Table of Contents

PRIMER brings together everything we wish wed known

when we graduated from art school
Artquest provides advice and information to Londons
professional visual artists and makers, helping you make
the most of your career
Our small, dedicated, team are all practicing artists,
curators and writers. We create new resources in response
to the needs of artists and makers
Degree shows
Surviving in London
Money
Networks
Self promotion
Your rights
Studios
International studio exchange
Residencies
Exhibiting
Untitled
About Premier
Back cover
PRIMER brings together
everything we wish wed known
when we graduated from art
school.
It covers things we think will be useful in the first year or so after
graduation: how to set up in London and not be completely
poor; how to earn money; how to find a cheap house and build a
network and get more advice. All of these taster articles link to
longer pages and listings, either on the Artquest website or our
partners.
We also want to tell you about the other University of the Arts
London resources you can use, particularly in your first few
years after graduation:
Student Enterprise & Employability (SEE)
SEE equips students and graduates with the skills to develop
any creative practice. They provide funding, advice, information
and opportunities for all creative disciplines.
Own-it
Own-it offers intellectual property advice for creative businesses
through online and face-to face seminars, workshops and
surgeries with IP lawyers.
Alumni Association
UALs Alumni Association is the largest creative network in the
world, with over 200,000 alumni and former staff in 148
countries worldwide. As a graduate, youre automatically a
member.
This is our fourth edition; building on the valuable feedback and
comments we have received. Help us to make Primer even
more useful by sending your feedback to
primer@artquest.org.uk, finding us on Facebook
(londonartquest) or Twitter (@ artquestlondon).
Artquest provides advice and
information to Londons
professional visual artists and
makers, helping you make the
most of your career.
Our website has over 1000 pages of advice, listings, articles and
opportunities for artists and makers.
The site covers every conceivable area of every conceivable
visual arts practice, including:
Visual arts materials sources
Studio spaces in and around London
Gallery listings, and advice getting an exhibition
Funding, funders, financing advice and awards
Residencies in the UK and overseas
Reference and research materials
Opportunities and deadlines listings
Printers, framers and graphics companies
Marketing and publicity advice and contacts
Legal archive and free online legal advice
Business advisory and support services
Benefits, housing and employment
How to become self-employed
International venues, residencies, advice services and
networks
Free international studio exchanges
Courses and training providers
Advice on artist rates of pay, VAT and tax
And much more
Our small, dedicated, team are
all practicing artists, curators
and writers. We create new
resources in response to the
needs of artists and makers.
Simona DellAgli
Simona is an Italian photo-artist interested in the social history
of landscapes. She completed an MA in Photographic Studies at
the University of Westminster in 2001. Simona has lived in
London since 1990.
Nick Kaplony
Nick worked as assistant curator at the Arts Gallery London,
and is Exhibitions officer at the Pump House Gallery. He is also
a practicing artist and freelance curator. Nick is a born and bred
Londoner.
Russell Martin
Russell is a graduate from The Glasgow School of Art and has
worked in gallery education, as a curator and is still a practising
artist. His self-initiated projects include peer mentoring groups
and two art project spaces. He is co-founder of an artist-led
commissioning agency. Russell has lived in London since 1998.
Richard Parry
Richard is a graduate from Goldsmiths College with a range of
experience including dealing with commercial and independent
galleries, auction houses, curators, fairs, commissions and
collectors. Richard has lived in London since 2000.
As well as our core team, Artquest works with over 60 freelance
artists every year to deliver and create our programme, making
sure its up to date and relevant to new trends in technology and
practice.
Degree shows
The lead up to your degree show is a very hectic and frequently
stressful time. Its easy to focus exclusively on making your
work and forgetting the opportunity it brings to have up to
20,000 people see your work, find out more about you, and start
to think about you as a professional artist.
Regardless of whether your aim is to sell work, make contact
with galleries or just to pass your degree, the tips below will
allow you to meet your goal professionally.
You are the gallery manager
Its your responsibility to make your space and your work look
good. Once youve been assigned your showing space, you
become a curator. Be objective and thoughtful, and use a critical
eye and input from friends to edit the work down to a tight and
concise show.
Label your work consistently with others in your space to ensure
the whole space looks professional. Nothing is worse than
putting in all that effort and then people not being able to see
who made the work.
