I was talking to an artist on Friday who is collaborating with another professional across the Atlantic. As you can imagine, the costs of meeting are not insignificant. Expecting she had financial support, I enquired who was funding the project. She was. Increasingly I am speaking to artists who can’t face the painful process of filling in the forms and the agonising wait. They prefer to do overtime and pay out of their own pocket.
I am fortunate that HMS is self-sufficient. Though, I am grateful for the financial contribution from the Arts Council and Tina and Sarah gave sound advice, my partner has threatened divorce if I go through the proceedure again. He says the £5000 sum received, divided by the time it took to complete the form – equals the minimum wage plus a bucket load of stress.
