THE romantic image of the starving artist has long endured, from Rodolfo the struggling poet in Puccini's La Bohème to New York's SoHo in the '70s and '80s, when it was once the epicenter of bohemian life. The notion of the struggling artist has become a cliché. Now, in the midst of an economic recession, even the Wall Street and white- collar set are getting a taste of poverty. Are artists' lives affected by the financial sea change? Who are the artists in your neighborhood? And how are they getting by in the current economic crisis?

"When people stop being multimillionaires they tend to go to cheaper theater. I make the $20 ticket kind of theater, so my audiences tend to get bigger in 'hard times,'" says drag alien/performance artist Taylor Mac whose play The Lily's Revenge opens in October in New York City. "But I believe money is often the excuse but never really the reason. What I'm seeing right now in America is a lot of excuse-making: 'I can't do that because of the economy.'" New York Pop art icon Kenny Scharf, who will have his first book out just in time for the Armory Show in March, says, "I try to divorce myself from the economy; thinking about money doesn't inspire me. In fact, it can derail the focus. Maybe people will start to talk about the actual art again and not how much it sells for. The stress of not having money to pay bills might interfere, but fantasy always creeps in, thankfully."

It's a long-held belief that hard times fuel the creative process and produce more meaningful and innovative work. That to be a great artist you must suffer for your craft. But according to Scharf, "Hard times might fuel great art but are not required. More art will probably be made out of trash and found objects."

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