Founded in 2008, W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) advocates on behalf of artists in the non-profit sector to ensure they are paid. In its decade-plus of operation, it has introduced several mechanisms to support this effort and to bring about an equitable standard of compensation in the field. W.A.G.E. sees the contemporary fight for non-wage compensation as part of a wider struggle by all gig workers who supply content without payment standards or an effective means to organize. In the context of contemporary art, where the unpaid labor of artists supports a more than $60 billion-dollar industry, W.A.G.E.’s mission is to establish sustainable economic relationships between artists and the institutions that contract our labor, and to introduce mechanisms for self-regulation into the art field that collectively bring about a more equitable distribution of its economy.
W.A.G.E
“WAGENT X”. WAGENCY identity logo designed by Daniel Sauter. 2018. Courtesy W.A.G.E.
Dean Daderko preparing a complaint, suggestions, and donation box for W.A.G.E.'s booth at “No Soul for Sale: A Festival of Independents”, X Initiative, New York, June 22, 2009. Courtesy W.A.G.E.
W.A.G.E. Certification Summit. Cage, New York. January 14, 2014. From left to right: Howie Chen, Richard Birkett, Marina Vishmidt, Andrea Fraser, Alison Gerber, Stephanie Luce. Photograph courtesy Lise Soskolne.
“W.A.G.E. RAGER: 10-year womAnniversary *Not-a-Gala* Party!”. W.A.G.E.’s 10-year anniversary celebration and launch of WAGENCY at Artists Space, NY. September 20, 2018. Courtesy Art and Labor Podcast.
Amelia Bande performing at “W.A.G.E. RAGER: 10-year womAnniversary *Not-a-Gala* Party!”. W.A.G.E.’s 10-year anniversary celebration and launch of WAGENCY at Artists Space, NY. September 20, 2018. Courtesy Artists Space and W.A.G.E.
Baseera Kahn and Lia Gangitano at “W.A.G.E. RAGER: 10-year womAnniversary *Not-a-Gala* Party!”. W.A.G.E.’s 10-year anniversary celebration and launch of WAGENCY at Artists Space, NY. September 20, 2018. Courtesy Artists Space and W.A.G.E.
Keioui Keijaun Thomas performing at “W.A.G.E. RAGER: 10-year womAnniversary *Not-a-Gala* Party!”. W.A.G.E.’s 10-year anniversary celebration and launch of WAGENCY at Artists Space, NY. September 20, 2018. Courtesy Artists Space and W.A.G.E.
“It is an honor to be part of The Warhol Foundation’s mission to support the visual arts coupled with its commitment to specifically support the voices of women, POC, Native Americans, and LGBTQ. It is simply thrilling to be part of an organization where we get to see these values writ large and implement real change in real life ways in the visual arts community that still so needs to move forward in terms of social justice, equality, and diversity. We put our money where our mouth is. How many institutions actually do that?”
Deborah Kass, Artist