Try to be in your space as much as possible to meet audience
members curators, prospective collectors and other artists.
Keep it clean, restock your business cards, answer questions,
make sure any moving image or technology in your work is
functioning. Whenever your show is advertised as being open,
make sure its presentable, clean and you are ready for guests.
You are the communications department
Youve made the work, now you need to tell people about it.
Having your contact information to hand is essential. Often
people will be interested in your work but go away and think
about it before committing to a purchase or exhibition offer.
You must have a business card or postcard with long term, up
to date, professional contact information on them. Dont use a
University email address that will expire once you graduate, and
dont use a cutesy email address like fuzzywuzzy@gmail.com.
Be professional. If possible add a memorable image to the card;
this will help people to remember you from the pile of cards they
have been collecting all week.
This whole experience is helping you to build a network, so keep
track of all interested parties, keep cards safe and follow leads.
Its always smart to sign people up to your mailing list rather
than counting on them to contact you. These are the people
who you will invite to your next show.
You are the sales department
The first step once youve completed the work is to price each
piece. If the work is reproducible like a film or photograph
you might think about making a small edition of it as well. If you
dont have a price it will be impossible to sell.
Be realistic as to your prices, and understand that as an
unknown artist exhibiting for the first time, your prices may be
quite low. You should also leave room to increase your prices
later on you cant drop your prices once you set them, so give
yourself room to develop a higher price the more you practice.
If you make sales you will need to invoice the buyer and create
a bill of sale to make the transaction legitimate. Find out more
about bills of sale on the Artlaw website. Be sure to add the title
of your work, the year and the edition number (if applicable) as
well as your bank details so that you can get paid directly. This
is proof of the sale agreement and is important to keep for your
records.
When you hand over the work, be sure its wrapped and labelled
properly and well protected, as it will be your responsibility if the
work is damaged.
Include as much information with the work as possible, i.e. an
artist statement and card for the collectors records.
If possible its always a good thing to do to offer to deliver the
work in person, as its another chance for you to endear yourself
to the collector and maybe even see where the work will be
hung.
TOP TIPS
Set reasonable prices for your work before your show opens.
Keep the space clean, make sure videos are turned on and
working and restock your business cards every day.
Be available, sober and friendly to everyone you speak to at
your opening: you never know who is a collector or gallerist.
Surviving in London
London is one of the most expensive cities in Europe and artists
in London earn very little from their practice recent research
by DACS shows it to be an average of 10,000 a year. How is it
possible to practice as an artist and afford rent, travel, a studio,
student debt and still have some time off?
Artists in London have devised a number of ways to earn
money, usually through a mixture of full- or part-time
employment, art school teaching, freelance work (also called
self-employment), selling artwork, public funding and other
income taken together, this is sometimes known as a portfolio
career. On the other hand, the less your outgoings are, the less
your income has to be. So tackling both your income and your
expenditure can make London a more affordable place to live
and work, as well as leaving you enough time to focus on your
practice.
The biggest expenditure for most people in London is housing.
Market level rents are usually very high, but other options exist:
social housing (such as council housing, housing associations or
housing co-operatives) makes up a good proportion of Londons
housing stock, and short-life housing can offer accommodation
even if youre not eligible for a permanent place. A full
discussion of affordable housing options in London can be found
on the Artquest website.
Some benefits are available to people in part- time work or self-
employment under certain circumstances, and a benefit
payment is available when moving from unemployment to self-
employment as well. Your local JobCentre Plus can tell you
more, or visit the Gov website.
Finding a job, particularly in this economic climate, can be very
hard. There are a number of general employment resources,
but two useful arts-related sites are ArtsJobs and Creative
Opportunities.
Of course, living frugally in London isnt something only artists
have to worry about. The excellent Money Saving Expert
website has a huge number of tips about bills, debt, credit
cards, utilities and consumer bargains, and includes a free
weekly email newsletter. Your local Citizens Advice Bureau can
advise you on benefits and your consumer rights, and help you
find a way to manage debt.
TOP TIPS
Cut your outgoings.
Find the cheapest way to have a roof over yourhead.
Register for self-employment now, before you start earning
money and need to send an invoice.
