PRIMER

by Artquest

Everything you wanted to know about being an artist (but you didn’t know you needed to know, and didn’t know who to ask, anyway).

Introduction

- About PRIMER

- About Artquest

- More careers advice

Graduate exhibitions, a.k.a. the degree show

- Make the most of your degree show

- Before your degree show

- During your degree show

- After your degree show

Being an artist in London

- Do you need London, or does London need you?

- Housing

Artist opportunities, a.k.a. the open call

- What is an open call?

- Choosing what to apply for

- Finding opportunities

- Making an application

Money

- Work and employment

- Jobs or working freelance

- Tax and deductions

- Profit and tax

- Picking “the right” job

- Hybrid and remote working

- Applying for a job

- What’s a job description?

- What’s a person spec?

- Applications and processes

- Internships

- Getting paid (or not)

- Negotiation

- Arts Council England

- Sponsorship

Selling your work

- Pricing your work

- Editions

- Commissions

- Bill of sale

- After a sale

Networks

- Who is your network?

- What do you get from your network?

- Peer mentoring

Promoting your work

- Types of promotion

- Talking about your work

- Promotional tools

Your rights

- Copyright & IP

- Contracts

Studios

- Do you need a studio?

- How to find a studio

- The economics of studio space

- Open studios

Residencies and artist mobility

- What is a residency?

- Different kinds of residency

- Finding residencies

Exhibitions

- Getting exhibitions

- Different types of galleries

- Curators

- Organising your own

- Setting up an artist-led gallery

- Finding empty spaces

Wellbeing for artists

- Imposter syndrome

- The Inner Critic

- Balancing work and life

- Mental health and the law

- Resources for mental health

More help for artists

About Artquest

Introduction

About PRIMER

PRIMER is for anyone starting out as an artist. Whether you are about to graduate from art school, went to a non-accredited alternative art school, or if you have come to an art career on your own, this e-book brings together everything we wish we’d known when we were starting our careers. It is written by the Artquest team – all professional visual artists with long working experience.

PRIMER introduces all the other stuff you need to think about to have a career as an artist, besides making your artwork. It links you to other useful resources and more arts advice to help, usually for free.

New in this edition, we talk about mental health and wellbeing for creatives too, drawing on the free Mental Health for Creative Freelancers publication by Hannah Berry and Graham Johnson. And for readers in Scotland, there’s also the free Primer Scotland by Glasgow School of Art, funded by Creative Scotland, based on this e-book.

About Artquest

Artquest exists to make the art world more equitable for artists. Working with artists across all our projects, we research artists working conditions, ambitions and career barriers. Using this knowledge, we work with partners and networks to make new and improved processes and projects that make the art world more equitable. We advise arts organisations of all sizes on the best practices to support artists from all backgrounds. Our programme is staffed and run by artists, and we pay everyone who work with us.

We use our experience in the arts to create free advice, information and resources for artists, like this e-book and on our 12,000 page free to access website. We can help artists at any stage in their careers, working in any medium, anywhere in England. Our website contains advice, artists experiences, opportunity listings, legal information, a professional network for artists, and a specialist art directory. We also host Artquest Exchange, a free professional network for artists to share advice and resources direct with each other, around the corner and around the world.

Our programme is open to any professional artist, including the self-taught artists who make up over 15% of the artists who use our services. Artists anywhere in England can send us a question about any aspect of their professional practice, including legal information, for free.

As well as our website, we run projects to help artists make their work more financially sustainable, to get small grants, to network, to get professional advice and take part in peer mentoring.

Artquest is a public programme of the University of the Arts London (UAL) and is supported by Arts Council England as a national portfolio organisation.

More careers advice

Artquest is only for visual artists living and working in England, but there are many other careers advice services for creative careers. These are often provided for free by art schools to their recent graduates.

At UAL, where Artquest is based, the Careers and Employability service empowers UAL students and graduates to make a living doing what they love and strives to support those underrepresented in the creative industries.

Other support for students and recent graduates includes:

• The Royal College of Arts career service. Their Student Support team offers careers advice during studies including one-to-one meetings. These cover career choices, planning, and skill development. All support is provided online.

• The Slade School of Art at University College London career service run a careers programme for final year students. This covers a range of subjects on making a career.

• Goldsmiths Careers supports students and alumni with a range of workshops, events and online resources.

If you recently graduated from a different art school, contact your careers advice team for more information.

Graduate exhibitions, a.k.a. the degree show

Make the most of your degree show

Degree shows are annual exhibitions of work by graduating fine art students. They are held by universities all around the country at the end of the final term of study. Your degree show is both a public exhibition of your work, and how you are graded for your final degree mark. Your degree show can provide a huge boost at the start of your career. Our research shows that the first three years after graduation are the most difficult and important for artists to get through. A degree show can be a great start to building a reputation, meeting other artists, and, sometimes, selling some of your work.

