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Unions and experts are increasingly warning that many are struggling to make a living in the arts sector due to low pay, patchy work and the high cost of living.
One potential solution now being looked into in Scotland is for the government to pay artists directly - a so-called basic income for the arts.
The idea comes from Ireland, where a no-strings-attached scheme paying 1,300 euro per month (about £1,134) to some musicians and artists was recently made permanent.
Leading Scottish artists and music industry figures - including the national poet and the head of Celtic Connections festival - are calling on the Scottish government to introduce a similar scheme or risk a cultural "desert".
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson told the BBC he's "looking into it".
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Ireland introduced the 'Basic Income for the Arts' pilot scheme in the aftermath of Covid-19 in 2022.
The trial saw 2,000 individual artists - musicians, painters, comedians, poets and others - drawn from a lottery system to take part in the experimental arts funding scheme.
Brían Ó Súilleabháin quit his day job in a wine and spirits shop when he found out he was one of the lucky 2,000, now able to take a risk on acting work.
"It was life-changing," the actor, 29, says.
"Without the Basic Income, I would have had to go back to the day job, but because I had the Basic Income, I didn't have to do that.
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Standing by for the standard "loicense" joke...
While we wait for that, it might be worth discussing that bit about public art. You could definitely do that, but it might make more sense to simply require that any artistic output be released in a free (within the UK) format with attribution, and have them put some smart looking crest on it saying it was partly funded by this program. Then each submission could be tagged and added to a public art bank, which is then usable (with attribution) by anyone in the country for public works or private usage. And maybe businesses too, if they pay enough into the UBI scheme? Feels risky.