Publications

Introduction

In 2004, a-n commissioned a team of experts from University of Newcastle to undertake a research study into current context, attitudes and approaches to paying artists for their skills and services. Through interviews with employers and commissioners, the study sets out a range of typical fees paid to artists for public projects during 2004. By comparing artists’ fees to salaries and payments in related professions, the researchers indicate the need for payments to artists in the future to be raised so that they reflect the particular costs of self-employment, the specific level of skills and experience that an artist brings to a project and are comparable to levels of remuneration for related work.

Funded by Arts Council England within the delivery of the Artists’ Development strategy, this research study is the preface to a new portfolio of resources from a-n that extend the Code of Practice and demonstrate good practice within artists’ fees and payments, for use by artists and public-sector employers and commissioners.

Key points

• Visual artists almost invariably negotiate alone with client organisations – in contrast with some other creative occupations in which professional bodies or trade unions can offer advice and support

• ;A £150 day rate for artists which originated in the Year of the Artist 2000 – 2001 is still widely referred to by commissioners and purchasers and often treated as a standard (rather than a minimum)

• Higher rates than this “standard” are paid for artists who offer experience, reputation or project-specific skill – there is some evidence that £250 per day is becoming accepted for “lead” artists working in the field of commissions

• Young and inexperienced artists may be paid well below the standard but some commissioners do treat it an absolute minimum and refuse to “exploit” inexperience

• The revised minimum day rate of £175 recommended by Arts Council England and promoted on www.artscouncil.org.uk since February 2004 was unknown of in the organisations consulted in April / May

• The Arts Council England recommendation was the only source of guidance referred to by organisations for the calculation of visual artists’ fees

• Artists who are “assertive enough” may negotiate some extra payments – for example a contribution to (rather than all) travel costs

• Whilst some commissioners would welcome more accountable and standardised way of paying artists, others are convinced that standardising payment is impossible

Context

Evaluation of Year of the Artist (2000-1) highlighted as one of its successes the establishment of a new “important principle” for artists: a rate of £150 a day for artists’ residencies and projects. Arts Council England (ACE) continued to recommend this figure as a minimum.

However, in February 2004, there was a discussion around fees and payments for artists at a-n’s annual Future forecast event ¹, where an arts officer cited the editorial in a-n Magazine October 2002 that advised artists “The £150 a day set out for Year of the Artist is now two years old. If you were practising then, you’re two years wiser now. Factor that in, plus two years of inflation, and the minimum rate moves to around £173”. This discussion was reported back to senior ACE staff. Subsequently, the minimum rate was increased to £175, without publicity.

Updated minimum payments of up to £214 per day (dependent upon on experience) have been recommended from July 2004 by the Scottish Artists Union. Very little, however, is known about the use that organisations funding artistic work actually make of such information. At the heart of this report, therefore, is material drawn from a series of interviews with individuals responsible for setting up, managing and funding artists’ residencies, commissions and projects, who talked about their practices, experiences and opinions, and their interpretation of Arts Council England recommendations and other criteria. One of them, a public arts officer of a large city council, commented:

“Frankly the Arts Council is clueless when it comes to the financial situation of artists – hopefully your research will open the debate here.”

It is well-documented and often repeated that earnings of visual artists are, overall, low in comparison with other professional workers with high levels of education, expertise and commitment. Visual artists are around three times as likely as the working population in general to be self-employed; as self-employed people they negotiate remuneration and other conditions (eg payment for materials, timing of payments, deadlines) on an individual basis with client organisations. Although since 2002 there has not been a national professional organisation for visual artists in England, a-n The Artists Information Company has over many years² taken on this representative role, by informing artists of their professional responsibilities, and advising artists and employers on good working practice. In particular a-n has commented that:

“Most artists in the UK must take responsibility themselves for establishing a rate that meets their specific needs and acknowledges their professional status³.”

a-n offers advice and practical toolkits to help artists to calculate their costs, price their work and negotiate with confidence. The research upon which this report is based was designed to add new value by asking questions of organisations that fund art and artists about how they determine fees and payments and what, if any, guidelines they follow. The aim is to shed new light on processes that lie behind levels of remuneration for artists in the form of fees and payments, and to suggest some routes towards improvement.

