Artist and AIR Council member Joseph Young attended the recent Europe-wide IAA conference in Pilsen, Czech Republic, where he was speaking about the Paying Artists campaign. He reports from the home of Pilsner lager on three days of discussion, debate and far too many procedural matters.
With a media storm of interest, Banksy’s Dismaland opened in Weston-super-Mare on Friday. After paying a visit to the self-styled ‘bemusement park’, Laura Harris suggests we look past the witty one-liners to explore this aesthetically overwhelming, politically astute art experience.
As artists find themselves at the end of the cultural food chain, Susan Jones suggests a new activism to reaffirm their status The so-called golden age of arts funding has given way to debilitating austerity, particularly for artists who find […]
As part of PEAK, a contemporary art initiative in the Black Mountains, Wales, Rebecca Spooner reports on a weekend exchange visit from studio artists based at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire.
Today is a bit momentous – my first day as a 100 % fully self- employed artist. A couple of weeks ago I heard that I had been successful in gaining funding from Bradford organisation Two28 to run a participatory […]
40 arts organisations across the UK will host paid placements for graduates from lower income backgrounds through the new Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme.
The visual arts education charity AccessArt is asking parents, teachers and ‘creative adults’ to think more about the importance of art education.
In a piece originally published on The Conversation, Victoria Durrer of Queen’s University Belfast argues that damaging cuts to the arts in Northern Ireland are reshaping the sector.
An overview of the current Age Discrimination law in Great Britain under the Equality Act 2010, followed by a set of action points for arts employers, and guidance for individuals who might want to challenge a decision or a practice.
Meanwhile, away from the nine women, life goes on… The funding is going to be great, but I do need to earn money after that. If I removed myself from the possibility of other earning for the duration of the […]
Following the announcement that Falmouth University is to close three of its BA (Hons) courses, a petition to oppose the closure of the highly respected Contemporary Crafts degree has reached nearly 6,000 signatories.
I’ve been talking to a young friend about balance. Actually, she is the daughter of friends of ours, but recently, through Facebook, across the oceans (she is currently in Australia) this bright young artist and I have found we have […]
Sonia Boué’s new blog “The Museum for Object Research” is making me think. https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/the-museum-for-object-research/post/52391526 I kicked it off myself, with a piece about The Bra. I love the way other people’s thoughts and working practices link with mine. The […]
If artists regularly self-qualify themselves as ‘starving’ in such a casual and off-handed way, what kind of respect can they expect to gain? Margaret Lam thinks it’s time tell a different story about what it means to be an artist.
I had been toing and froing about whether to carry on this blog, as to whether I was trying to start too much at once, after deciding that I wouldn’t continue, I changed my mind… I think it is probably […]
The whole self-employed thing is great, I love feeling so liberated, being able to decide what I do and when. However, after decades of employment and salary, however meagre, the lack of regular payment is hard going. Cash flow is […]
Wow, it’s been a long time coming since my last blog entry back at the start of the year. I’ve been chomping at the bit to start posting up new material, although a number of changes in my personal life: […]
A question that I find relevant to both my personal practice and my expanded practice is; do varying modes of sustainability and organisational structures effect the output/content of artist and curator led projects? Now two-thirds through our ‘go and see’ […]
I’m quoted in this article by David Trigg, about the current trend for arts organisations to replace paid invigilators with volunteers. What’s not mentioned in the article is that these jobs are not just important employment opportunities for people – […]
As cuts continue to bite, arts organisations are plugging the funding gap by replacing paid staff – such as gallery invigilators – with unpaid volunteers. We look at three galleries in Liverpool and Bristol that have done just that, and assess what this growing trend could mean for both individual artists and the UK’s arts ecology.
Yesterday’s conversation with a neighbour who’s about to go back to work after maternity leave has got me thinking again about my own situation career-wise and what a different experience I’ve had since becoming an artist. After many years of […]
I’ve been painting for some fourteen years now. I really want to say something clever or amazing about my work, but the fact is I paint farm animals, and I paint them because I love them. They are my passion. […]
Attending two quite different explosion workshops this week (as part of the ‘Normalcy Cluster’ activities – not that I really understand what that means) has led me to wonder if I am spreading myself too thin. This wondering concerns the […]
Things have descended into total chaos in my life, and I’ve largely been unable to continue doing anything much at all, never mind art. Without wishing to totally depress everyone completely, I’m currently paying the bedroom tax on my son’s […]
