. Underneath that, typed pink text reads, "Working Artists and the Greater Economy."
[Stamped yellow text spelling out "W.A.G.E" at a slight angle. Underneath that, typed pink text reads, "Working Artists and the Greater Economy."]

After a brief introduction to W.A.G.E. Certification, the program will begin with a presentation by artist, economist, and sociologist Hans Abbing, author of Why are Artists Poor: The Exceptional Economy of the Arts. Abbing’s presentation and Q & A will be followed by a sustenance break with homemade soup, bread and drinks. The evening will culminate in a town hall meeting, engaging the public in an open-ended discussion that will contribute to framing the agenda for upcoming programs and the formation of W.A.G.E. Certification.

Event agenda:
7pm: Presentation by Hans Abbing
8pm: Audience Q&A
9pm: Break: Soup social
9:30pm: Open Forum: agenda/alliance formation

For more information on the W.A.G.E. and Artists Space partnership:
www.wageforwork.com

Hans Abbing (born Utrecht, 1946) is a visual artist and economist, and Professor Emeritus in Art Sociology. He studied economics and worked as an economist until he was thirty, after which he attended the Amsterdam Rietveld Academy of Visual Art. For the next ten years Abbing worked as an artist, after which he partly returned to science, writing articles and books on the economics of art and increasingly on Art Sociology. Between 2005-08 he was Honorary Professor in Art Sociology at the University of Amsterdam and currently writes and supervises master theses at the universities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. His most well known book is Why are Artists Poor (University of Amsterdam Press, 2002). He is now working on another book entitled Value of Art.