First, the context in which artists’ fees and payments can be examined is foregrounded. This context includes remuneration for other groups and ways in which low pay is combated by forms of collective activity for other non-standard workers. Turning to fees and payments for artists, we document and examine new evidence from interviews with individuals responsible for commissioning and paying for art. Finally the material is drawn together to highlight a few instances of current good practice, to formulate lessons for the future.

Minimum and average wages

Minimum wage

• The Minimum wage rose in October 2004 to £4.85 (£169.75 a week for 35-hour week).

All employees and professional employees (2002-3)

• Average gross weekly pay of full-time employees in Great Britain – £484 (£25,168 pa)

• Average gross weekly pay of for full-time employees in professional occupations – £651 (£33,852 pa)⁴.

These figures hide wide variations by gender and by region. It should also be noted that they are ‘mean’ values, calculated by dividing the total earnings of a group of employees by the number of people in the group. The mean is boosted by a relatively small number of employees with extremely high earnings. Half of all full-time employees earned less than £394 in 2003⁵. Despite these caveats, the national figures suggest that overall, pay for full-time employees in professional occupations is around a third higher than the national average for all full-time employees.

Graduates and non-graduates by age (2001-2)

• Average gross weekly pay for employed graduates in Great Britain aged 21–25 £351 (£18,252 pa).

• Average gross weekly pay for employed graduates in Great Britain aged 31–40 £688 (£35,776 pa).

• Average gross weekly pay for employed non graduates in Great Britain aged 21–25 – £270 (£14,040 pa).

• Average gross weekly pay for employed non graduates in Great Britain aged 31–40 £420 – (£21,840 pa)⁶.

Average earnings – broken down by age – for graduate and non-graduate employees indicate progression over time. Higher earnings apply to older graduates and to older non-graduates. However, graduates aged 31 to 40 earn nearly double (96 per cent above) the pay of their younger counterparts. For older non-graduates, the increase is markedly less steep at only 55 per cent.

Comparative occupations

The following salaries for occupations with a creative element were reported in 2004 in Business Life⁷.

Salaries for other occupations that could be treated as possible comparators for visual artists are indicated below, selected on the grounds that some of their skills are required by artists who undertake public commissions and residencies or similar work in community settings.

We have used here a variety of sources to provide figures for the range within which it might be argued that artists’ incomes should fall. Of course, income is not the same as payment or fees for artistic work. Artists are usually self-employed and a variety of issues around the remuneration of the self-employed in general have resonance for them:

• No pension contributions from an employer

• Only self-imposed limits on hours of work

• No holiday entitlement

• Poor cover for sickness and unemployment

• Must take individual responsibility for training or professional development

• Only a proportion of a working week likely to be spent on productive activity.

Fees for creative work

Here, we highlight some sets of payments and fees commanded by self-employed individuals and small businesses offering a variety of creative work and visual images. Figures are drawn from professional organisations and trade unions and are typically based on research into actual payments that their members receive or on agreements with commissioning organisations.

Animation and broadcast drama

The Writers Guild has negotiated minimum rates with major British broadcasters to guarantee payments at starter level and for more experienced writers. For animations, the Guild carried out a survey of members and animation companies to ascertain acceptable minimum standards. The results have been incorporated into guidelines for animation writers.

Photographs, design, cartoons

The NUJ (National Union of Journalists) is a trade union with one third of its members self-employed. It produces freelance fees guides for members including those who create visual images (designers, animators, cartoonists, and photographers). NUJ day rates are based on information collected from freelance members about what they receive¹².

Recommendations for visual work from the Freelance Fees Guide 2003-4 include:

The NUJ acknowledges that some kinds of publication pay low rates. Provincial newspapers pay ‘peanuts’ and freelance members are advised not to work for them unless they can recoup costs from resale of images. Members are advised:

“try not to work for less than £150 a day”.

