Grant funding for artists

Grant funding is a well known type of funding for artists. It is a competitive field, attracting more demand than there is funding available. Our research with visual artists revealed that many artists are making unsuccessful…

Almanack

Online articles drawing together the art world with wider social, economic and cultural issues The Artquest Almanack (2018 2020) was an online journal that drew together the art world with wider social, economic and cultural issues, setting the arts…

Dire Straits: in the gallery

Although great strength and power can be drawn from legal information and knowledge, the processes of applying and using the law are often regarded as too cumbersome, complex and costly to be of any real…

London Centre for Book Arts: a case study

Simon Goode is an artist who set up his own centre and workshop dedicated to book arts in 2012. Here he charts the journey of the London Centre for Book Arts, concentrating…

Constitutions

A constitution is simply a document laying out and explaining the governing rules and aims of an organisation. It also explains the form of the organisation and the limts of its power. This is a list of the most…

Heath and Safety

If you have a studio the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 will apply to your use of it, as the regulations apply to all places of work, and this includes an artist’s studio. An overview…

Unincorporated Association

An unincorporated association is a legally recognised form of organisation, and the easiest to set up. It is formed of a number of individuals – who are each responsible for their own tax arrangements, perhaps under self employment…

Co-operative

This is a popular structure for community groups, as it shares the responsibility of running the group between members who all have equal rights and shares in the organisation. A co operative is defined by constitution, and may allow…

Partnership

Unlike a limited company, a partnership has no legal existence distinct from the partners themselves. If one of the partners resigns, dies or goes bankrupt, the partnership must be dissolved – although the business can still continue. A partnership…

Charitable incorporated organisation

A Charitable Incorporated Organisation, or CIO, is a new legal form for a charity, brought in by the 2011 Charities Act. A CIO: is an incorporated form of charity which is not a company only has to…

Collective Bargaining

Last month's column focused on the selling power of those few artists whose works have established a strong market value, and their ability to pick and choose – or blacklist – their purchasers or dealers. To redress the…

Community benefit society

Community benefit societies (BenComs) are incorporated industrial and provident societies (IPS) that conduct business for the benefit of their community. Profits are not distributed among members, or external shareholders, but are instead returned to the community. It…

Company

Companies are either limited by shares or by guarantee.  This is probably the most popular organisational setup for commercial organisations, but a company can also be set up for a social purpose if it relates to social and /…

Charity

A charity is an organisation set up for exclusively charitable purposes, which carries out activities to achieve these purposes. A charity must be set up to help the public and not particular individuals. There are 13 charitable purposes, and the…

Community Interest Company

A community interest company (CIC) is a limited company (either by shares or guarantee) that provide benefits to a community, or a specific section of a community.  It has the flexibility of a company form and access…