Money
Dont be ashamed of having a day job not related to your
practice: an overwhelming majority of artists make money
outside of their practice to help pay their rent and bills; whether
through teaching, technician work at galleries, or jobs unrelated
to the arts.
Finding a job that combines the flexibility an artist or maker
needs for their practice, as well as providing enough income to
pay the rent and bills, is difficult but not impossible. By finding
other ways to earn money or cut expenditure you can support
your practice without selling out.
There are three main ways any creative professional can get
money, and all are useful for specific types of projects or
circumstances:
1. Ask apply for funding, ask for sponsorship or support in-
kind
2. Earn sell work or skills, or find a job
3. Borrow ask for money and pay it back over time
Our extensive online resources can help you understand the
economic pressures and opportunities artists face today.
Most artists have a variety of ways to make money
often called a portfolio career including part- time work,
self-employment, public and private funding, commissions,
sales, licensing and other income. Different kinds of practice
lend themselves to different methods; for example a
photographer may be able to license images to greetings card
manufacturers or make money taking portraits, or a jeweller
developing a new line of work might get a bank loan to repay
through sales of the final product.
Getting a Job
Some artists have jobs that are related to their practice or the
visual arts to earn money, for example teaching courses and
workshops, working as arts administrators and gallery
technicians or curating exhibitions. Others are happy to work
unrelated to their art, but retain the flexibility of money and time
to continue producing and showing work: artists also design
websites, work in bars and are even barbers. Consider the kind
of work you want, and dont feel limited to having all of your
earning potential in the arts sector: choose an approach you are
happy with.
For jobs listings, check the Creative Opportunities website, run
by Students Enterprise & Employability, which provides
hundreds of paid job vacancies and work placements to
University of the Arts London students and graduates.
You might also find the ArtsJobs and ArtsHub sites useful.
The Artquest website also has useful information on how to
become self-employed, including how you pay tax.
Artist fees
Professional artists are paid when they sell their work, but also
for their time when they work on commissions, education
workshops or residencies and you will need to calculate a rate of
pay for this kind of work. This can be difficult to quantify, and
depends on the type of work you are going to do, the
organisation you will work with, the overall budget for the project
and your previous experience. Our online tools help you think
through this process, and you can ask your peers and other
artists what they charge for different things for a comparison.
Commissions
A commission is an agreement between you and another party
be it a public body, local council, private individual, gallery,
company or anyone else to create a piece of work. The
commissioner does not necessarily own the commissioned
work, nor do they automatically own the copyright all of these
details must be negotiated in advance and formalised into a
contract.
For a good overview of the issues involved in commissions, read
our online resources before embarking in either a public or a
private commission:
Private Commissions and the Law
Public Commissions
Remember that a commission may involve some compromise to
your practice after all, the commissioner wants a specific kind
of work that they have paid for, not just any piece of your work.
It is important to negotiate exactly what is expected, when
payments occur and who owns the final work which may
require an additional fee to be paid.
Wherever the work is shown, you still have the moral right to be
mentioned as the author of the piece and for the work to be
presented in such a way as to not damage your reputation.
Listen to Susanna Heron on Artlaw TV, talk about the
relationship with commissioners for her large scale, site-specific
work.
Pricing and selling work
There are a number of ways to try to sell your work, from
working with commercial galleries to approaching corporate art
collections or producing work for different wallets, such as
editions sold at cheaper prices. Even before graduating you
need to decide how much you will want to sell your work for.
Your prices have to be reasonable, comparable to artists with
your experience and need to reflect the materials and skills used
in producing the work.
There are a number of formulas and systems which may be of
help when pricing your work; such as comparing prices of your
peers, and how to increase prices once you get some shows or
sales.
Artquest also hosts a number of online films produced by Own-it
that explain how to sell at trade shows and how to build a
website to sell online.
Preparing a budget
Everyone has a slightly different situation when it comes to his
or her expenses, earnings and potential to turn a profit. A good
first step is to understand exactly how much you spend and
earn by drawing up a budget for your earnings and expenditure.
When you apply for funding or grants, you will frequently be
asked for a project budget. This is different from your general
budget, and should only include the expenses you need to
produce (or sell) your art. List costs for all the materials, printing
or mounting costs, studio rent, or stand hire for craft fairs and
so forth: how much do you have to spend before you can earn
money from your art?