Landscape

Fees for landscape work are usually based upon a percentage of the cost of the job. In the past there was a mandatory fee scale but now this is just advisory. For small jobs, the fees are proportionally higher (between 15 and 20 per cent depending on complexity for projects worth £10,000) while for large jobs they are proportionally lower (between 6 and 9 per cent for jobs of £2 million and above.)

The Landscape Institute offers a classification system at four levels for different kinds of job to help determine appropriate charges. It also provides some ‘worked examples’ based on complexity and total budget. A landscape project with a total budget of £120,000 on a caravan site, for instance, should command a ‘guide fee’ of £5,352¹⁴.

Architecture

Information for prospective clients from the Royal Institute of British Architects indicates that the architect’s fees should be expressed as a percentage of the cost of construction. A sliding scale of average fees is given (with the percentage declining as the total construction cost increases). For construction projects of £500K, average fees charged are reported to range from just under 6 per cent up to 8.5 per cent. This information is based on an annual survey of architects’ fees collected between July 2002 and July 2003¹⁵.

Recommending pay rates

As indicated previously Arts Council England made recommendations on artists’ remuneration following the Year of the Artist. The subsequent Arts Council England information sheet How to Pay Artists recommended a daily rate (for residencies) of £150 per artist¹⁶. For a residency of two or more consecutive weeks of five days each, the suggested rate of pay should be based on a pro rata annual salary of £20,000. In February 2004, the information sheet was revised to £175 per day and the annual salary equivalent to £23,400¹⁷.

The Arts Council England publication From Policy to Partnership: developing the arts in schools¹⁸ contains a checklist of items to be taken into account when considering employing an artist to work in a school: fees (including time spent on planning, preparation and evaluation), fees for any commissioned work, artists’ travel and subsistence; teacher supply cover, materials and equipment, transport, presentation costs, insurance. It suggests applying to ACE regional offices to advise on an appropriate daily rate for paying artists: “This will vary, according to the experience of artists and their popularity.”

Some organisations that call on the services of artists make general statements about fair rewards in their codes of practice and policy without reference to specific figures.

Nexus (Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive), for example, “recognises that the professional status of artists should be reflected in the remuneration they expect to receive”.

The Public Art South West¹⁹ website offers advice around commissioning artists and craftspeople, including researching and selecting artists and guidance on working out a budget, although nothing specific about artists’ fees.

The Arts Council England recommendation, however, has been reiterated by some regional and local bodies. For example, Hull City Council’s City Arts Unit²⁰ has an advice document that mentions the £150 per day fee, but emphasises this is only a guide and open to negotiation, and also stresses that this is not a commission fee and is only to be used in situations such as workshops.

Advice from Artquest, providers of advice, information and support to visual and applied artists in London, draws upon the ACE recommendations. Under Rates of pay and artists’ fees on its website, self-employed artists are advised that when taking on short-term contracts of between one and five days they should offer a daily rate around £175-£300 a day. This rate decreases when the contract stretches beyond a working week up to twenty-one days. Artists should work for no less than £20 hour; artists in London should charge around 7.5 per cent on top of this²¹.

Specific advice on payment for artists working in schools was offered by Northern Artists into Schools² (Sheffield Hallam University). Artists in Schools: some guidelines for artists dated July 2000 recommended:

Rates exclude travel expenses and materials. Advice is also given on reviewing the budget for a project and making sure it is feasible, taking into account the artist’s fee (including preparation, planning, meetings, etc), travel and subsistence, materials, equipment and contingency.

Set up in 2002 as a “representative voice for the Visual arts in Scotland”²³, the Scottish Artists’ Union (SAU) website gives membership criteria and information about Scottish artists’ poor income and high unemployment. It argues that:

“There is an undeniable need for a set of National guidelines for rates of pay for short-term contract work for visual and applied artists in Scotland. The current situation is fragmented, uninformed, inconsistent and very poorly paid.”

