As the number of professional artists in the United States increases and access to grants and other income sources decreases, is the microcredit model a viable funding mechanism for artists in the United States?How do the existing models of microcredit initiatives support and assist artists?What factors would facilitate or hinder the replication of similar microcredit initiatives for artists on a larger scale?
Microcredit programs that serve artists in the United States provide tremendous opportunity, but due to their limited economies of scale and internal and external challenges, they are unable to serve a large constituency in a financially and operationally effective manner.Unless microcredit programs are able to effectively address their internal and external challenges, this essay suggest that the microcredit model cannot be considered a long-standing and viable funding model for supporting the artistic community.
