Intervention Project - Rocco Francisco

GET PAID

There was three versions of the "GET PAID" poster, of which nine total prints were placed in various buildings on campus.

A student looks at the "GET PAID" poster in the visual arts computer lab.

    My choice of topic for the first intervention project was that of independent artists being paid extremely low rates, or taking commissions for a low amount. My response to this was through a series of posters titled "GET PAID," in which bold letters saying the phrase "get paid" are there with dollar bills in order to draw the audience to the poster, then read the smaller text. This smaller text dives into the idea that people should be paid more per hour by saying "20 dollars for 20 hours of work is unacceptable." People in all creative fields often don't get paid enough for the work that they are doing. I was inspired by Dara Greenwald's United Victorian Workers, which employed "a radical newspaper and held a 'period-inspired' strike for higher wages" (Duncombe and Lambert 38). The strategy for this poster was to have a quantity of placements throughout the campus, with variations in the image depending on where it was being displayed. There was a variation for artists with a paintbrush, musicians with a guitar, and filmmakers with a camera, with each of these variations being placed in their respective buildings.

    This is something that is important to me because of the work I do outside of school. I publish music independently and often work with other artists in several fields; no matter which field I dive into, I always end up being surprised by just how little people make for the amount of work they are doing. While it is true that an artist's rate depends on their situation, status, and is influenced by other factors, I was running into plenty of people who were essentially working for a few cents an hour. Though some of these cases may be excusable on an independent grassroots level, it still affects other parts of the creative world. Even in public art in the United Kingdom, people have been reported as being paid a "median rate of £2.60 per hour, far below the UK minimum wage of £9.50 per hour" with the majority stating that "their fees were below the minimum wage" (Reyburn). When I still took commissions, some of my returns were coming up to only a few dollars an hour on more intense projects. Even with this, I was still one of the highest paid individuals in my circles, and that is only of the people who actually were being paid. I should not be the beneficiary in this situation, my peers deserve to be paid more for their work.

    The poster was designed in black and white on letter paper in order to allow for it to be printed in a large quantity for free. The idea was to have a high enough quantity of it for more students to see the poster rather than a single one being glossed over routinely. These posters were either placed on information boards, or placed in areas that are frequented like the visual arts computer lab or the lounge in the film building. The line "GET PAID" is the boldest part of the image, meant to use the art aspect of activist art to draw people in, then "stimulate a feeling, move us emotionally, [and] alter our perception"  to get them to think as they read the small text (Duncombe and Lambert 28). It is important for artists to know their own value and allow themselves to be paid for the work they are doing. Sure, working in art is not solely about getting paid for a product. However, it is important not to work for scraps and avoid exploitation whenever possible.

Works Cited

Duncombe, Stephen, and Steve Lambert. The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making The Impossible Possible. Lightning Source (Tier 4) : OR Books, 2022.

Reyburn, Scott. “Artists Paid Less than £3 an Hour for Public Art Commissions, Report Finds.” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, The Art Newspaper - International art news and events, 16 May 2023, www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/05/16/artists-reveal-woeful-pay-for-public-art-work.