In October 2002, SAU brought out Artists’ rates of pay: recommended national rates of pay for visual and applied artists in Scotland, as the first phase of a series of research and advocacy documents. Rates were updated in July 2004, to cover the period 2004-06. The summary of this document – freely available from the SAU website – points out that all work, ranging from planning to clearing up, should be paid for, and that travel expenses should be paid on top of recommended fees.

The following fees are specified:

Public statements relating to actual figures paid to artists are much harder to find than general exhortations to good practice. Nevertheless a selection of recommended figures, have been uncovered some based upon the widely-quoted Arts Council England sums and others more detailed and ambitious.

Figures in the public domain are typically offered by public sector bodies with experience of making payments to artists. Although since 2002 there has not been a national professional organisation for visual artists in England, a-n The Artists Information Company has over many years²⁴ taken on this representative role, by informing artists of their professional responsibilities, and advising artists and employers on good working practice. As noted above, the Scottish Artists Union has been pioneering recommended rates for artists against specific situations and experience levels.

Guidance on pricing and fees published by a-n since 2001 has focused on addressing the particular circumstances of self-employment and the associated professional costs. In February 2004, the Practical guide: pricing and fees²⁵ suggested that a self-employed artist may only anticipate a ‘working year’ of 136.2 days, once holidays and non-productive time were taken into account. This guide also listed various specific costs for the self-employed artist to take into account when calculating their overheads budget, such as pension, insurances, workspace rent, transport and professional development costs.

The following table indicates the rates per day workers in some of the occupations cited previously would need to achieve – should they become self-employed – in order to earn the equivalent of their employee salaries.

Estimated day rate equivalents for selected salaries

A full-time employee earning the national average salary for a professional (£33,852 pa) would need to command a day rate of £285 in order to maintain his/her income in self-employment.

Payments on offer to artists

Based on opportunities advertised for artists through www.a-n.co.uk and a-n Magazine in August 2004, a-n The Artist Information Company recently reported that “lead artists can command £250 a day, or more”²⁶.

A more detailed analysis of those opportunities reveals that under ‘commissions’, the overall fees and budgets on offer ranged from £1,000 to £54,000. Monetary rewards, anticipated time commitment, payment or non-payment of expenses, and extra benefits (for example accommodation) are indicated where stated in advertisements.

Selected fees offered in August 2004

Although the £250 a day rate for a lead artist represent a salary equivalent above the national average for full-time workers, it is however below the national average for professional workers. The sum of £250 as a day rate would amount to the equivalent per year of the average salary in the teaching profession. A day rate of £175 is the equivalent of the salary of a newly-appointed teacher outside London.

Influences - organisations

Representatives of organisations known to commission artists’ work and services were contacted. As there is no reliable or comprehensive list or database of such agencies, the main source used was those organisations advertising in a-n Magazine²⁷. Once contacted the staff concerned were invariably busy and often away from the office so considerable persistence was required in order to achieve interviews. Most interviewed were positive and helpful although a handful remained cautious and occasionally hostile. In addition, officers in local authorities responsible for arts and cultural policy as indicated on council websites were approached. Thus twenty interviews were conducted with individuals whose roles included selecting and appointing artists and negotiating payments and other terms and conditions with them.

Most opportunities in a-n Magazine originate from public sector agencies such as local authorities or hospital trusts. The voluntary sector is represented but the private sector rarely features. Many artistic opportunities are associated with publicly-funded initiatives to address social and environmental problems or promote community cohesion. These characteristics are reflected in the range of interviews.

- hard figures

The only guidelines cited by interviewees were Arts Council England day rates. Most mentioned the old (£150) rate and only one referred to the new (£175) rate, this despite the fact that interviews were conducted in April 2004 and the rates on the Arts Council England website had been amended in February. One interviewee accused the researcher of “joking” when she mentioned the new rate.

