Skeptical But Optimistic: Millennial Artists Enter The Great Unknown

Just over a decade ago, with the financial collapse of 2008, the first wave of Millennial college graduates were thrown into economic uncertainty. For many, the landscape was a repudiation of the tentative “deal” that had been made between them and American society at large: get yourself a college degree — become credentialed — and you will have economic stability. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, a second economic fallout has begun, coinciding with the tail end of the Millennial generation entering the job force.

The socio-economic situation of Millennial artists who have started their professions between these two fallouts is precarious. Many are encumbered with student debt; the community is fractured and difficult to navigate; rents and the cost of living continue to rise at shocking rates; opportunities to have their work paid for — let alone publicly seen — are few and far between.