ARTISTS TALKING

# 11 [5 February 2009]

I was asked by a-n to attend a meeting at the Arts Council in Manchester on Monday (just to clarify - time and travel paid for!). It was a really interesting trip, but I have had to leave it a few days before writing about it as there was just so much to digest.

The meeting was part of a consultation process giving feedback to a draft of The Visual Arts Blueprint: Towards a workforce action plan. This is a joint venture between Arts Council England and Creative & Cultural Skills (The Skills Council for the creative industries). The draft (51 pages) has been developed in consultation with lots of people in the arts, including EmiliaTelese from a-n.

It's difficult to know where to start as the document attempts to cover many things. I mean everything: artists, designers; freelancers; employers; job descriptions; addressing diversity in the arts; widening interest and knowledge of creative industries; creatives working in schools; schools, FE teaching and professional development on degree courses. I could go on. It is inevitable when something attempts to be so inclusive that it will fail on some counts, and the main problem that struck me (and others) about this document was that artists do not fit easily into any type of regulated guidelines, if at all. It did, however, address and provoke debate about some really important points such as internships as well as bridging the gap between contemporary artists and educators. 

As there was so much to think about, I shall approach the document and resulting discussion one section at a time...

# 12 [5 February 2009]

cont. from previous post..

Just for starters, here are some facts to make you think a little. I also want to add in this from the Scottish Artists Union website: 

"Statistically, visual artists remain at the bottom of the income ladder for all art forms. An estimated 5,000 artists are practicing in Scotland. The Scottish Arts Council Audit 2003 showed that 82% of visual artists in Scotland earn under £5,000 per annum and 28% are earning nothing at all from their arts practice while contributing an extrapolated £22 million to the Scottish economy primarily through purchase of materials." http://www.sau.org.uk/about/about.php

Now from the CCS/Arts Council document:

Key Facts about the Visual Arts sector:

The Visual Arts sector employs 37,480 people, 28,490 of whom are artists.  Of these individuals 46% are freelance

•    The sector features 4,580 businesses, of which 75% employ fewer than 5 people
•    The visual arts sector covers individual artists, publicly funded institutions large and small, commercial galleries, studios, trade associations, art fairs and a vast range of employees, consultants, freelancers, volunteers
•    The visual arts sector’s overall contribution to the national economy (GVA) is £1.9 billion. This is in comparison to the performing arts sector (£4.5 billion), and the commercial music industry (£4.2 billion)
•    Surprisingly, artists are not included within the current definition of the creative industries in the UK
•    95% of people working in the visual arts sector are white, and 50% are female
•    22% of the workforce is based in London, 1% in Northern Ireland, 7% in Scotland, and 7% in Wales
•    Employees are often highly qualified (38% with first degrees and a further 19% with a postgraduate degree or diploma)

# 13 [5 February 2009]

cont..

and some issues to tackle:

Lack of awareness of employment opportunities within the sector.

Artists not trained for business.

Insufficient entry routes for young people into the sector.

Skills and experience do not match job vacancies.

Qualifications do not prepare fine art graduates for work or fully participate in the sector.

Lack of diversity among the workforce.

Not enough opportunities to develop skills in post.

Access to training for those outside formal employment.

Specialist training needs not met.

Staff retention in the sector poor.

Poor employment conditions.

Organisations lack people with business skills.

Not enough emphasis on leadership.

Insufficient auditing of skills needs.

Not enough sharing of good practice across the sector.

Insufficient partnerships between employers and higher education bodies.

Although some strong membership and representative bodies exist there are some gaps e.g. commercial galleries.

There is no professional union equivalent to Equity in the theatre sector.
   

# 14 [12 February 2009]

I have been away for a few days due to a very poorly Grandpa, but am still thinking about the CCS meeting (see previous three posts) and the issues it brought up. I still need to send them some feedback so I don't want to forget anything!

Adressing the conversation in order of relevance then, the most contentious issue and most pertinent for me, was that of the artist and their employment or working patterns.

It was quite worrying that the document talked of jobs, employers and skill sets (even standardising an artist job description!) when this model bears little relevance to how most artists operate. Personally, I am of the 'portfolio career' persuasion. This translates as: Working in the studio and exhibiting: at the Tate; for Oxford University; some (teeny) book sales; and getting paid for the odd talk or activity.

I have no pension, plenty of debt and certainy no savings. I feel foolish even saying that and still choosing to live my life as I do. 

Additionally, the document did not address the fact that artists are responsible for generating so much of their own work; they do things for free, apply for funding or look for partnerships. Does all this activity fall under the radar then? Again a-n came into its own as one of the few bodies/publications that truly understands how it all works. I am often spurred on by the fact that I see my peers in the magazine. It is a bridge between the  land of graduate to mid-career artist that is (I think) the most difficult.

# 15 [17 February 2009]

Through ACME Liverpool (basically a section of the city council) I was lucky enough to get some free business advice with David Parrish last week. I was expecting similar to previous experiences: someone interested in how to make money and who didn't really understand how that may or may not be possible within the confines of an artists' world.

Instead, I found I had a very generous two hours to talk over tea, very informally, with someone with a lot of experience in the arts. This makes a difference in terms of understanding how I am a non-expandable business (it's just me and although I have a twin sister, that doesn't count) and also, most importantly, that I have no desire to be expandable. I don't want to outsource work making random stuff to make money. I want to make my work and do it without compromise - well mostly without compromise.  I came out thinking quite differently about values (mine), marketing those values and looking in slightly different places for paid work without having to cross over to some other area. He also gave me a copy of his book: 'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity', which can also be viewed online for free from his website - go get it.

http://www.davidparrish.com/

# 16 [17 February 2009]

I may not live in Scotland anymore (I went to eca back in the day..) but I still care what happens!