Many people just think of their degree show as their end of their time at art university – a time to celebrate and slow down after an intense period of work. While this is true, it’s also the beginning of your life a professional artist – and a time to put in some work to make those links that will build your career over the next few crucial years.

Your degree show introduces your work to the art world and beyond. It is probably the best opportunity to meet people who run galleries (gallerists), people who buy art (collectors) and people who choose the artists to appear in exhibitions (curators), as well as journalists and other artists. It will give these usually busy people an efficient way of seeing large numbers of new artists in one place and time.

The lead up to your degree show is a hectic and frequently stressful time as you finish your work and prepare for assessment. It’s easy to focus on the opening night and forget about the wider opportunity the show brings – to have hundreds of people see your work and find out more about you as a professional artist. Try to find some time, even a few hours, to prepare for what’s to come so you make the most of this unique opportunity.

Read our article online about making the most of your degree show.

Before your degree show

Labelling

Make sure your work is clearly labelled and consistent with other work in the same space. Usually an exhibition label should include:

• Your name

• Title of work (in italics), year the work was completed

• Materials used

• Dimensions, or length of media work

• Edition information, if applicable

Talk with your course tutors and other graduates to make the labelling the same for everyone. Some people choose to label each work on the wall nearby, or they make a plan of the space with information about each work for visitors to keep. Whatever option you choose, make it neat and professional-looking.

Promotion

Make a website, no matter how simple, and make sure it’s online by the time your degree show opens. If you can’t afford a website, or aren’t interested enough in making one, have a social network account you just use for your professional career. Keep it separate from your personal account and monitor it frequently for messages and contacts.

Always have postcards or business cards for visitors, even when you’re not there. Top them up during the exhibition run. Talk to your tutors to find out how many you might need, and make enough to use after the show closes. Include a good image of your work on one side, and professional contact details on the other – avoid cute or potentially offensive email addresses, but Gmail or similar is fine.

Sales

Not all artists make work that can be sold or want to sell their work. If you do make work that you could sell, and want to sell it, prepare some prices in advance of the show opening. If someone wants to buy your work on the opening night, you need to have some idea of how much it would cost them.

Setting an initial price for your work is not a simple formula of time spent making the work x hourly rate + materials cost. This would likely be more expensive than an artist without a market can charge. There are no real rules about pricing your work – essentially, your work is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

For a fuller discussion about pricing and selling your work, see the Selling section later in this e-book.

Editions

Some artists make work that can be reproduced multiple times, like photographs, some prints, film, or digital work. If your work can be reproduced you might choose to make an edition to earn more money through sales.

Fine art editions are not like large-scale art reproductions, like posters or merchandising. They are usually made in odd-numbered editions of under 10 works in total, with about 2 or 3 artist proof copies that you usually keep. As the edition sells, the price usually goes up, reflecting the lower numbers available.

For a fuller discussion on editioning, see Editions later in this e-book.

The opening event

Your degree show opening event may be very busy. You deserve time to let your hair down and celebrate all the hard work of your time at art school with proud family and friends. Just remember the following advice too:

• Don’t drink too much. Your degree show is also a professional event attended by artists, gallerists, curators and potential collectors who may want to talk to you about your work. Your tutors are also part of your professional network.

• Prepare and practice a few sentences to describe your work in a meaningful way. Use this to introduce your work to people at the private view. Practice until you are confident you can say it fluently in a noisy room.

• Be friendly and open to everyone who shows an interest in your work. You never know when you might be speaking to a gallerist, collector, journalist or artist whose work you admire. Remember that some network contacts can take years to bear any fruit, and first impressions count.

• Have business cards ready to give to anyone you talk with and give them out when you finish your conversation. If this feels too corporate, at least have a postcard with a memorable image of a work that is in the show so that people will remember you and can find you later.

During your degree show

Presentation

Make sure your section of the degree show exhibition is always tidy and well presented. Any work that runs on a projector or media player should be on and running when the exhibition is open. Take time to clean the space, especially after the opening night party. Your aim is to keep the space looking professional and as much like a gallery as possible.

Invigilation

There should be someone in the space as much as possible – either you or a fellow graduate – who can talk a bit about the work to visitors who are interested. In a professional gallery, this person is called an ‘invigilator’, and they are responsible for explaining the work and keeping it safe. Many new artists earn money by working as an invigilator, so getting some experience in your degree show will be helpful. While you might not be there for whole exhibition run, work with the people you share a space with so that someone is usually there. Whoever is invigilating should feel comfortable talking to visitors about all the work in the space, so take some time to discuss your work with each other.

