Led by Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) – a New York-based activist group that focuses on regulating the payment of artist fees by non-profit art institutions – a cross-disciplinary group from the fields of labour, sociology, economy, law, and arts administration have come together to write a new policy document. The resulting policy could see major changes to the way artists are paid for putting on exhibitions in public spaces and museums in New York City.
The W.A.G.E. Certification will be presented to non-profit arts organisations and museums that voluntarily adhere to a best practice model. The primary focus of this is artists’ fees in relation to the conditions under which artists are involved in their programmes.
The group, who conclude their two-day meeting today, are developing W.A.G.E.’s current set of core principles into a comprehensive policy. A statement on the W.A.G.E. website states the aim is to produce a “regulatory tool that will be used to ensure – in no uncertain terms – not only that artists and cultural producers are compensated fairly, but also that equity operates on multiple levels of a W.A.G.E. Certified organisation.”
Using New York gallery Artists Space as a test case of good practice, the group will negotiate the terms of Certification by looking closely at the organisation’s institutional structure and budget. They will then consider the conditions under which it operates, and question the mechanisms it uses to determine the organisation, valuation, and compensation of labour.
The summit marks the conclusion of W.A.G.E.’s Research Partnership with Artists Space and the beginning of their effort to Certify non-profits in New York City. With numerous international artists’ groups including AIR currently conducting research into artists’ fees and good practice in paying artists, the success of W.A.G.E. Certification have wide-reaching significance.
More on www.a-n.co.uk:
Full Paying Artists Research published – How do artists fare when they show work in publicly-funded galleries in the UK?
Fees and payments – a-n News search tag highligthing the Paying Artists research and campaign and more.
