The CCS (Creative and Cultural Skills Council) have released the Visual Arts Blueprint after much consultation:
http://www.ccskills.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?filetick…
Below are some examples of the recommendations it makes:
Ensure that internships are fair and offer high quality career development opportunities by 2010
Ensure that visual arts courses have strong, relevant links to the profession by 2012
Ensure that the visual arts has a role to play in broad education initiatives by 2012
Support and encourage technical and business skills training in all visual arts degree programmes and courses by 2012
Recognise and support artists’ networks and peer exchange opportunities (working with VAGA, Scottish Artists Union and Other – wish they’d named AiR too though!) by 2011
Improve working conditions across the visual arts sector (working with agenices and borrowing best practice models from other industries) by 2012
The report also goes on to expand on these recommendations and many others and also profiles the creative sector (not just artists remember though), outlining who it is comprised of (95%white!). This may not sound like a massive thing, but considering ‘artist’ has not been mentioned as a job role before, these basics are important, especially if the CCS are to promote their plans across the UK. Anyway, it looks a bit of a beast, but they have peppered it with lots of nice images, so the content is not as daunting as it may first seem!
I’ll have a proper read and get back to you…