Documentation

Take photographs or use other means to record your degree show while the exhibition is on. This is called ‘documentation’. Having good, clear, hi-res photographs of your artwork showing it as it can be exhibited will be vital in promoting and planning your work in the future. Showing installation shots of your work can help a curator understand how a future exhibition might look, more than simply images of your work, and shows the scale.

After your degree show

It’s tempting to disappear for the summer after all that work but remember to keep an eye on your email for anyone who contacts you after the show and reply promptly.

Network

Keep in touch with your fellow graduates after you leave. Collect everyone’s business cards or contact details and use them to start a mailing list. A mailing list might be run on email or social networks. Make sure you ask for everyone’s permission before you add them. This is the start of your professional network. Our research shows that 63% of artists get advice and ongoing career support from their professional network, plus recommendations about paid work – it’s never too early to begin building it up.

Make contact

Follow up with a personal email to anyone you who gave you their contact details at the show - even if it’s just to thank them for showing an interest in your work. Ask for their permission to add them to your mailing list.

Wellbeing

After the buzz of the degree show and all the work that goes into assessment, it’s common to feel a sense of disappointment, a loss of direction, or a bit lost as to what to do next. Remember that opportunities that come from the show can take months to come about, and the relationships you begin now could be with you for years to come. Check our resources on first steps after graduation to keep the momentum going. And remember to check the Mental Health for Creative Freelancers guide to get into good habits and see the world more clearly.

Being an artist in London

London is one of the most expensive cities in Europe and artists in London earn very little from their practice. Research from 2015 suggests that 36% of artists earn less than £1,000 per year from their art practice, and only 7% earn over £20,000. Our own research shows that many artists, especially those at the start of their careers, have multiple sources of income to make ends meet. So, how is it possible to afford rent, travel, a studio, debt and still make work in London?

The short answer is that it’s very hard, and getting harder.

The lower your outgoings, the less your income can be. Looking at the problem in terms of both your income and your expenditure can make it possible to live and work in London. It can also leave you enough time to focus on carrying on making work. If you’re finding it hard, you are not alone – most artists and other low paid workers find it a very challenging place to live.

Of course, living frugally in London isn’t something only artists have to worry about. The Money Saving Expert website has a huge number of tips about debt, credit cards, utilities and bargains, and includes a free weekly email newsletter. Your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau can advise you on benefits and your consumer rights, and help you find a way to manage problem debt.

Do you need London, or does London need you?

Consider if living in London is the right decision for you right now. It’s not possible for all artists to leave London – many are born and brought up here, have family or caring responsibilities, or have jobs here. But some graduates can find that leaving London, even if only temporarily, can help their longer-term financial stability.

Most of the arts workers in London either are, or started out as, artists. Without artists, the arts in London would be greatly diminished. Artists have for many years moved to different parts of England where it is most affordable. There are established artist-led scenes in Sheffield, Suffolk, Cornwall, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Norwich, Bristol, Hull, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow, and many artists also live in more rural areas. There are also growing enclaves in Great Yarmouth, Ipswich and Middlesbrough, often aligned with the former UK Government’s Levelling Up areas (now largely abandoned) and Arts Council England Levelling Up for Culture Places (active until 2026), where some extra public funding is still being directed. In 2022 Arts Council England was instructed by the UK Government to move several million pounds every year out of London in its current funding round, until 2026.

You could argue it’s easier to get opportunities outside of London, with fewer artists living out of the capital and less competition. You could also argue it’s more difficult, since there are many fewer galleries and generally less arts infrastructure and connection outside of London. Since the COVID-19 pandemic people are more used to conducting meetings online, and some artists have found that living outside of London doesn’t mean an end to working here. But many of them left London later in their careers, with property to sell to help them relocate and established networks to draw on for support and work.

Our research suggests that 10% of artists who responded to our surveys had either moved out of London in the past year, or planned to within the next 12 months.

Ultimately, you need to decide where to be based that works for you and your circumstances. You can change your mind about where you are based – you will pick up useful connections, work, and experience anywhere. If you are able, you can try out different locations temporarily by staying with friends or doing a short artist residency to build up a network. Take a look at Adaptations, our ongoing grant and research for artists to make their careers more sustainable, which includes research about artists who have left London since the pandemic. Talk it over with your peers and family and decide where to live that’s right for your professional goals and personal circumstances. There are no right answers, just what’s right for you right now during an incredibly difficult financial period.

