Should artists be paid a living wage?

[JoePhilly]

66. My father was an artist, and he held none of those classifications.

He was self taught. Worked mainly in charcoal, pastels, and at times oil.

He did many portraits of people we knew when I was a kid. He was often hired to do so because people had seen his work.

My point is that anyone can claim the title of artist. And, others can apply it to you as well. People would say ... "we know this artist ... " meaning my father.

My point was really about the "living wage" aspect of this discussion.

If you go back and read it again, my point was that a self-employed artist (like my father) probably will not be paid a living wage, per se.

However, an artist working in a business setting will be more likely to be paid a salary of some kind. But the OP isn't referring to them at least not if I read them correctly.

An artist can have a stack of degrees, and those do not necessarily make their artwork (paintings) more valuable. And that's why I said the point is moot.

As far as I am aware, people do not purchase pieces of art because the artist has degrees. The artwork in question needs something else to make it valuable.