Practical Guides - a-n The Artists Information Company

Resource Guide

How to deal with VAT on sales

When selling work through a gallery, how does an artist deal with VAT on sales commission? This guide by financial services experts Counterculture and VAT advisory service SOC VAT explains the two principle methods.

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Resource Guide

Budgets

A budget is an essential tool for any artist planning a new project, making a funding application or drawing up a business plan, while a-n’s Exhibition Payment Guide asks artists to provide a clear exhibition proposal and budget in advance of negotiation. This guide by the Cultural Enterprise Office in Glasgow offers straightforward advice on how to construct and manage a simple budget.

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Resource Guide

Quick guide to proposals

a-n’s Exhibition Payment Guide says artists should make sure they provide clear evidence of their work and experience when approaching a gallery with a proposal. This quick guide offers advice on the main areas to consider when developing a proposal, and includes tips on what to include when responding to an approach from a gallery or making a speculative pitch.

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Resource Guide

Assessing opportunities

Artists and advisers identify key questions to ask to help sift the good opportunities from the mediocre, and the downright mendacious.

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Resource Guide

Artist commissions outside of the gallery

Contemporary Arts Programme Manager at the National Trust Grace Davies explores the benefits to non-arts organisations of commissioning artists outside of traditional gallery spaces, and offers some top tips for artists to consider when making an application.

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Resource Guide

Making a residency proposal to a non-arts organisation

Hannah Pierce, who has held curatorial and programming roles with organisations including The National Trust and Jerwood Visual Arts, offers advice and explores the key issues to consider when applying for a residency with non-arts organisations.

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Resource Guide

A guide for new curators 

Juan Bolivar, an artist and curator, explores the history and practice of curating, and provides ten key questions for independent curators and artists to help guide you in developing your first exhibitions. Bolivar’s painting practice runs parallel to his curating practice; first initiating TRAILER (2001-05) – an artist collective utilising temporary locations to stage exhibitions – and since, going on to curate over 40 exhibitions as an independent curator.

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Resource Guide

Funding your work: crowdfunding and patronage platforms

Hen Norton explores the use of fundraising platforms online and offers her top ten tips to help you build a sustainable creative business or project, and reach a wider and more engaged network of supporters through crowdfunding. 

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Resource Guide

Quick guide to exhibition agreement

a-n/AIR’s Exhibition Payment Guide calls for written confirmation of exhibition and financial details in the form of a contract or letter of agreement. This quick guide offers 12 key points an agreement should cover.

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Resource Guide

Quick guide to negotiation

Negotiation is one of the four core principles of a-n/AIR’s Exhibition Payment Guide. This quick guide offers 10 tips for better negotiation.

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Resource Guide

Exhibition Payment: Paying Artists

Sectoral guidance and framework, produced by a-n and AIR as an outcome of the Paying Artists Campaign, providing specific advice on payments within the context of exhibitions or other visual arts presentation to the public.

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Resource Guide

Exhibition contract checklist

A best practice reference guide to use when creating an agreement for a solo or group exhibition with a gallery or organisation presenting visual arts. You can also use the a-n Contracts Toolkit to build a contract to the specific exhibition context, and this checklist will support you with this.

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Resource Guide

Proposals: exhibitions in galleries

Proactively seeking out opportunities to realise exhibitions and projects is an important strategy in the arts. Adam Smythe, Curator at the Bluecoat in Liverpool, gives some advice on the best methods of approaching galleries with exhibition proposals for your own work or for curatorial projects.

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Resource Guide

Approaching galleries

Jennie Syson offers some advice on approaching galleries, through setting out the different research routes and methods you might use.

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Resource Guide

Quick guide to using a-n Blogs

a-n Blogs is a great place to share the process of your practice or the progress of a residency or project you’re working on. We’ve pulled together a few tips on blogging on www.a-n.co.uk to help you get started.

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Resource Guide

Disability arts as practice

Colin Hambrook provides an introduction to the history of, and current practices in the field of disability arts, including an overview of key organisations that support disabled visual artists.

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Resource Guide

Transparency template

Guidance for organisations on how to shape policy statements on Exhibition Payment. Produced in support of a-n/AIR’s Exhibition Payment Guide, which calls for organisations to be transparent in their working practices with artists by publishing clear and transparent payment information.

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