Housing

One of the biggest expenditures in London is housing. Commercial market rents are very high, even for rooms in shared accommodation. In the past many artists entered the squatters movement, but such activity is more difficult under new legislation.

Average rents in London are £1,428 for a one-bed flat in the Lewisham, the cheapest central borough on average, with Sutton the cheapest overall at £1,200. Overall, it’s £1,500 for the whole of London – equivalent to £18,000 a year, before council tax, food, utilities and even some entertainment. In 2015, the last time such research was done, the average income for an artist from their art practice was £6,020 a year, representing on average 36% of an artist’s income. Only 7% earned more than £20,000 from their practice, with women earning on average £5,000 less than men.

More affordable housing options exist but usually require specific eligibility or a residential link to the area. Social housing (such as council housing, housing associations or housing co-operatives) makes up a good (but diminishing) proportion of London’s housing stock. Eligibility is usually based on income – under which many artists would qualify – but usually are not available via open application. Most are based on extreme housing need and waiting lists can be several years long. See the Shelter website for more information on accommodation and for advice on your rights.

Short-life housing organisations and / or property guardian companies can offer accommodation even if you’re not eligible for permanent housing. Art Guard, for example, is a property guardian organisation specifically intended for artists. Read our housing article for more options.

Artist opportunities, a.k.a. the open call

What is an open call?

An artist opportunity / open call is project-based work that artists, often working as freelance / self-employed workers, can apply for. They often have eligibility criteria that narrows the call for specific artists – for example, those at a particular career stage, working in a particular artistic medium, or whose work considers particular themes.

It’s important to know that freelance workers are not covered by many basic employment rights, such as minimum wage, holiday pay, sick leave, pension contributions, or parental leave - which means that some open calls don’t pay artists fairly, or at all. Freelance workers are covered by health and safety legislation. See the Money and Work sections below for further information on your essential rights.

Eligibility usually follows the aims of the organisation offering the work, or their funders. It can feel arbitrary and unfair sometimes, but it is never worthwhile applying for something if you don’t meet the criteria. A large number of opportunities are directed toward artists in the first few years of their professional career.

Artist opportunities come in many shapes and sizes. They might be:

• Exhibitions – the chance to show new or existing art work in a gallery or other space

• Residencies – time to spend developing your practice supported by money, equipment, a studio, or advice

• Money – this could be called funding, a prize, award, grant, bursary, honorarium, or similar

• Screenings – showing moving image / film work at a festival or similar

• Commission – producing a piece of art work for a client, who will have some input into what the work looks like or is about

Organisations looking for artists to work with them will often run an open call to find artists from outside their existing network. An open call includes a brief for artists to respond to, and artists apply in competition with each other. Usually only one, or a small number, of artists will succeed and be selected.

Open calls are highly competitive and very widespread in the arts. Many more artists apply than there is capacity to choose. Almost all artists will come into contact with them at some stage in their careers.

Choosing what to apply for

With so many different open calls, you could spend all your time applying for them. You need to be choosy about what you apply for so that you don’t waste too much time on those that are low quality, or you don’t stand much chance with. Every opportunity that you encounter as an artist is unique in detail. Each will have its own eligibility criteria, benefits, challenges and conditions. How can you choose?

Here are some points to think about when considering whether or not to apply.

• Is there a fee to apply? If there is, can you afford it? Do they say what the fee is used for, and do you agree to support the work of this organisation with your money?

• What does the opportunity actually provide in terms of access to resources, money, or people? Is it a priority for you right now or are you too busy to make the most of it?

• What does the opportunity ask for in return? Can you provide it?

• How much work do you have to do in order to prepare the application? Do you have the time to make a good application? Does the opportunity reward you fairly for the work the application will take?

• How likely do you think you are you to get it? Is the open call provider clear about their eligibility and selection criteria, and do you think you’ll meet them?

• Who has got this opportunity before? If it happens regularly, their website will usually list previous awardees or you can contact them to ask. Are these artists at a similar career stage to you, make similar work, or have similar ambitions? Check out their websites and work out the impact of this award on their later career.

• Are the selectors for the opportunity people you want to see you work?

• Is this open call right for your practice now, or for what you have planned? Is there a useful connection between what the opportunity provides and your work?

You can read more in our article on selecting opportunities.

The best opportunities will also:

• Pay artists fairly for their work, often in line with professional pay guidance from Artists Union England.

• List clear selection criteria or application guidelines and be transparent about what they are looking for from applicants. It should be clear why this organisation is looking to work with an artist.

• Have an application process that can adapt to your accessibility needs.

• Provide some benefits to the applicants that are not successful. For example, they may offer feedback on your application or promotion on social networks.

• Have a culturally balanced selection panel that includes external arts professionals which is publicised in the open call.

