Regarding surveys, there's some interesting data at
          <www.aauw.org/3000/fellows.html>. It's a report on members
          of the American Assoc. of University Women who have received
          fellowships, and how it impacted their lives. There's
          information on job satisfaction, salaries, etc.

          There's also a survey which was made of artists in 4 major
          U.S. cities. I have the info at home and will try to
          remember to post it. It says that over half of the artists
          surveyed make under $7000 on their art per year. Sad
          statistics.

          As for CA academic salaries, Britt is correct. Staff artists
          and art instructors in the university and community college
          systems seem to make somewhere between $33,000 and $50,000 a
          year. There is a lot of competition for those jobs and
          people who get them tend to keep them; they don't open up
          very often. My experience (having subscribed to an academic
          job notice and having applied for one such position) is that
          in most cases they DON'T want a scientific illustrator.
          They're more interested in a fine artist. Or a graphics
          person with lots of digital skills and knowledge.

          Every once in a while there's a newspaper article about the
          "glass ceiling". While not focused on artists, these
          articles always point out that the glass ceiling is still
          there, and that women generally make less than their male
          counterparts. That's by several percentage points.

          Lynette