Funding & Sponsorship
The main provider of public funding for the visual arts in England
is Arts Council England, who receive their funding from the UK
Government through the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport. There are a number of aims that publicly funded projects
have to fulfil which change periodically depending on
Government policies and priorities.
Arts Council Englands only funding programme for individuals is
Grants for the Arts, a catch-all scheme designed to fund any
arts projects in England.
Grants for the Arts applications are expected to include a fee for
artists and other people involved, so you should earn money for
doing the project you want to.
Your application will be more likely to succeed if you have
another source of income for the project (match funding) - this
might be other funding or a contribution you make yourself.
As well as Arts Council England, you can apply to a huge range
of charities and grant-awarding foundations. They sometimes
aim their funding only at organisations (such as charities), or for
specific types of activity or person (regardless of the art project
involved). Read our tips on writing applications, and browse the
comprehensive list of charities and what they fund on the
Guidestar website.
Crowdfunding
A new form of fundraising, crowdfunding allows you to get small
donations from a large number of people instead of large
amounts from a few bigger funders. Platforms such as
Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and SponsuMe let you propose a project
and canvass for donations through social networking and your
own network. If your campaign is successful the site takes a
small cut for administering the project donations, and you keep
the rest of the money.
Other resources
As well as Artquest, these other projects can help you make a
living:
SEE can help you make the most of your creative business
idea. Their SEED Fund offers up to 5,000 to support your
creative project or business.
University of the Arts London graduates of up to 2 years can
find employment on ArtsTemps - an in-house temping agency
for current students and recent graduates to work at UAL.
Own-it can help you with licensing and making money from
your intellectual property
TOP TIPS
Make a budget to know exactly how much you spend to create
your art.
Reduce your outgoings as much as possible to avoid having to
earn more money
Think about assets you have that might be exploited to earn
some money
Be prepared to negotiate and talk about money with employers
and other artists. Dont be shy!
Networks
A professional network is one of the most important and
valuable resources you have. Your network is your best
resource to help you find a job, spread the word about your
projects, help you understand how the art world works, get
feedback on your practice, and to celebrate and commiserate
down the pub.
Naturally, these relationships have to be reciprocal: be generous
towards your peers with knowledge and information.
Your network is made up of other artists, colleagues in non-art
jobs, curators, writers, ex tutors, friends, arts professionals and
collectors.
Listen to Nick Kaplony and Melanie Stidolph talking about the
importance of networks and how to build them.
Networks are vital for every aspect of your career: Making new
work
Other artists will have the technical skills you lack to realise a
piece of work, and you can trade your skills too.
Artists will also know from experience about good framers,
material suppliers or shipping companies, and share this
practical information with each other.
Exhibiting work
A good relationship with a gallerist or curator, or a
recommendation from an artist that they already know, is more
likely to lead to an exhibition.
Selling work
People often buy work from artists whose previous practice they
know. Collectors are more likely to buy further work from you if
you maintain a relationship with them and tell them when you
have exhibitions.
Own Art and Axis created a series of film exporing the
motivations of art collectors - required watching for any artist
interested in selling their work.
Developing work
In college you rely on conversations with tutors and fellow
students to develop your ideas and solve problems around your
work. Outside of college, maintaining your relationships allows
these useful conversations to continue.
Promoting work
In the arts, word of mouth and personal recommendation carry
a huge influence. Your network acts as a kind of public relations
machine, and word about you will spread fast whether this is
good or bad!
Start now
Youve already started building your network - your tutors and
peers in college can still provide mutual support after you leave.
Make sure you keep in touch with everyone to maintain those
crucial first links.
You also can broaden your professional network by working at
an art gallery or as an artists studio assistant, and keeping in
touch with your new colleagues.
Another valuable source for your network is the University of the
Arts London Alumni Association. With over 200,000 former
students and staff in 148 countries, you have access to an
enormous, ready made network that can help you wherever you
end up.
You can also maintain and extend your networks by setting up a
peer-mentoring group. This is a group of like-minded artists who
meet regularly to discuss your work and support your practice -
combining the support and critical feedback of a group crit with
a chance to learn from the practical experience of other artists.