Artquest actively researches what makes a more equitable artist opportunity and published guidelines for organisations that can also help you understand well-run open calls. Our research project Tender is exploring fairer ways to run them, ultimately seeking alternative approaches to a competitive process.

Finding opportunities

Individual organisations will usually promote their own open call opportunities, and there are many websites and newsletters that list them too (including Artquest’s opportunity listings and our email newsletter, which you can join on our website). Some, like ours, are free, but others charge membership or subscription fees. The following are just a selection, and a simple internet search can help you identify many more. You can also follow particular organisations you admire for direct news when they offer opportunities. More are also listed on the Artquest Directory.

• Run The Check lists paid opportunities and jobs for artists and other creatives on Instagram.

• ArtRabbit is a website and newsletter that lists open calls, exhibitions, and other art related events.

• Arts Jobs is a website and newsletter run by Arts Council England that includes nationwide jobs and opportunities for artists.

• ArtsAdmin Anchor is a fortnightly email roundup of arts news and opportunities

• a-n: the artists’ information company is a paid membership organisation that has a section dedicated to opportunities on its website. It also offers insurance and a wealth of other resources for artists.

Don’t forget to ask your own network for help in finding opportunities that could suit you. Opportunity providers will always share their open calls on social media too.

Making an application

Applying to open calls involves writing an application form or other submission, which can be complex and time consuming. Long applications take time away from earning money or other responsibilities. Some open calls charge a fee to apply, mostly to cover project-related administration because they have not applied for funding.

Before you apply:

• Make sure you meet all the eligibility criteria.

• Understand what the application involves – a form, interview, meetings, or multiple rounds of selection are not uncommon.

• Know what the opportunity can give you and contact the organisation if you are not sure.

• Understand what you are required to do if you get the opportunity, and make sure you want to do all of it.

• Make sure the offer is suitable for your practice and what you need at this stage of your career.

When making an application

• Read the guidelines thoroughly and contact the organisation if anything is unclear, well in advance of the deadline.

• Answer questions specifically, clearly, and directly. Keep to word limits and avoid specialist jargon or long descriptions about the background to your work – these can appear on your website for further information.

• Provide the application form, images, or any other supporting material, in the format they ask for. Don’t submit anything they don’t want, such as a CV.

• Proofread your application and, if possible, ask another artist who is familiar with your practice to read through your application, to see if it makes sense to them.

• Ask a friend who doesn’t have an arts background to read it too. This is particularly important if you are applying to organisations not specialist in the arts.

• Submit the application well before the deadline in case there are any technical issues with internet connections and online application forms. Deadlines are absolute, designed to help the organisation progress to selection in good time.

Despite being ubiquitous in the arts, open calls present a barrier to many artists, so it’s very important be selective about making applications. But there are also benefits, over and above the opportunity itself.

• Writing about your work for applications gives you a better understanding of your practice and can develop ideas.

• Over time, you will build up written material to use for other applications, making the process faster.

• Open calls often have a selection panel to choose the successful artist. Panels can include curators, other artists, and gallerists. During selection your work will be seen by these arts professionals, who will become familiar with your work even if it not selected this time.

• When you get selected for an opportunity you can tell your networks about it, on social networks or your email mailing list. Eventually, as your career progresses, effectively publicising your successes will encourage organisations and commissioners to start seeking you out as well.

After you apply, make sure you keep a copy of your application. It will be useful for future submissions and to keep track of your work. And if you’re not selected, ask for feedback. Be aware that many organisations are under-resourced and may not be able to provide much, and that in competitive processes with limited success, sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw.

Money

Only 45% of artists we ask earn a regular income from their arts practice – 55% do not earn money from their arts practice. Around half of artists who say they work outside of their practice have more than one other job. Artists earn from money from a wide range of sources such as:

• Freelance (46%), part-time (42%), casual (18%), and full-time work (14%)

• Sales of art from their studio (19%), online (14%) or auctions (1.5%) and resale right income (3.3%)

• Income from savings or private sources (19%), and from shares and investments (4%)

• Student loans (17%)

• Support from family and friends (17%)

• Commissions from private (17%), public (9%) and charity (3%) sources

• Licensing and editioning their work (12%)

• Pensions (11%) and other state benefits (7%)

• Exhibition fees (10%)

• Education projects in galleries and public collections (8%)

• Sponsorship and funding from businesses (2%)

Work and employment

Often artists don’t talk about their financial situation openly. Perhaps the competitive nature of being an artist, sourcing work through open call opportunities encourages people to focus on the positive aspects of their careers. Our data shows that other than the 45% who state they earn money from their practice:

• 30% earn money from outside the fine arts and creative industries

• 29% earn money in jobs related to the fine arts (such as gallery technician, tutor, curator or invigilator)

• 28% earn money from casual or temporary work

• 19% earn money from the wider creative industries (such as web development, advertising, games or the film industry)

Finding a source of income, usually a job, that combines the flexibility you need to have time for your art practice with enough income to pay your rent and bills is challenging. Money earned is money that you don’t have to apply for or write reports about; but money you apply for is intended to provide time to work more deeply on your art practice. Find ways to earn money and cut your expenditure to support your practice in a way that meets your circumstances and responsibilities.

