The not too long ago launched Otis School Report on the Inventive Economic system for 2024 reaffirms how essential the “artistic financial system” is to California, the place it’s chargeable for greater than 760,000 jobs, accounting for one in 5 artistic jobs within the US. The annual report appears on the prior yr in what’s broadly outlined because the artistic financial system—a class that features fields like movie and tv, toy design, music, style, structure, theatre, dance, artwork colleges, museums and galleries.
“California continues to be the nationwide chief with respect to the artistic financial system,” stated Taner Osman, a founding father of Westwood Economics and Planning Associates (which produces the report for Otis School of Artwork and Design), on the report’s unveiling final week in Santa Monica.
In accordance with the report, in Los Angeles alone the movie, tv and sound sector added round 15,000 jobs final yr—whereas nonetheless recovering from two main union strikes in 2023. Nevertheless, different sectors misplaced jobs, partly as a result of persevering with decline in manufacturing and shifts in market wants, producing an general contraction of 0.9% within the artistic financial system. (Osman identified that the determine is near the nationwide determine of a 0.8% contraction.)
Whereas the nice arts—which the report defines as all visible and performing arts—make up a small a part of the report, it’s one which has been rising. “The nice arts proceed to shine as California stays a nice arts schooling powerhouse,” Osman noticed as one in all his 5 key findings. He later instructed The Artwork Newspaper that he credit this achievement to the energy and recognition of the numerous artwork schools in Southern California. In accordance with the report, California confers extra nice arts levels than every other state within the US. (California can also be essentially the most populous state within the nation.)
Prior to now 5 years, 5,589 jobs had been added at nice arts colleges, with a strong 1,208 jobs added in 2024 alone. Throughout the identical interval, museums noticed an general drop of 37 jobs however an addition of 279 final yr—a big rebound from the layoffs and furloughs of the Covid-19 years. Sadly, the variety of individuals working as “artwork sellers” continues to say no, with 273 jobs misplaced over the five-year interval and 115 in 2024.
Whereas Los Angeles usually seems to have a growth in modern artwork gross sales and sellers, occasions like Frieze Los Angeles and the Felix Artwork Truthful don’t essentially create full-time jobs. Smaller galleries and people with headquarters elsewhere—equivalent to Gavlak, based mostly in Palm Seashore, Florida—have quietly closed their Los Angeles branches.
All of the whereas, as mentioned in a panel dialogue after the formal presentation in Santa Monica, the value of actual property in Los Angeles has been on the rise, creating difficulties for people in addition to for companies and nonprofits. Final yr, it was broadly reported that individuals had been transferring out of Los Angeles—this even if these within the artistic financial system are stated to be making a mean of $191,000 per yr, based on the Otis School report. In fact, the excessive common is tremendously skewed by these incomes megabucks on the high.