The Arts Council England rates tended to be treated as norms rather than minima but some higher rates were mentioned – in one case £250 was paid for an experienced artist and “worth it”. It was stated that there is a “code” that higher fees advertised means inexperienced need not apply – as these opportunities are for the more experienced. Note that even the £150 rate was not always deemed to be relevant in all cases, such as where commissioners would be appointing inexperienced / young artists (see ...experience and reputation)

Some respondents (for example those concerned with artists’ residencies) quoted a monthly rate, generally £1,000 a month (and sometimes lower if accommodation costs are paid). Interviewees handling residencies stressed other opportunities available in association with them, such as extra teaching and exhibiting.

- variables

The interviews were interrogated to discover the principles that people said underpinned the specific pay or fee levels offered to artists. The main factors are:

• How experienced the artist is, including reputation as an artist and any special artistic skill that may be required

• The length of the period of contract

• Non-artistic skills such as teaching, working with hard-to-reach groups, or project management

• The personal qualities of the artist

• The ability of the commissioning organisation to pay.

Views on the importance of having a set of principles behind levels of payment varied enormously across the interviews. One respondent expressed a positive desire for a more accountable and standardised way of paying artists. Another was adamant that standardising payment is impossible given that the experience, expertise and skills of artists are so varied:

“How do you quantify an artist’s work to a daily rate? It’s not tangible. You are paying for something more spiritual and special.”

Nevertheless, most interviewees gave indications of the variables that came into play when determining the levels of pay. Some felt that current guidance was unhelpful or vague. For example, with respect to payment of exhibition fees “I’ve had answers from the Arts Council that say definitely, yes, and definitely, no, – it’s utter confusion”. Furthermore, almost all respondents mentioned the extent to which budgets constrained their space for action.

- experience and reputation

Although most respondents relied on the (old) Arts Council England daily rate as a standard, a few made it clear that payment was ultimately discretionary and a minority did not cite any standard at all for payment. There were generally strong views that experience and reputation should command higher rates than the standard and also that special provisions should be made for those without experience. For example, one Public Arts Officer of a large city council was very clear that a flat rate should not be paid to both experienced artists and to those just out of college.

There was a widespread view amongst the respondents that well-known artists can command ‘their own rate’ but interviewees were not willing to quantify such rates. When a figure for higher rates for experience or reputation was quoted, it was at a relatively small margin above the current Arts Council England day rate. Rates of £200 “if someone is worth having”, £225, and £250 a day were mentioned. There was little spelling out of the basis for judging experience, but a proven track record or an artistic reputation was often seen as important. Length of time in artistic practice was also used as a measure: “you need to be professional to get a professional rate and that comes with experience”.

Assurance of quality is one thing that comes from using experienced artists. But whilst some suggested that there should be a sliding scale based on reputation, others were keen to stress the variability of fees or that experience opened up the possibilities of negotiation over levels of payment. Some were explicit that they had no clear guidelines on fees with respect to amount of experience: “I’m afraid not 'it’s all down to discretion really”. It should also be noted that special artistic skills could sometimes command a higher rate if they were required for a specific project. Indeed, in one newly developing area of the visual arts, it was skill rather than experience that was seen to count.

Strongly held views on the payment of inexperienced, younger artists came across from the interviews. Many expressed themselves keen to support young artists (see examples of good practice later) and three interviewees claimed that they were concerned to protect them against exploitation.

Some were clear that they used the (old) Arts Council England daily rate as a floor, so that they would not pay inexperienced artists less than £150 per day. Others, however, indicated that they expected to pay inexperienced artists lower rates. Indeed in some cases younger, less experienced artists might be paid considerably less than experienced ones. This was often justified on a number of possible grounds, for example that commissions give young artists the opportunity to get themselves known or that they are being mentored when working alongside experienced artists. “After all it’s a trade off they are getting the benefits of mentoring.”

Despite these statements, there do not seem to be any guidelines used to arrive at a rate for inexperienced artists. One respondent, however, mentioned paying as little as half the daily rate to artists who are receiving mentoring. Indeed, in a number of interviews, mention is made of newly-qualified artists working on a voluntary basis, perhaps with only travel expenses or a nominal fee being paid. There are clearly contradictions between declarations of support for artists starting out on their practice and the reality that some very low rates are being paid, albeit in a minority of cases.