TOP TIPS
Be friendly to everyone - you never know where or when you
might meet someone again.
Keep in touch with people regularly, but dont send too many
messages just about your work.
Consider setting up your own peer mentoring group for
practical and critical support.

Self promotion
Self promotion is sometimes frowned upon as spin or blowing
your own trumpet, but every artist needs to make sure their
audience knows who they are, what theyre doing and how they
can get more information about them. Through self promotion
your shows will get visitors, you can develop your networks and
build relationships with galleries. It would be a waste of time to
create amazing works of art that just sit in your studio without
anyone seeing them, and self promotion ensures you can build
a following and a reputation.
Speaking in the simplest of terms, when promoting your work
you have 2 aims:
1) Letting your existing audience know of developments in your
practice.
2) Making new audiences aware of your work.
There are a number of tools that you can use to raise
awareness about your practice:
Business cards
Ideal at private views and gallery openings, business cards are
an easy way of exchanging contact details. They dont have to
be expensive or corporate- looking. Many artists include an
image of their work on one side to personalise their cards and
make them more memorable. Include your name, a contact
number, email address, website and your Twitter name - if you
have an account.
Website
Buyers, curators and fellow artists inevitably turn to Google
when initially researching an artist, so make sure you have a
website and you keep it up to date. Websites are increasingly
affordable, with many DIY design packages available to create a
simple and effective online presence.
A website will:
Increase your visibility, making you and your work easier to
find
Increase your audience
Help sell your work, depending on your practice
Be a useful tool for applying for opportunities by allowing you
to email applications and refer to your website
The layout and presentation of your website should be
appropriate to your work, to best represent it within the
limitations of the internet. Consider appropriate documentation
of your work, backed up with information on the rest of your
career, such as:
Well-photographed images of your work, or short film clips
Installation shots of exhibitions and projects
Artist statement
Artist CV or short biography
Contact details, or details of the gallery that represents your
work
Scans of press articles or reviews
A news section, with information about upcoming exhibitions
and projects
An online shop or details on how people can purchase your
work
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
An artist CV is different from a normal job CV, since only the
experience you have directly related to the arts is relevant. A CV
is basically a list of your skills and experience including
exhibitions, education, residencies, relevant employment and
funding.
Your CV should be individually tailored to the opportunity you
are applying for, and usually be no longer than two A4 sheets of
paper. For what to include in your artist CV, visit the Artquest
website.
Social Networks
Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites can be
valuable tools to reach a wide audience, if used well. Make sure
you have the time to take on this task before you begin. See our
advice on social networks and mailing lists online.
Your email newsletter
You can send updates to your network, like current projects and
news, via a well-designed email newsletter. Make sure people
know youve added them to your list, and let them opt-out if they
want to. Be polite - first impressions count.
TOP TIPS
Make a website that shows your work well.
Use social networks to join conversations and build an
audience
Have a master CV with everything youve ever done, and edit
it for individual applications.
Your rights
Artists and makers have specific and well- established legal
rights, as well as general protection under law on issues like
employment or getting paid. The rights mentioned in this section
are all explained in our free online legal pages, Artlaw.
Contracts
In pretty much any professional situation whether working,
getting a commission, selling some work, getting a studio,
collaborating with other artists, being represented by a gallery,
licensing images of your work its essential that you get
whatever youve agreed in writing. A contract (call it a letter of
agreement if you dont like the legal terminology) is simply a
written record of what youre going to do, what the other party is
going to do, and anything important that should happen along
the way like getting paid or finishing a job and when this
should happen. Without something written down even an
email exchange you have no proof for what youve agreed and
therefore no way to hold the other party to their side of the
bargain.
Any contract is the result of negotiation you dont have to
accept whatever youre offered and can talk about the terms
and conditions in any job or project. Be prepared to talk about
money if its not been mentioned, bring it up yourself and youll
look more professional as well.
If there is no fee, you can decide if you still want to be involved.
See the Artlaw Contracts section for information on a huge
range of contracts, including some horror stories of what can
happen without them!
Copyright
Copyright protects your original artwork and the work of others
from being copied without permission. There are some
exceptions to this, notably performance and live art, which can
be protected in different ways.