Arts Futures : Creative Scotland?
Wednesday Night Open
6 p.m. Wednesday 25th February 2009

Glasgow School of Art
Mackintosh Lecture Theatre
167 Renfrew St
Glasgow G3 6RQ


Leigh French and Guyan Porter will lead an artists' briefing & open discussion looking at recent events leading to the proposals for Creative Scotland.

Some of the key areas for discussion:

- history & contexts : how did we get here?
- core scripts revealed
- culture capture & creeping nationalism
- cultural entitlement & spaces of contention
- freedom of expression : legal frameworks
- crises of capital & public sector cultural provision
- national intimacy or cultural pluralism?
- progressive international cultural policy models
- how can artists & communities engage in policy development?
- where would we like to go : how do we get there?


Presenting Information Towards an Informed Debate...
free event - all welcome!

------------------------
For further information, please contact:
 tara s Beall
 Cultural Engagement Events Manager
 The Glasgow School of Art
 Studio 55 / Mac Bldg / 167 Renfrew Street / Glasgow G3 6UT
 44 (0)141 353 4567
t.beall@gsa.ac.uk

# 17 [19 February 2009]

Internships, volunteering and the problems of free labour in the arts:

Before I start, I have to acknowledge that there are many positives to volunteering, obviously! It can be an incredible contribution to society with numerous rewards for the individual. What I would like to talk about here is volunteering in the arts as a replacement for employment.

During my BA I volunteered at a number of galleries and, with the exception of one, I found I was generally clicking people in, making tea and cleaning the kitchen. No points for valuable experience at all, although I should point out it was a while ago now! They never worked out very well either as I was doing a degree, working up to 30 hours a week in two part time jobs, and they wanted people to work every Saturday and who would be at each opening. Not really possible for me! Since then I have been quite suspicious of and annoyed by volunteers being used as staff, not to mention the fact that I have never been in a position (financially) to take advantage of such things.

During the CCS meeting at Manchester I was very interested to hear what others had to say when it came to this point in the document. It confirmed my fears when the Curator from Manchester Art Gallery said she saw many problems in the system, but that their gallery would use free labour, beacause it could. She was quite sympathetic with the plight of people trying to find careers in the arts and said that they observed mainly middle-class white, female graduates volunteering - the people that (in Museums at least) end up forming the main part of the staff. She also said that because of the sheer number and quality of applicants for jobs at the gallery, people they employed for entry-level jobs were actually on their second or third job. This seems to suggest that there are not only too many artists, but perhaps also too many curators, administrators and managers for the work available.

I am not questioning the quality of internships that already exist out there - I already commented on Andrew Bryant's very positive experience at Tate and I also remember being very taken by the programme at Collective when I was graduating - but I am saying that they are simply impossible for lots of people.  There also seems to be an unspoken tradition that it is difficult to get employment in institutions without putting in the free hours first.

An alternative to volunteering? It will always exist, but how about properly organised, valuable and PAID internships that are similar to apprenticeships or CPD training. Perhaps museums and galleries could also agree to abide by certain terms? There has to be enough provision for people to live and not get into debt by taking part, and previous experience volunteering should not be a significant factor in choosing from applicants. 

# 18 [24 February 2009]

I have just had a read through the comments on this blog and it has given me a lot to think about. I also feel very glad not to be alone!

One comment reminded me of something that used to anger me greatly when I had just graduated; Elizabeth Haider relating her experiences of schools expecting her to work for nothing/little. As a graduate I tried to be realistic when looking at opportunities, but even then I was absolutely incensed by the (mainly private) schools looking for artists in residence, to teach up to 12 ish hours a week, given a studio and accomodation granted, but often accompanied by some measly bursary such as £3-4,000 per academic year.  Shocking. What other industry would accept these conditions? Why do these schools even want someone in classes with their children (and wards) who is paid so little? Do they not value the staff they are placing into teaching positions? A friend from ECA added to my argument when she went into a residency at one school and had left by January, being very ill-equipped to cope with classes of children and given little support, not to mention having no time to do her own work and being incredibly stressed.

I wrote to a few schools one year to tell them what I thought of their 'residencies', but I only ever received one reply. They, in their defense, seemed to believe they were giving an invaluable opportunity to an emerging artist. Plus, they felt they were only offering what everyone else was. If they hadn't had any applicants I suspect they would have thought again, but of course, they had plenty.

Anyway, I try not to look at those adverts these days and to put my energy into more useful endeavors. I did have a good laugh at my younger, angrier self though. What this also make me realise is how important it is not to simply blame those offering the opportunities/the administrators etc (although they could be better educated about rates!) - but to look a bit deeper and try to address the problems where they begin, rather then where they are manifested.

# 19 [26 February 2009]

As with all areas of my life, I have a lot to say (regarding this blog), but seem to be unable to articulate it how I would like. This comes partly, I suspect from having no authority in this area (I feel I should be supported by facts, figures at al) and also because the very last thing I want to do is moan. 

Above all, I want to take responsibility for my own situation rather than simply complaining about what makes it difficult. 

It seems a central resource (perhaps from an audit of artists) would provide a step from which to argue our case. If there were reliable statistics to hand it might be easier to speak eloquently and with conviction about payments and working conditions. Currently I find it is a cloudy area to say the least, where I find few people on the outside (of arts) who fully understand the breadth and quantity of contemporary artists' practice. 

# 20 [26 February 2009]

A new article on knowledge bank - For those who would like to read more about volunteering to view up the pros/cons and who perhaps prefer a more objective point of view!

http://www.a-n.co.uk/knowledge_bank/article/506400