- forms of payment

Payment to artists may take the form of a daily rate, a fixed fee for undertaking a particular specified contract, or a monthly salary. Generally, a daily rate is paid for a short term contract, whilst a longer piece of work is paid as a fee. Indeed for some, it is only “very small” artwork projects or workshops that are paid at a daily rate. The nature of the project can also determine the form of payment.

A fixed fee is seen as more appropriate: “if you are looking for a product rather than a process”. Thus the curator of a gallery pays fees for contributions to exhibitions, but a day rate to artists who run workshops. From the viewpoint of the commissioning body, fees have the advantage that costs do not rise if projects overrun and this limits expenses. On the other hand, a number of respondents mention that the number of days a project is expected to take is specified in the contract; this does provide some sort of basis for quantifying a rate of pay. Some respondents express concern that artists who accept fee-based contracts may actually end up underpaying themselves.

A representative of an organisation that commissions high-profile, large-scale public art informed us that fees are usually agreed on a percentage basis. He estimated that the fees are usually in the 10-15 per cent range. “There is a relationship between the fee and time involved – but then it gets complicated..... their time spent is unseen – apart from meetings.”

- non-artistic skills

We have previously examined the impact of artistic experience on fee levels. However, artists are often expected to have additional skills to undertake the work they are contracted for. Artists for example, are regularly expected to work as teachers. True, they may not be expected to have teaching qualifications, but they are expected to be able to demonstrate the skills. They are also often expected to work ‘with the community’ in ways which clearly require community work and development skills, though again, specific qualifications are not required.

Experienced artists may also be expected to mentor or lead and guide less experienced colleagues in an artistic team. Such expectations grade into requirements that artists employed on a fee basis should act as project managers, and in some cases, take overall responsibility for delivering to budget.

All these expectations of non-artistic skills appear to be taken as given: if they are required for a particular job, only the artist who possesses those additional skills will be considered for it, but there will not be a specific element of their remuneration linked to these skills. No respondents mentioned essential non-artistic skills as the basis for assessing payment levels.

- personal skills

Artists are also frequently expected to demonstrate possession of ‘soft’ personal skills in addition to specific artistic and non-arts based skills. Time and again in the interviews, the importance of a proven track-record of reliability was mentioned as the basis for giving a particular artist a piece of work.

Artists were also expected to be self-reliant/ require the minimum of supervision, to be able to work in a team (whether with other artists or other professionals, such as teachers or community workers) and to be able to communicate effectively. Again, these qualities were by-and-large not something that these commissioners saw as commanding any specific premium. However, reliability was something that was often discussed in the same breath as experience: indeed it was sometimes the proven reliability arising from experience that provided the basis for it being “well worth” paying higher rates for experienced artists.

- ability to pay

A final variable determining levels of payment to artists is what the organisation commissioning or funding the work is able to pay. Indeed, it is frequently apparent that the rate of pay or the fee are not negotiable on the basis of any other variable, because there is a given budget set aside for the project. “If we haven’t got the money, we can’t pay it” commented one forthright interviewee.

Similar sentiments were expressed time-and-again if in a less trenchant manner. There were nevertheless, an appreciable number of commissioners who raise extra funding on top of the set budget they are allocated, and one organisation indicated that they fundraise individually for every project. ‘Ability to pay’ is thus less constraining on levels of artistic reward than it might appear. Moreover, commissioners who are unable to raise additional funds clearly need to limit the number or length of projects to ensure fair levels of payment to the artists whom they recruit.

Despite the lack of flexibility deriving from set budgets, there is nevertheless some room for negotiation when it comes to the cost of artistic materials, living expenses and travel expenses.

- expenses

Materials seem generally to be paid on top of the negotiated rate for the job in any daily/monthly time based contract, though occasionally artists may be expected to provide their own materials, for example for a workshop. Where a fee is paid, this usually includes an element for materials.

