Knowledge bank

Lucy Kimbell outlines some issues that can arise from residencies in business settings and should be resolved in advance.

Themes

The following are some of the themes that can emerge in artists' residencies and that therefore need to be resolved in advance.

• The need to define and agree the artist's role.
• Collaborative models between artist and host organisation.
• Expectations about outputs.
• Each party's perception of the other.
• Value of the collaboration to both artist and host.

Although some themes apply to any residency, others are specific to those in business settings.

Setting out a framework that defines the most important aspects of the engagement between artists and host organisations offers a conceptual tool for artists, arts organisations and host organisations in the development of projects.

Artist's role

There needs to be an understanding of the extent to which the artist's role:

• is clearly understood by all parties
• creates the context for the collaboration
• responds to the organisational context
• leads the collaboration
• explains and contextualises what artists do and what art is for
• explains and contextualises their own work
• is challenging and critical of the host organisation and its processes
• illustrates, takes as their subject,or decorates the host organisation
• helps the organisation take risks.

Nature of collaboration

There needs to be an understanding of the extent to which each party is:

• able and willing to create a vision for the collaboration
• able and willing to take risks, experiment and try new things
• able and willing to create a shared language to discuss the nature of the collaboration
• intellectually and emotionally engaged in the process
• involved in constructing a shared story about the collaboration
• able and willing to try to understand each other's values.

Expectations

There needs to be an understanding of the extent to which:

• the artist is expected to create a new finished artwork during the residency
• the quality of the artist's output stands up within the arts context within which they position themselves
• the artist is free to decide what the outputs are
• the artist shares ownership of the outputs
• the host organisation wants to measure the value of outputs
• the parties agree on what constitutes failure and success for their engagement.

Artists' perceptions

There needs to be an understanding about how the artist is viewed by key people within the host organisation as:

• a professional
• a peer
• an expert
• having value as an outsider with a fresh perspective
• having effective personal skills
• willing to negotiate
• able and willing to discuss the nature of the collaboration.

Business perceptions

There needs to be an understanding about the extent to which the host business is viewed as:

• driven by external or internal marketing objectives
• open to new ideas
• willing to negotiate
• strategic rather than tactical in its approach
• open to discussing process
• willing to pay attention to the artist
• willing to pay attention to the issues raised by the artist and the project
• able and willing to discuss the nature of the collaboration.

Value to artist

There needs to be an understanding about the extent to which the artist benefits from:

• time out from the pressure of having to generate an income
• time to explore a line of enquiry in detail
• stimulation from being in a new context with new processes and people with whom to engage
• learning new skills from working and negotiating with people within the host organisation
• the opportunity to develop new ways of working
• the opportunity to create a context for their work.

Value to host

There needs to be an understanding about the extent to which the host benefits from:

• stimulation from an intelligent, creative outsider being brought into the business and adding perspective
• being able to take a creative risk by responding to the artist
• providing a talking point for employees across the organisation thus building the team
• being visible from marketing and PR about the residency.

The writer

Lucy Kimbell is an artist and management consultant.

In 2002 she helped programme the 'Ways of Working' study day for the Collaborative Arts Unit of the Arts Council of England. Recent commissions include Audit, Book Works 2002, the LIX Index 2002-3 Arts Council of England/Channel 4/Film and Video Umbrella, and The Most Beautiful Thing in the Gallery 2003, shown at New Art Gallery Walsall for the Bitparts Festival, curated by FACT.

www.lucykimbell.com

Publication credit

This article is an edited version of Lucy Kimbell's essay in Ways of Working: Placing Artists in Business Contexts, a CD-ROM published by the Arts Council of England, 2002, and drawn from the 'Ways of Working' study day organised by the Arts Council of England's.Collaborative Arts Unit.

Lucy Kimbell

Lucy Kimbell is an artist and management consultant.

In 2002 she helped programme the 'Ways of Working' study day for the Collaborative Arts Unit of the Arts Council of England. Recent commissions include Audit, Book Works 2002, the LIX Index 2002-3 Arts Council of England/Channel 4/Film and Video Umbrella, and The Most Beautiful Thing in the Gallery 2003, shown at New Art Gallery Walsall for the Bitparts Festival, curated by FACT.

www.lucykimbell.com

First published: a-n.co.uk April 2003