A key area for on-going research at a-n The Artists Information Company is artists’ livelihoods. Research reports since 1989 highlight the changing landscape and impact of government and arts policies on artists, providing a unique commentary for arts organisations and policy makers who seek to foster a thriving environment for contemporary visual arts and creative practices.
The assessment of jobs and opportunities on offer between January and June this year reveals that the number with payment attached has dropped. Whereas in 2011 36% of jobs and opportunities were paying artists, this figure has now dropped to 30%. In 2008 the figure was 57% that were paying artists.
Although it was common in the past, exhibitions in publicly-funded galleries rarely pay fees for artists now. Speaking in a live chat last month in response to a question from AIR, Arts Council England Chair Liz Forgan commented: “The Arts Council doesn’t have an active policy on [exhibition payment right] but we do expect arts organisations we fund to adhere to exhibition payments.”
It is predominantly commissions and residencies that pay artists. But there are worrying reports coming in from artists of resistance amongst some employers to paying fee rates that reflect artists’ specific self-employed costs and the experience they bring to a project, undermining good practice guidelines for creating mutually-beneficial working relationships.
To help raise wider awareness, on 19 October at AD:uk’s York conference Negotiating the arts landscape, a-n Director Susan Jones and artist and AIR Council member Elpida Hadzi Vasileva are running sessions with arts managers about how to maintain both good practice and good art while budgets are tight.
a-n welcomes offers to host these good practice sessions elsewhere: [email protected]
Further research