Regardless of the form that payment for materials takes, it is the result of negotiation. Some commissioners emphasised that the provision of materials can prove expensive for particular media (eg a commission involving a water feature and working with interactive media). One commissioner reckoned to provide R&D (research and development) support for artists through arrangements with organisations supplying equipment. Some just accepted the artist’s estimate for materials – the amount paid is “on the advice of the artist”. Others clearly expected to drive a harder bargain, and one commissioner expressed the view that some artists could “rip you off” in negotiations. Artists “push and push to get more money, especially on the materials budget”. In contracts where materials are included within a fee, there was an awareness that inexperienced artists in particular might actually underestimate material costs and find themselves out of pocket as a result.

While it was widely accepted that materials are an expense that should be paid on top of any rate for the job, the same cannot be said of travel or accommodation costs. This is despite the fact that many artists may have to travel long distances to fulfil contracts, even having to live away from home. Only two interviewees indicated that they would pay travel expenses for artists from outside the locality as a matter of course. Almost all commissioners indicated that travel (or accommodation) is not offered up front, but that if artists push for travel costs, they may “give in” as one expressed it. It is equally possible that requests for extra payments for travel can result in the contract going to an artist who does not ask for such extras.

According to the interviews, better-known artists often ask for money on top of their fees. For example one local authority paid accommodation for a well-known artist and his family, but would not do this for everyone: “No, not really, but if you are trying to attract a high-calibre artist, then, well, you pull out all the stops”. Not merely is the payment of travel expenses highly discretionary of itself, but – if paid – the rates themselves are discretionary as well. There was an instance of ‘exceptional circumstances’ meriting payment to an artist travelling from Penzance to the north of England. However, all that was offered was “a nominal amount towards his travelling”. No respondent provided a fixed rate for travel – all who commented indicated the lack of a set rate.

Towards good practice

The interviews revealed the following examples of good practice.

• Involving contributing organisations in commissioning

Punch is a creative arts organisation that works in partnerships with other organisations that contribute to the funding of arts projects. These funding organisations also contribute to the decision-making within the commissioning process. Punch does not work in terms of a fixed budget and is more likely to design a project, decide upon a feasible budget and then search for funding. The partnership arrangement means that Punch wants to know that the reputation of the company will be protected when they recruit artists to fulfil a commission.

• Does and don’ts of matching expectations

A freelance worker, covering the maternity leave of an Arts Development Officer, advises the importance of keeping a close eye on why you are commissioning, and being clear on what kind of artists will be needed. Be sure to sort out who the client for the project is and where the money is coming from before starting the process. It is essential to provide the artist(s) with a crystal clear briefing paper, which should include expectations in terms of the nature of the project and the time limits. Effective communication makes for an effective and successful project, so that information on deadlines and amount of money available are also essentials of a good briefing.

• Project management

Sound project management practices are seen as key to avoiding problems with commissions. Projects need to be closely managed with clearly defined milestones and targets to avoid time overruns.

• Timing of payments and cash flow

Policies of fixed-stage payments throughout the project that are clearly agreed with artists before work commences appear to be best practice. However, there may be a need for some flexibility to alter such a policy to suit the cash flow needs of a particular artist, if for example state benefits/ tax credits are dependent upon the timing of payment.

• Specific help to new artists

A number of organisations had specific policies or programmes designed to meet the needs of new and/or younger artists. Some run mentoring schemes allowing less experienced artists to work alongside experienced ones. Another mentioned ‘springboard residencies’ targeted at recent graduates.

• Fees for lead artists

There is evidence from interviews and from advertisements in 2004 that lead artists are being paid day rates of £250. This puts such artists on a par with experienced workers in some professions (for example school teaching) but below the average full-time professional salary.

• Think about ‘income packages’

Payment and fees underpin income for artists, but are typically paid on the basis of a specific output, rather than time. Sometimes – as in the case of residencies –artists’ services are contracted for a specified period. Both those commissioning art or artists and artists themselves should review any fee or payment as one element of the annual income package that an artist needs to live on and to thrive.