There are three main ways any creative professional can get money, and all are useful for different types of projects or circumstances. Consider where each might work for your career at different times:

• Ask – apply for funding, ask for sponsorship, or get support in-kind

• Earn – sell work or your skills, including finding a job

• Borrow – ask for money and pay it back over time, such as a bank loan or credit card debt

Our 2008 report on the funding and finance needs of artists talks in more detail about the different things that artists might need money for and how they can make it.

Different kinds of creative practice lend themselves to different ways of making or saving money. A photographer, for example, may be able to license images to greetings card manufacturers or make extra money taking portraits, while a jeweller developing a new line of work might get a bank loan to repay through anticipated sales. Artists in any medium work in gallery education programmes, or as technicians and tutors in art schools.

Jobs or working freelance

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether you will be working freelance or be employed in job. A freelance worker is also referred to as being self-employed. You can work freelance and have full- or part-time employment at the same time.

The main difference between being a freelancer and having a job lies in the structure of your employment and the degree of autonomy you have in your work.

Being a freelance worker means:

• You work independently, offering your services to clients or companies on a short-term contract basis.

• You are not an employee of any single company but rather work for yourself. This means you are not covered by many employment rights.

• Freelancers can choose what projects they want to work on, set their own schedules, and work from their own premises.

• Freelancers have the potential to earn more per hour or project, but their income can be more variable and less predictable. They are responsible for their own holiday, sick pay, and pensions.

• Freelancers are responsible for their own career development and must actively seek out opportunities for skill enhancement and growth.

As an employee, working in a job:

• In a traditional job, you are typically hired by a company as an employee. You have a designated role, responsibilities, and usually work at the company’s premises. You have well-established employment rights.

• After the COVID-19 pandemic, many office workers now work from home on occasion, although this is not an option for all roles.

• You are bound by the policies of the company you work for including working hours and the expectations and targets set by your employer.

• You get a more stable income with regular salary, and benefits such as pensions.

• There may be more structured opportunities for career advancement, such as promotions, training programs, and professional development initiatives.

• Your workload is typically determined by your employer, although there may be some degree of negotiation or flexibility, particularly as you become more senior.

Some people thrive in the independence and flexibility of freelancing, while others prefer the stability and structure of traditional employment. 46% of artists we surveyed earned money from freelance work, and anecdotally around 80% of the artist workforce is exclusively freelance.

These advantages do not often apply to zero hours contracts, which the UK Labour government has pledged to abolish.

Tax and deductions

Self-employed people can take off (‘deduct’) some expenses they have as part of their work from their income, reducing the amount of profit they make and therefore the amount of tax that they owe. These expenses must be spent just for your business. Keep accurate records of your business expenses to make sure your deductions are accurate.

Your specific deductions will depend on your particular work and career. You should get advice from a chartered accountant who specialises in artists accounts, especially at the start of your career. Common tax deductible expenses for artists include:

• Office rent or home office expenses. If you work at home, the amount you can claim is based on the area of your home you use for work purposes and the amount of time you spend working.

• Specialist equipment and supplies, including office or stationery supplies you use for your work.

• Travel and transportation costs for business purposes.

• Marketing and advertising expenses, like websites or business cards.

• Professional fees and subscriptions, like for accountancy, legal, or professional memberships.

Profit and tax

In self-employment, your profit is the amount you earn from your business after you take off your expenses. Self-employed people have to pay tax on their profits by law. If you are working on a self-employed basis and you have not registered as self-employed, or if you are not submitting a tax return, you are breaking the law.

If you’re self-employed you are solely responsible for paying income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) on any profits you make.

Picking “the right” job

Consider the kind of work you want to do and don’t feel like you must earn all your income in the arts. Choose an approach that suits you and that fits your personal circumstances and other responsibilities. Time is one of the most valuable commodities an emerging artist has: indeed, that any human being has.

Some artists have jobs related to their practice, for example teaching and workshops, working as arts administrators and gallery technicians, or curating gallery exhibitions. Others prefer to find work unrelated to their art.

