"We all know the trope of the starving artist," said researcher Gwendolyn Rugg, "But there's actually surprisingly little reliable data out there to back this up."

Rugg, a senior research scientist for NORC at The University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research organization, is the lead author of a new report on artists' lives and their livelihoods. Researchers surveyed more than 2,600 artists nationwide from across disciplines and working arrangements. They were asked a range of questions on everything from housing, the hours they work and health benefits to how they make money. The study was funded by the Mellon Foundation.