Footnotes

¹Future forecast 2004 comprised an invited audience of UK artists, arts officers, cultural planners and other partners, and a-n Board, consultants, advisers and staff, and included a workshop run by the Newcastle University Fees and Payments researchers.

²Information on ‘going rates’ for artists undertaking residencies and similar work was first published by a-n in 1989 and regularly updated in the Rates of Pay Fact Pack until 1996. A Practical guide: Pricing and Fees was updated in February 2004 and was freely available on www.a-n.co.uk until November 2004 when it was superseded by Establishing a charge rate for a working artist by Richard Murphy.

³The Practical guide> Pricing and Fees, www.a-n.co.uk

⁴New earnings Survey, 2002-2003 www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285 [accessed July 2004]

⁵Bulman, J. 2003 ‘Patterns of Pay: Results of the 2003 New Earnings Survey’, Labour Market Trends, December, pp 601 – 612.

⁶Labour Force Survey 2001 to 2002 www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_articles/Graduate_and_non_graduate_earnings_from_the_LFS/p!eFicml [accessed July 2004]

⁷Business Life July/ August 2004

⁸www.teachers.org.uk/story.php?id=1812

⁹ Reed www.reed.co.uk/salaryCalculator.aspx [assessed July 2004]

¹⁰http://cgi.writersguild.force9.co.uk/ [accessed August 2004]

¹¹www.melkshum.co.uk/graphics2/Animation-Guidelines-1-March-2002.pdf [Accessed August 2004]

¹² All examples are from Freelance Fees Guide 2003 -4 (14th edition) published NUJ, London, 2004

¹³Baines, S. 1999 Attitudes of Freelancers to the National Union of Journalists: Results of a Qualitative Study (Report to the NUJ Freelance Industrial Council)

¹⁴www.l-i.org.uk [accessed August 2004]

¹⁵Royal Institute of British Architects 2004 A Clients Guide to Engaging an Architect, RIBA Enterprises, London.

¹⁶www.artscouncil.org.uk [accessed January 2004]

¹⁷www.aliss.org.uk/making/howtopayartists.htm [last accessed July 2004]

¹⁸www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/publications/318.pdf [accessed July 2004]

¹⁹www.publicartonline.org.uk

²⁰www.hullcc.gov.uk/cityarts/news/advice_03-06-18.php [accessed May 2004]

²¹www.artquest.org.uk/funding/index.html [accessed July 2004]

²²www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/nais/ [accessed March 2004] (Northern Artists into Schools has since closed down.)

²³www.sau.org.uk [assessed August 2004]

²⁴Information on ‘going rates’ for artists undertaking residencies and similar work was first published by a-n in 1989 and regularly updated in the Rates of Pay Fact Pack until 1996. The Practical guide: Pricing and Fees was updated in February 2004 and was freely available on www.a-n.co.uk until November 2004 when it was superseded by Establishing a charge rate for a working artist by Richard Murphy.

²⁵ibid

²⁶www.a-n.co.uk

²⁷a-n promotional material states that it promotes “over £6.6 million of work and opportunities annually to artists”, with around 20 per cent of opportunities being commissions or residencies, thus providing a practicable source for locating suitable public organisations to interview.

The writers

Susan Baines is a Senior Research Associate with ten years experience of delivering applied social research. Her work has been broadly concerned with economic restructuring and social change and she has held research grants from sponsors including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Her specific interests encompass creative labour markets and enterprises as well as the role of arts and culture in employment creation, social inclusion and regeneration.

Jane Wheelock is Professor of Socio-economics in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Research interests include household work strategies; labour markets; the domestic and informal economies; small business and the family; childcare; regional socio-economic change; gender dimensions to all these. Relations between paid and unpaid work, between the formal and the complementary economy; how people’s lives and livelihoods interact; political economy of insecurity; socio-economic approaches to institutional change.

University of Newcastle
Centre for Social and Business Informatics
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU

Susan Baines, Jane Wheelock

Susan Baines and Jane Wheelock with Judy Kohannejad and Susan Coulson, University of Newcastle.

First published: a-n.co.uk August 2004