Think holistically about whatever job you might take on and all the ways it can support your art practice. Working for a specialist materials supplier or shop might give you access to discounts on materials, for example, or employment in a workshop might give access to specialist tools and equipment.

These are some of the more frequent jobs that we’ve noticed artists take on to support themselves.

Gallery work

If you’re someone who is practically minded and good with a power tool, working as a gallery technician could be a good way to earn money. Often these roles are freelance, allowing you some flexibility with your time. There are many other paid roles in galleries which might suit an artist. From invigilation to gallery education or communications teams, working within the gallery sector can help earn a regular income while staying connected to what’s going on in the art world and building networks that might help your future career.

Artist’s assistant

Many more established artists take on less experienced artists to help them around the studio or with admin. This is usually freelance work. Tasks will vary depending on who you work with: anything from stretching canvases, arranging transport of work sold, or processing paperwork. Artists often hire assistants through word of mouth, so finding a role as an artist assistant can reinforce networks of privilege and family influence. Working as an artist’s assistant can give you a valuable insight into how the art world works and, if the relationship with your employer is good, bring fringe benefits like use of studio equipment or informal mentoring.

Retail staff

While working in retail might not initially appeal to some artists, working in a shop that offers employees discounted material can be a real benefit. Many artists work in art supply shops to earn some regular income while having access to the budget materials they need to make their work.

Hybrid and remote working

Since the pandemic, working ‘remotely’ has become more common – this is when people do not come into an office but work somewhere that they arrange themselves. This is often working from your home, but some people work in a local café, shared office, or an art studio. As well as working in the office or working remotely, you may be ‘hybrid working’, which is a mix of both. Hybrid working and working remotely can provide benefits and challenges to some workers. We researched experiences of hybrid internships and made some resources on our website to help you understand if this kind of working is for you.

Applying for a job

Whether you are looking for a permanent job or short-term opportunities, there are number of general websites and job boards that you can look at including Indeed, LinkedIn and Glassdoor.

For industry specific roles try the Arts Council’s Arts Jobs or Run The Check. Many university careers services have job boards aimed at their graduates, such as UAL’s Creative Opportunities.

Every job has a specific application process. Some might ask for a covering letter, others might need you to fill in an application form. As with open calls, always read and follow the instructions provided.

All jobs have a job description and person specification. These should be provided with application materials as they form part of a contract of employment.

What’s a job description?

A job description is a formal document that outlines the responsibilities, requirements, qualifications, and expectations for a particular job position within an organisation. It is a guide for employers and employees that defines the job and what is needed to do it effectively. The main components of a job description include:

• Job title: the official name of the position. Jobs that include certain words, like co-ordinator, administrator, manager or supervisor, usually come with certain levels of responsibility and different levels of money.

• Job summary: an overview of the job’s main purpose and objectives.

• Responsibilities and duties: a list of tasks and responsibilities associated with the role.

• Qualifications: the necessary educational level and other official credentials required for the job.

• Skills and competencies: specific abilities, experience and expertise needed to perform the job effectively.

• Work environment: description of the work setting and conditions (e.g., office, remote, outdoor etc.).

• Reporting / line management: information on who is the line manager of the role, and if the role has management functions.

• Salary and benefits: information about pay and benefits.

• Employment type: whether the job is full-time, part-time, temporary, etc.

What’s a person spec?

A person specification is a description of the behaviours and attributes that an ideal candidate needs in order to be successful in the job. Read it with the job description to see all the information the person fills the role will need. A person specification usually includes:

• Knowledge: specialised knowledge relevant to the job, including industry knowledge or understanding of processes or systems.

• Personal attributes: characteristics and traits that a person needs for the job, such as being detail-oriented, having strong communication skills, or demonstrating leadership abilities.

• Competencies: the behaviours and attitudes necessary, such as problem-solving, teamwork, and adaptability.

• Other requirements: extra criteria important for the role, such as willingness to travel, physical requirements, or availability to work specific hours.

Applications and processes

A covering letter is a document you send with your CV when applying for a job. It introduces you to the company hiring, highlights key qualifications and experiences, and explains why you are a good fit for the position. Read these resources on covering letters from the UAL careers service.

A curriculum vitae (CV or resumé) highlights your professional and academic history. Your job CV is very different from your artist CV.

Organisations usually recruit through a 2-step process. If your written application (step 1) is successful, you will be invited to an interview (step 2). UAL Careers and Employability have top 10 tips to prepare for an interview and an interview simulator to practice your interview technique.

Internships

An internship is a junior level job. It should include hands-on training while you work, and should be paid at least at National Minimum Wage.

