A guaranteed income program in Minnesota has doled out $500 a month to cohorts of urban and rural artists — no strings attached — since April 2021.
Coming mid-September, Springboard for the Arts, the nonprofit behind the initiative, is launching a public art exhibition in St. Paul to advocate for guaranteed income programs. Artists in the show received a $5,000 grant, in addition to monthly payments, to produce works commemorating the fund’s impact as the current phase of pilot is set to wind down.
Over the course of the pilot, 75 artists in rural Otter Tail County and St. Paul received a cumulative total of $675,000 on prepaid debit cards in 18-month cohorts, according to the Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard (GIPD) run by the Stanford Basic Income Lab, the University of Pennsylvania Center for Guaranteed Income Research, and the University of Tennessee. Eligible artists lived in neighborhoods that previously received aid from the Coronavirus Personal Emergency Relief Fund.
The GIPD studied Springboard’s guaranteed income program and found that artists used the cash primarily on retail purchases (35.94%), food and groceries (30.26%), and housing and utilities (10.04%).
According to figures Springboard provided to Hyperallergic, 70% of recipients were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), LGBTQ+, artists from rural areas, or artists with disabilities.
Among the recipients included in the upcoming exhibition is multidisciplinary artist and organizer Jessica Torgeson.
“Before the guaranteed income, I was working 60 hours a week, which didn’t leave time for the things that interest me and serve my community,” Torgeson said in a statement shared with Hyperallergic. “Having a little cushion allows me to know that I’m going to eat that month while I pursue the things I care about in my work and community.”
This year, Springboard commissioned Creel Falcón’s “Guaranteed Income is the G.O.A.T.” billboard alongside a rural highway in Minnesota for $5,000. “Guaranteed Income is a rural strategy that helps us tend to our herd,” Falcón said in a statement about the work.
The exhibition, titled EXHALE, will open at Springboard for the Art’s headquarters on Tuesday, September 17, during International Basic Income Week, and will remain open through September 30. After the show, the artwork will be housed in the Minneapolis Central Library, Springboard’s Program Director Ricardo Beaird told Hyperallergic.
Like other artist income pilots born out of the pandemic, including San Francisco and New York’s $1,000-per-month programs, the Springboard for the Arts initiative is funded by private foundations.
“We’re hoping to transition from being privately funded by some foundations to state legislation and federal policy, so more people can experience the power of direct cash,” Beaird said, adding that the upcoming art show is an effort to inspire advocacy for guaranteed income programs like Springboard’s.
The city of St. Paul has championed at least three universal income pilot programs since the pandemic, beginning with the People’s Prosperity Pilot in November 2020, which provided $500 per month to 150 families. GIDB’s research found improved economic mobility among the St. Paul participants.
“I’m hoping Minnesota could be a leader in basic and guaranteed income,” Beaird said. “We wanted to provide this moment to celebrate [the pilot] and help folks understand the larger movement and bring more people to the table to advocate for direct initiatives.”