Copyright lasts for your whole life plus 70 years so only work
made by people who died before1943 is not protected by
copyright.
It is an automatic right copyright is not registered, as any
original work is automatically protected.
Trademarks and designs, however, should be registered to
protect them.
Copyright is legally enforceable throughout the world, in pretty
much every country and in pretty much the same way.
You cannot hold copyright over an idea, only over how you
make something out of an idea so, for example, the copyright
of your painting about global warming is not necessarily
infringed by another painting about global warming.
Remember: it is possible for people to have the same idea even
if they havent met or seen each others work.
You keep the copyright of your work, even after you have sold
it, unless you sign a contract selling this right. Never, ever sell
your copyright, but consider licensing your work to others to
make use of, for a fee. For more information on licensing, see
the DACS - the Design and Artists Copyright Society and
Own-it sites.
You could even become a member of DACS to take advantage
of their annual Payback service. Every year, DACS collects and
distributes millions of pounds of royalties to visual artists and
craftspeople through this scheme, whose work has been
reproduced in UK books, magazines or on TV - 3 million in
2012.
For full information on copyright, whats covered and whats not,
see the Artquest website.
As a worker you also have rights. In the last 2 years there has
been a lot of discussion on unpaid internships within the creative
industries. Artquest has information on this topic, such as what
makes a worker and what the law says, to help you make up
your mind should you think about applying to an unpaid
internship.
Lucklily more organisations are offering internships that are paid
at least the national minimum wage, make sure to check and
dont let the word internship put you off.
TOP TIPS
By far, the questions were most often asked at Artquest come
from artists who dont know their rights and get into problems
with contracts and copyright. If you learn nothing else, learn
these basics.
The best legal protection is a good contract before you do any
piece of work. Decide your basic terms and conditions and, of
youre not offered a contract, write one yourself.
Learn what are your rights before you agree to do an internship.
Studios
For many artists, the first task on graduating seems obvious:
get a studio and continue to make work. But studios can be
expensive and for some kinds of practice, might not be the
most important place to begin.
If you do need a studio, its a good idea to apply as early as
possible for a place. The bigger subsidised studio organisations
like ACAVA, Space, Acme, Cockpit Arts and the like tend to
have very long waiting lists, sometimes two or more years. Even
the smaller studio spaces like Dalston Underground Studios,
Lewisham Arthouse or Mother Studios can require a long wait
before you get a space.
Many established studio organisations offer studio residencies
for new graduates - keep an eye on Artquests opportunities
pages for news.
You can sometimes find a shared studio space or sublet by:
finding a studio building youre interested in, and putting an
advert on their noticeboard if they have one
reading the free ArtsAdmin e-bulletin
searching Studio Finder
Before you can choose a studio, you should consider what
specialist resources you might need, and research thoroughly to
make sure they can provide them. An affordable studio space
usually means between 30-80% of market rent which in
London can still be quite high. Make sure you can afford a
studio before you take it on, or agree with friends to share the
space and the costs.
One thing people expect a studio to provide is contact with other
artists, but this is not necessarily the case. Many people we
speak to through Artquest tell us that, even though they have a
studio they dont see another artist for weeks, if at all. If
feedback on your work is important to you, consider setting up
an peer mentoring group either with your studio colleagues or
people from your own network.
TOP TIP
For better exposure, take part in any open studio opportunities
you can.
International studio exchange
Exchange your studio and meet
artists around the corner or
around the world with Artelier.
Artelier is Artquests free studio and apartment exchange
website, allowing visual artists at any stage in their careers a
chance to visit artists around the world and expand their
practice with foreign travel. An antidote to the competitive
international residency network, Artelier provides an accessible
alternative for artists who want to travel overseas in their own
time and within their own resources.
As an invitation-only network, Artelier only contains profiles and
contacts for professional visual artists. Request an invitation and
join today.
Artelier includes:
Profiles for more than 500 artists around the world.
A local networking area, allowing you to find artists living and
working near you.
A secure and safe network to find collaborators, exchange
partners and friends.
Get invited on to our network and you could end up in India,
Australia, Canada, Indonesia or America; or you might opt for
Liverpool, Glasgow, Cornwall or York.
Use Artelier with our online international guides to art scenes
around the world to have a better understanding of the country
you are travelling to.
