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Fairfax County has a sizable community of artists, but a shortage of affordable venues and weak professional networks are driving much of their work outside the region, according to the first Fairfax Regional Artist Survey.

Half of the respondents who regularly perform or present art to the public said they showcase at least 75% of their work beyond Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church.

“Fairfax has a robust group of artists who don’t get paid very much,” AMS research lead and project manager Lauren Frankel said. “All of you professional artists are producing art that has a footprint outside Fairfax County. That’s something ArtsFairfax would like to change.”

ArtsFairfax, the county’s designated arts agency, commissioned the research with arts and culture consulting firm AMS. The organizations presented preliminary findings June 25, 2025, during a community event at Reston Community Center’s Hunters Woods facility. A complete report is expected in the fall.

The survey was designed to estimate the size of the area’s artistic community and identify what artists need to advance professionally. Offered online in English, Spanish, Farsi, Korean and Hindi from May 28 through December 2024, it drew 1,480 responses over six months.

Among the participants, 1,019 identified themselves as practicing artists who live or work in Fairfax or Falls Church.

Artists face income and venue pressures

Eighty-six percent of respondents said they are professional artists or hope to become professionals, yet only 28% rely on art as their main source of income.

About 51% reported annual household incomes below $100,000. That figure rose to 62% among artists whose creative work provides their primary income.

Overall, 22% of respondents earned less than $50,000 annually, compared with 28% of those primarily supported by their art. By comparison, U.S. Census estimates indicate that 34% of all Fairfax County households earn less than $100,000.

Because participation was voluntary, the results are not necessarily representative of every artist in the region. Frankel said, however, that the sample was large enough to provide useful insights.

Affordable, suitable facilities and stronger connections emerged as the most common needs. Fifty-six percent of individual artists said they most needed lower-cost spaces and help developing relationships with organizations and other artists.

Networking was particularly important to artists of color and younger artists. It ranked among the top needs for 63% of artists of color and 62% of respondents younger than 45.

Space was a concern across artistic disciplines, while performers in theater, dance, film, music and comedy were especially likely to identify rental prices as a barrier.

Community members describe the same barriers

The survey results largely reflected the experiences of the roughly two dozen artists, educators, curators and programmers who attended the Reston event.

During small-group conversations, participants said they wanted more opportunities to meet other artists for collaboration, learning and informal support. They identified Fairfax County’s spread-out geography, the pandemic-era move toward online activities and the often-solitary nature of artistic work as obstacles to building those connections.

Those challenges can be particularly acute for emerging artists and people who recently moved to the area.

Participants also described shortages of money and other resources for both individuals and arts institutions. Reston Community Center’s theater programmer said the venue must reject many requests because it is fully booked months ahead.

“Tabling at events [in Fairfax County] can be thousands of dollars, but I can go to Richmond and vend for free basically,” one attendee said.

Others sought help with marketing and social media, saying promotional work can consume time they would otherwise spend creating art.

Participants also said Washington, D.C.’s prominence can overshadow Fairfax County’s arts community, making it harder for local creators and potential audiences to learn about nearby opportunities. One attendee pointed to ArtsFairfax’s partnership with Tysons Corner Center, which regularly features pop-up exhibitions, as a useful way to increase visibility for visual artists.

Attendees broadly viewed the June 25 gathering as worthwhile and suggested holding regular roundtables, potentially organized by magisterial district or artistic discipline.

Survey will guide ArtsFairfax strategy

The findings will inform the next update to ArtsFairfax’s strategic plan, with public participation expected to begin in September.

President and CEO Stuart Holt, who joined the agency in spring 2024, has made greater support for individual creators a priority as ArtsFairfax expands beyond its traditional emphasis on arts organizations.

Its redesigned website now includes job postings, calls for artists and a directory featuring profiles of individual artists as well as organizations.

“We want to ensure our local, individual artists have access to the professional and promotional resources we offer to arts nonprofits,” Holt said. “We’ve made great progress in growing our arts directory and promoting local artist calls, so the next challenge for ArtsFairfax will be to strengthen the professional network for area artists.”