6 Questions, 2,430 Answers

2000, CD-ROM, The McKnight Foundation, 600 TCF Tower, 121 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, (612) 333-4220.

This CD-ROM contains the results of The McKnight Foundation's recent study, the Cost of Culture, which polled 405 Minnesota artists about their economic and creative well-being. In 1996 the Foundation reported on the state of the arts in Minnesota, and now, as board chair Noa Staryk stated, "we felt it was time to take a closer look at the condition of individual artists."

The survey asked the artists six questions, originally created by Cyril Connally and Horizons magazine for a 1946 survey of British writers.

� How much do you think an artist needs to live on?
� Do you think a serious artist can earn this sum by his or her work, and if so, how?
� If not, what do you think is the most suitable second occupation for him or her?
� Do you think art suffers from the diversion of an artist's energy into other employments or is enriched by it?
� Do you think the state or any other institution should do more for artists?
� Are you satisfied with your own solution to the problem and have you any specific advice to give to young people who wish to earn their living from art?

Rip Rapson, Foundation president, described the decision to include all the answers this way: �The artists who responded were very generous and honest, expressing quite clearly � sometimes painfully so � the challenges and rewards of being an artist at this time in this place. Because the stories and insights are so vivid, we wanted to share the full survey results rather than distill the responses into a summary.� He also reported, �The results led us to increase support to individual artists through our fellowship program, and will influence other McKnight Initiatives as well.