3.3. Bradford’s artists and producers

Bradford is home to a wealth of creative talent. Bradford Producing Hub conducts an annual survey with artists and producers across the district, which provides key insights into who they are, the type of work they are doing and the barriers they face.

Artists and creatives in Bradford are most likely to be female (66%), aged between 25 and 39 (44%) and White (75%).They are likely to have caring responsibilities and nearly a quarter (24%) identify as disabled. There is a noticeable under-representation of artists and producers from Asian/Asian British communities compared to the Bradford population as a whole.

Figure 19: Demographics

Data comes from 219 responses to BPH’s annual artist and producer survey between 2021 and 2023. Results may be biased by the demographics of those most likely to fill in surveys.

Figure 20:  Age comparison

Figure 21:  Ethnicity

Most of Bradford’s artists and creatives describe themselves as freelancers (55%) – and there are a significant number (23%) for whom their creative practice is “not my main job”. They work across many different disciplines-with the most popular being the Visual Arts (31%), Arts and Crafts (23%), Theatre, and Writing and Editing (both 22%). In terms of how long people have been practicing, although 28% are in the first 5 years of their practice, there is a relatively even distribution across categories. Most do target “everyone” (62%) for their work-but as is shown by the responses, there are many who make work which targets a range of more specific audiences.

Figure 22: What best describes your creative practice?

Figure 23: What best describes your creative discipline?

Figure 24: Years in the creative sector

61% of Bradford’s artists and producers report facing at least one form of personal barrier to their work, with the most common being mental health concerns (31%) and caring responsibilities (25%).⁵³

Figure 25: Do you have any personal barriers to work?

Next: Visitor economy