Residencies
During a residency, an artist spends a period of time developing
their practice. Residencies might be invited (i.e., an organisation
selects an artist themselves), or selected (through an open
application procedure).
As the term suggests, artists often take residence in a
specifically provided studio (and sometimes accommodation) for
a fixed period to develop their work, but residencies might also
be offered by schools, museums, universities or foundations
that may not be able to provide a studio space.
At their very best, a residency might provide a free studio,
accommodation and living and materials allowances, so that the
artists are relieved of day to day pressures of life and can spend
the residency period pushing forward with their practice
uninterrupted. At the other end, some residency programmes
charge artists for participating in them.
Furthermore, depending on the host organisation and its goals,
resident artists may be expected to meet certain commitments
in return: such as putting on an exhibition, running community
workshops, making presentations, engaging with the staff or
public, or donating a piece of work made during the residency
period.
The important thing to remember is that there are almost as
many different kinds of residencies as there are residency
opportunities, and its important to check exactly what a
residency award provides, and expects, before you apply. Dont
assume that a residency will provide what you expect, and as
usual do your own research and decide if it is right for you.
Benefits of residencies
a period of uninterrupted time on your practice
financial support
new space to make work
professional development support
networks
exposure to new audiences
access to specialist knowledge or equipment
the opportunity to travel
Residencies are highly sought after opportunities, and many
artists sustain their entire practice and careers by undertaking
them regularly.
Finding Residencies
There are many sources of information on the hundreds of
different residencies available and where to find them. Artquest
has a section on national and international residencies as well
as residency listings according to country, and list forthcoming
deadlines. There is also a longer overview of residencies,
including interviews with artists who have taken part in them.
Useful sources for international residencies also include Res
Artis and Trans Artists.
One useful UK scheme, Artists Access to Art Colleges, provides
studio space and access to facilities in art Universities for 6
months every September, and in return expects some teaching
time a useful way to build experience of teaching.
TOP TIPS
Research each residency you are interested in and make sure
it offers the right resources, support and facilities that you need.
Residencies are usually about experience - consider recording
your thoughts in a blog to tell your existing audience about your
progress.
Exhibiting
Every month, Artquest lists over 50 opportunities for artists -
everything from deadlines for awards, exhibitions, residencies
and conference papers to commissions, mentoring, training,
fellowships and journal submissions.
One of the main measures of an artists career development is
through exhibitions, whether in galleries, by completing public
commissions, organising their own shows, or other projects.
It is important to be aware of the ways different type of galleries
operate, so you understand how they programme exhibitions.
Listen to Rosalind Davis of ZeitgeistArtProjects talking about
ways to show your work.
Artist-led galleries
Set up by artists to program their own choice of exhibitions,
these spaces might exhibit artists from a particular network of
friends and colleagues, accept open applications or only select
artists to exhibit. You should contact them before sending a
proposal to make sure it can be considered.
They are often self-funded out of the artist- members own
pocket, or might have very limited public funding, or no money
at all. Dont assume that these galleries will be able to fund your
exhibition. In fact, you may need to find money or work at the
gallery to make your exhibition happen.
Increasingly, some spaces charge exhibitors a hire fee. Think
carefully before doing a show in a hire venue your art-world
audience knows which galleries accept any proposal for a fee,
and without endorsement by an independent curator your
exhibition may not be critically accepted.
These galleries tend to work with artists only on one exhibition
and are unlikely to represent you or try actively to sell your
work.
Instead of money or sales, artist-led spaces tend to offer
exposure to a wider network and validation amongst other
artists, helping you build your reputation and find more exhibition
opportunities.
You can also learn how to set up your own artist led space.
Public Galleries
Public galleries come in many shapes and sizes and, like artist-
led spaces, are hard to generalise. They are often regularly
funded through grants from Arts Council England, trusts and
charities, with some private donors as well, and tend to show
the work of more established artists, usually only by invitation.
They all have limited resources and usually have to fundraise to
make exhibitions happen sometimes, an Arts Council England
regular grant will pay for staffing and building costs only, with
programme funding found from other sources. Consequently,
they have to plan one or two years in advance to apply for and
secure funding.
