Knowledge bank

Video guides

Drawing together a-n's Social media guides alongside a selection of video guides commissioned by Artquest for the ArtlawTV channel. Read on »

Pop up people - an action research project developed by artist and AIR member Dan Thompson and the Empty Shops Network  Read on »

Art and ideas - Artist Simon Faithfull talks about some of his experiences, and what he can do to protect aspects of his work. Read on »

Site Specific Art - Artist Susanna Heron talks through her experiences of being commissioned on public art projects, the pitfalls she encounters and how to get around them. Read on»

Art and appropriation - When does artistic freedom become copyright infringement? Artist David Mabb considers works in his practice, including a run-in with Magnum Photos and appropriating the work of William Morris. Read on »

Gallery deals - Art dealer René Gimpel of Gimpel Fils considers the relationship between artists and galleries, including contracts, gallery responsibilities and what commercial galleries do for artists. Read on »

Social media: Blogging - Chris Unitt talks to Charlotte Frost about different blogging platforms, getting the most from a blog, and some of the most creative artists' blogs around. Read on »

Social media: Twitter - Katy Beale and Charlotte Frost talk micro-blogging and how Twitter can be used as a tool for research, marketing and collaboration. Read on »

Practical guides

How to get crowd-funding - In this Practical guide, Emily Speed examines the various ways crowd-funding has manifested new possibilities for revenue streams, opened by the power of the Internet. Read on»

How to deal with VAT on sales - VAT specialist Faye Armstrong explains. Read on »

How to save money - In these times of austerity, a-n has compiled a catalogue of money-saving ideas for freelancers that have been tried and tested by our readers. Read on »

Quote of the month

"It's taken five years to build up a visual arts presence in Birmingham and we finally got there. In Eastside there are three contemporary visual arts spaces of which now only one is funded by ACE.  I am very concerned about the impact overall for the visual arts in Birmingham.  A large percentage of the visual arts organisations that have been cut completely work with new technology, cutting edge with innovative early stage artists.  A whole network of international touring and spaces have been cut from ACE.  But the threat is to the level that we have been able to take the work to, the dialogue, is likely to go." Vivid, Birmingham

In Ladders for development Dany Louise discusses new evidence exposing and quantifying the likely impact on the visual arts of Arts Council England's decisions on fifteen previously Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) visual arts organisations unsuccessful in their NPO application. Read on »