Placements for early-career artists from under-represented backgrounds to work as paid studio assistants for more established artists

Two people working together in an art gallery

Assist provided up to £3,700 and support for established artists to employ early-career artists. The project ended in March 2020.

Assist was a pilot project to connect studio assistants with artists who needed support at a key moment in their practice. Artquest supported three artists to employ an assistant with both money and management expertise.

Participants were:

About the pilot

Artquest funded £3,700 per assistant, equivalent to 80% of their fees, for artists working as studio assistants to work up to 48 days over a period of six months. The artists employing the assistants contributed the remainder of the fees.

This project was intended to support artist-assistants from working class and / or global majority backgrounds to sustain a career in the arts. It also aimed to support artists with a minimum of ten years’ practice at a transformative moment in their practice.

What counted as a transformative moment in the employing artist’s career?

Assist intended to support artists at a ‘transformative stage in their career’, such as:

  • receiving a major commission,
  • a first solo exhibition at a publicly-funded gallery, or
  • another large-scale project outside their previous experience.

Such an opportunity will be likely to come with a budget – either one the artist has applied for, or from a commissioner / gallery. The project required a contribution to help support assistant fees, ensuring artist committment.

A ‘transformative stage’ could also be another kind of major life-changing episode, such as in their health or caring responsibilities. In exceptional circumstances Artquest paid 100% of the assistant fee.

How was Assist developed?

Artquest developed Assist through 18 months of research, focus groups and reflecting on our own project management experience. As we found no similar project during this research period, and there were no models for us to emulate, Assist came with a real risk of failure. Artists had to be flexible, work with us collaboratively, and feed back to us about how the project is progressing in an open manner: all while working on their own project.

What did you learn from Assist?

Due to the COVID-19 lockdown just as evaluation was being prepared, and the need to refocus our resources on emergency support projects, the final report has been delayed.

Life and other programmes have taken us further away from the pilot, but we still intend to publish findings from this programme when possible. We are also happy to talk with other organisations planning similar projects to share our learning. Our focus on this research will be on:

  • the needs of artists at a transformative moment in their careers,
  • understanding of alternative, non-academic routes into the arts,
  • the support required, barriers experienced by, and ambitions of artists under-represented in the art world.

Why was this project needed?

Research in support of the pilot included a literature review, interviews with artists who employ and work as studio assistants, and a review of job listing opportunities.

The arts workforce, particularly in London, fails to reflect the capital’s social and cultural diversity.

The 2018 report, Panic! It’s an Arts Emergency, highlighted that:

  • only 4.8% of the music, performing and visual arts workforce were from minority ethnic backgrounds (who make up 40% of the London population) and
  • 18.2% were from working class backgrounds (around 22% of the UK population).
  • A lack of defined, paid roles and alternative routes into the sector contributes to this situation
  • Artists who work as an artist-assistant can earn an income while learning more about how the art world operates and build new networks.

Our research found basically no guidance on working as, or employing, an assistant. Such appointments tend to be from an artist’s immediate social network. There is no single definition of what an artist-assistant does, and wide variation in pay and conditions.

Artists report needing extra help at a transformative stage in their career, such as receiving a major commission, a first solo exhibition at a publicly-funded gallery, or another large-scale project outside their previous experience. Assistants are often recruited through word-of-mouth, compounding the lack of sector diversity and development opportunities for a broader workforce; artists struggle to understand how to employ people legally, ethically and responsibly, perpetuating poor practices.