They are publicly accountable because of their state funding,
and have to demonstrate some benefit for the shows they put
on.
Commercial Galleries
Commercial galleries are for-profit companies set up to make
money by selling art. They may represent individual artists and
help nurture their career, or they might simply pass on money
when a sale occurs.
These galleries make money by taking a commission of the
selling price: which can initially be 40% or 50% although there is
no set starting commission.
They may also financially support the costs of making new work
depending on your relationship with them, and will have
contractual agreements with artists they represent.
On Artquest you can watch a video with a gallerist explaining
what to expect from a gallery, plus and article on how artists
work with commercial galleries.
How to get an exhibition
Building a trusting, professional relationship with galleries and
curators is vital for getting exhibitions. Often a director or
curator will follow an artists career for some time - possibly
years - before finding an exhibition they can include them in.
Most galleries do not accept unsolicited submissions, and
sending them an email or even printed work will not get you very
far. A good way to be seen is by applying to selected open
subsmissions shows and prizes such as Bloomberg New
Contemporaries, Matt Roberts Salon and the various Jerwood
Awards.
Gallery directors and curators spend a lot of time looking at
applications and visiting exhibitions - this is the most important
part of their job. Try build a relationship with them by inviting
them to your events and exhibitions.
Get it in writing
If you are offered an exhibitio always have an agreement in
writing outlining your roles, responsibilities and expectations
relating to the exhibition or project. Remember that every
agreement and relationship will be different and open to
negotiation, and be prepared to compromise where you can.
Curators
Curators organise, select and programme exhibitions, and can
work in a variety of ways. Some are employed by institutions
directly, and are responsible for their programme, and some are
independent and build their own relationships with galleries and
initiate their own exhibitions. Freelance curators (i.e., curators
who work for a number of galleries as self-employed workers)
are a vital contact for artists and makers to get exhibitions, and
you should have some idea of how to meet them.
TOP TIPS
Research a gallery carefully and ensure your work is
appropriate to the space and themes they exhibit
Be selective when applying to open exhibitions, commisisons
and prizes. Make sure to check their Terms & Conditions before
you submit your work
More help and events
Continuous professional development (known in arts jargon also
as CPD, APD or PPD) simply means that you never stop
learning and acquiring new skills. It might be that your preferred
art medium requires learning new programmes or techniques; or
it might mean that you occasionally want to take part in talks
and short courses to brush up in your networking techniques.
To keep up-to-date with Artquest events Join our mailing list or
follow us on Twitter or Facebook .
Our Self Assembly talks programme has been running for 4
years and focusses on the practical side of an artists career.
Such as pricing your work, getting funding, promoting yourself
and using social networks. All of the talks are audio recorded
and you can listen again online.
Our Real World series, hosted by Whitechapel Art Gallery,
focuses on the more critical aspects of practice like sustaining a
practice without a public profile, working collaboratively,
developing a socially engaged practice and the relationships
between curators and artists. Audio of the past talks is also
online.
Artists looking to develop a network and get feedback on their
work could join in a regular Convenor by Q-Art London. An
artist-led initiative by Sarah Rowles, Q-Art also publishes books,
organises gallery visits and promotes exhibitions by members.
ZeitgeistArtsProjects is a new artist-led programme by Rosalind
Davies and Annabel Tilley and will be continuing the work they
started with DIY Educate series of talks.
Seminars cost around 10.
SPACE Studios run regular software training courses on
InDesign, Photoshop, website building and design etc, each
priced at around 100 per course.
Every two years the international art world goes to Venice for
the Venice Biennale, the oldest and most prestigious city-wide
art exhibition in the world. Its one of the best opportunities to
schmooze with the art world glitterati and crash swanky parties.
Even quite high-profile members of the art world will spend the
opening week at the start of June sleeping on friends floors as
hotel rooms book up, and many events and exhibitions across
town are open to anyone.
A number of public gallery talks programmes are useful for
meeting new people and keeping up to date on the latest
currents in contemporary art. Check their websites regularly or
subscribe to their newsletters.
About PRIMER
PRIMER was written and designed by Artquest, with much of
the material taken from the Artquest website.
Artquest is supported by Arts Council England and University of
the Arts London

All material in this publication copyright Artquest 2013.
No reproduction or selling without permission.