The Economics Of Iconography
Artists aren't supposed to starve.
Let’s begin by focusing on a small American city: Kirksville, Missouri.1 Population 17,000. Not a suburb of a larger city; Kirksville is the largest community in the area. At the time of this article’s composition (December 2024), typing “Churches in Kirksville, Missouri” into Google Maps reveals that there are 40 churches in Kirksville and nearby communities.2 Of these 40, only 2 of them would consider veneration of Icons an important aspect of Christian worship: the two Roman Catholic parishes: Mary Immaculate Catholic Church and the Catholic Newman Center at Truman State University. There aren’t any Orthodox Churches in or near Kirksville yet, so any Orthodox Christians who might live there are either travelling to Divine Liturgy or holding Typika (laity-led) worship.
Now, let’s imagine what would happen if 25% of Kirksville’s population (roughly 4,250 people) were Orthodox, and 25% of its parishes were Orthodox (10). Over 4,000 Orthodox Christians means thousands of Icons will be needed for homes: for bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, even for cars. Being realistic, we will have to acknowledge that some people raised in Orthodoxy will stop attending church later on, and in some cases won’t be religious at all, but even accounting for apostates, this means thousands of home Icons.
Additionally, some of these Orthodox Christians will be owners of businesses, people who work in offices, or are influential in other civic institutions. Thus, not only will Icons be needed for homes and parishes, but everywhere else in society. An icon of the Apostle Luke for a surgeon’s chamber, or an icon of the Archangel Michael at the sheriff’s department.
Most of all, however, those 10 parishes would need plentiful Icons. Orthodox parishes are known for their iconostases, the icon walls or screens, that divide the nave of the church from its sanctuary. It would take hundreds of Icons to fully furnish all 10 of these parishes. That’s a lot of Icons. It’s a lot of work for people who illustrate Icons. A lot of work means a lot of money for the iconographers.
Simply by re-imagining 1/4 of a town as Orthodox, the work opportunities for an iconographer rise from almost nothing, to thousands and thousands of pieces commissioned, all within that one town! While this doesn’t guarantee that the iconographer will be a Kirksville local, it does guarantee that somewhere, some people will be making illustrations and selling them.
And while in today’s world, debate and discussion continues over whether or not A.I. will cost people their jobs, or how widespread the potential job losses would be, conservative Orthodox bishops are not the sort of people who would ever allow A.I. programs to ever be used to create Icons. An institution whose purpose is theosis, salvation, the health of the soul, will not tolerate Icons being made by something that doesn’t possess a human soul.
The Reformation promoted a theology which declared that veneration of Icons, an ancient Christian practice dating back to when the Lord Jesus Christ lived on earth3, was irrelevant for Christians at best, and flat-out idolatry at worst. In doing this, the Reformation took much of the visual arts out of religion, and gave rise to the “starving artist” trope: the idea that from now on, not only would the artist suffer financially and be considered a lesser member of society, but because that it was good and right this was happening. Yet, the Reformation itself has centuries later emptied itself out, with seemingly no way forward. Even in America, “a product of the Reformation in a way that no other country on earth is”, the ranks of the Exvangelicals are strong, and conversions to Orthodoxy are accelerating. Hence, the opportunity arrives to reintegrate the artist into society’s heart and soul, and restore dignity that has been lost. Make no mistake: the world is ready for art.
I chose Kirksville for this article because, firstly “kirk” means “Church” in the Scottish and Northumbrian dialects, and secondly because of the highly typical, even generic nature of the state of Missouri: at the geographic center of the nation and mostly indistinguishable from anywhere else in America. A perfect Everytown.
Life Church Kirksville, Crossing Church Kirksville, Kirksville First Assembly Of God, Fellowship Baptist Church, Grace Community Bible Church, Cornerstone Church, Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, First Baptist Church, Hamilton Street Baptist Church, First Christian Church, Rehoboth Baptist Church, Campus Christian Fellowship, New Hope Evangelical Church, Lake Road Chapel, Countryside Christian Church, Kirksville First United Methodist Church, Southside Baptist Church, Church Of God Holiness, First Church Of God, Shekinah Mennonite Church, Landmark Pentecostal Church, First Presbyterian Church, Catholic Newman Center, Hazel Creek Freewill Baptist, Sugar Creek Community Church, Refuge Community Church, Faith Baptist Church, Jewel Church, East Center Church, Kirksville Church Of Christ, Gateway Prayer Center, Kingdom Hall Of Jehovah's Witnesses, Momentum Campus Ministry, Salvation Army Kirksville, Kirksville Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Bethel Community Church, Baptist Student Union, Temple Baptist Church, Thousand Hills Baptist Association, Yarrow United Methodist Church.
The Lord Jesus Christ made an Icon of Himself, the Icon-Not-Made-By-Hands, and the Apostle Luke is confirmed to have made Icons of the Virgin Mary during her earthly life.