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Who pays artists: art, value and the importance of a shared ethos

The issue of artists’ pay and exploitation in the US is prompting a variety of responses that question what it means to be an artist in the current economic climate. Abigail Satinsky, associate director at Chicago’s Threewalls gallery, surveys the landscape and asks whether we need to look at how we value and define art and artists.

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Cardiff Contemporary: big ambitions need long-term commitments

Good things are happening in Cardiff’s visual arts scene, with an energy and momentum that can be seen in the current Cardiff Contemporary festival. But, argues former Artes Mundi director Ben Borthwick, there is much that needs to be done if the biennial event – and Wales’ contemporary art scene generally – is to really fulfil its potential.

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Exhibit B and The Barbican: mono-cultural bias must be addressed

As the controversy around the staging of Brett Bailey’s Exhibit B at The Barbican reaches a climax, with the London run now cancelled due to protests from anti-racism campaigners, Index on Censorship’s associate arts producer Julia Farrington explores the issues around the presentation of this live installation.

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Folk art, fine art and the snobbery of taste

The current British Folk Art exhibition at Tate Britain provides a timely reminder of art as an expression of creativity and emotion. It is, argues Alistair Gentry, a compelling alternative to a ‘sick and twisted’ contemporary art world.

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Is it time to recognise that the art of ‘now’ is digital?

Can art be truly contemporary if it doesn’t embrace and address the digital world? After hearing strong and polarized reviews from friends, Linda Pittwood visits the Serpentine Sackler’s current digital installation by Ed Atkins and finds something genuinely original.

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NPO 2015-18: Stability welcome but more than small changes needed

Following last week’s announcement by Arts Council England of its new National Portfolio of funded organisations, Mark Robinson takes a closer look at the figures to find that, whilst the portfolio has many of the same strengths and weaknesses as the first one created in 2011, ACE has failed to significantly redress the funding imbalance between London and the regions.

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Creative Scotland Annual Plan: tentative steps towards a new reality

With less than three months to go to the Scottish independence referendum, what does Creative Scotland’s recently published Annual Plan 2014-15 say about the country’s approach to public investment in the arts? Johnny Gailey argues that it represents a significant divergence from the UK narrative of funding cuts, economic benefits and philanthropy.

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What should Arts Council England do next?

As national portfolio organisations in England wait for news on their funding applications to Arts Council England, Three Johns and Shelagh argue that the system is flawed and that it’s time to rethink both what ACE is and what it is for.

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ACE VALUE
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Cultural value: ACE report ‘overlooks evidence of arts-fuelled change’

The recently published Arts Council England report, The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society, has been attracting criticism from academics for the quality of its research and its subsequent findings. Mike White, Research Fellow in Arts in Health, is unimpressed by its ‘holistic case’ for arts and culture.

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No Boundaries 2014, York
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No Boundaries: cold facts, hard bullets and familiar territory

As part of the recent No Boundaries conference in York and Bristol, Arts Council England made two major presentations about regional investment in the arts and the ‘wider benefits’ of arts and culture to society. Chris Bailey was in York and assesses the significance of the ACE reports.

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If other professions were paid like artists...
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If other professions were paid like artists…

Why do so many artists get asked to work for free, so often? And what’s the best way for an artist to deal with these requests, and ensure they’re financially secure and their work is valued? Michelle Aldredge explores the problem and encourages ‘mindful decision-making’ as a way forward.

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The art of living dangerously
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New report explores ‘the art of living dangerously’

A new report urges those working with arts and culture to rethink their contribution to a vision of sustainable development that benefits the whole of society. Report co-author, Mark Robinson, introduces the provocation and identifies three vital ‘practices’ that can only be achieved by collaboration between artists, institutions and an intelligent funding ecology.

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Cultural value: why money isn’t everything and public support matters

The Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value has embarked on a two-year project to gather ‘evidence and arguments’ about investment and engagement in our cultural lives. We report from the first of the Commission’s ‘provocation events’ and ask why, despite a growing consensus around the importance of culture, cuts and more cuts are still the order of the day.

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We all like to partner, but some partners are better than others

Does joining with higher education institutions bring a promise of financial stability for cash-strapped arts organisations, alongside an increase in audiences? a-n Director Susan Jones reports from an Arts Council England conference that sketched out a new landscape for the contemporary arts.

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Joel Simon
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Unlimited: looking for allies to promote great work by disabled artists

Disabled artists organisation Shape and Artsadmin have been awarded £1.5million by Arts Council England to deliver Unlimited, a new three-year programme of commissions. With the launch of its Unlimited Allies scheme, it’s now looking for help and support so that the scheme can deliver a long-term legacy.

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The Arts in Austerity: artist as entrepreneur 2.0

The idea of an ‘American Model’ of arts funding is gaining traction in the UK along with growing calls for artists to be ‘entrepreneurial’. But, writes American critic and curator Andrew Horwitz, the funding system in the US is deeply problematic, while those who espouse entrepreneurship miss the point that the real ‘business of art’ is not for profit.

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River
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A Creative Scotland in waiting

A year on from the implosion of Creative Scotland and a year before the independence referendum, where do things stand at the funding body? Johnny Gailey attends a recent Open Session event in Glasgow hosted by CEO Janet Archer, and finds the organisation caught in a curious state of flux.

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