A good internship will give you:

• Experience to talk about when you apply for other jobs

• New networks of people who can help you find more work

• Insight into how arts organisations / the arts work

• Understanding of how to work in an office environment

• Essential skills like professional communication, working in teams, and self-awareness

• Insight into what you are not interested in doing.

There are many poor quality, unpaid internships in the arts. Read more about internships on our website.

Getting paid (or not)

Artists get paid when they sell their work and can earn money when they work on commissions, education workshops, residencies, or other professional employment. You need to calculate a fee rate – how much you need to be paid – for your work, so you can tell commissioners and employers how much working with you will cost them. A fee rate can be difficult to work out – you don’t want to charge too little and miss out on income, and you don’t want to charge too much and miss out on work for being too expensive. Your rate will change depending on:

• The type of work you are going to do

• The (size and resources of the) organisation you work with

• The overall budget for the project

• Your previous experience in this kind of work, and

• Your overall career stage

Ask other artists you know how much they charge, as a comparison to your own rate. You can also draw up a personal budget so you know how much money you need to earn. We have a section on artists fees to help you work out your starting fee rate. Professional organisations like Artists Union England have fee rate suggestions depending on the type of work and your experience.

Working and not being paid is very widespread throughout the visual arts. Most artists are asked to work like this at least once in their careers, often with the promise of taking part in a good opportunity for your future career. Once you have worked out your fee rate, you will know how much you should be paid for any job. Resist the urge to think of yourself as ‘working for free’ – you are simply temporarily waiving your professional fee to gain experience or contacts. There is always an exchange in work – something you get back in exchange for your time, experience and labour.

Tell the organisation refusing to pay you how much you should be getting paid, and that, on this occasion, you are choosing to donate this money to their work. You can remind them that the time you spend working for them could be spent on paid opportunities or personal projects that advance your career. By refusing to work for no fee, you help maintain professional standards for all artists and improve professional respect and fairness. If the organisation is profit-making, they may be breaking the law by not offering payment of at least the National Minimum Wage, or ethical compensation for freelance workers.

Thinking like this has the advantage of highlighting how much they are saving, how much you are personally spending to work as an artist, and partly redresses the power imbalance experienced by many new artists who are often encouraged to work for no fee. With luck, it may even encourage them to finding some money or other tangible benefit to you in exchange for your labour.

Often, you’ll hear that working for free is worthwhile for the promotion it offers. Organisations may offer to highlight your work on their email news bulletins or social networks. Such offers are often vague and unreliable, with minimal benefits. To be sure, find out the reach and audience size of these channels, and in particular the audience who receives them. Sending information about your work to other artists will not help with sales or future employment, for example. General audiences not interested in your art work, or in the arts at all, are not likely to be of value.

If you’re asked you to work for no fee, balance the impact on your finances if you take on the job with your future opportunities if you don’t. Right at the start of your career, your need for experience and connection may be more important than your need for a regular income – if you have ways to earn money elsewhere, and the benefits are guaranteed by the organisation you’re working with. And research has shown that unpaid internships can actively harm future earning potential – working for no fee can make it more difficult to get paid in future.

As a rule, always ask for payment for your time based on a reasonable, industry standard fee rate. Artists, and other freelance creative workers like curators, are often the only person in the room who are not being paid. If you don’t ask, you may not be offered money. Asking for payment shows that you take your professional career seriously and that it is valuable. Never be shy when asking for or speaking about money: remember that the person working in an organisation who is offering you work is very likely being paid.

Organisations that do not get regular funding – like many artist-led spaces – will still usually be happy to have a conversation about fees. The artists who work in these places may also not be paid. You could propose applying for funding, getting sponsorship, or even borrowing money to support a project if appropriate. Talking about money is healthy even if it doesn’t result in payment. Make sure to agree any fee in writing before you start the work.

Negotiation

Whether you are being offered a paid opportunity, or being asked to waive your fee, remember that there is always room for negotiation around your terms of work. If an organisation really hasn’t the budget to pay you adequately (despite having money to pay for their office space, staff salaries, and utilities), they may have other resources that could be helpful to your practice and career. For example, they may be able to offer work shadowing opportunities, or invite you to meetings with senior arts workers or their events, or let you have discounts on their courses or activities. The people you work with aren’t going to know what your needs are unless you communicate them as part of a negotiation. The Artquest website contains a useful article about negotiation skills.

Arts Council England

Artists can partly support their work and arts practice by applying for public funding like grants. Applying for funding, like applying for any opportunity can be time consuming. Think about which of your activities they can support.

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. To apply, you must have a project that supports their aims. Their current strategic plan, Let’s Create, outlines their priorities until 2030. Applications for less than £30,000 no longer need to refer to Let’s Create. Some priorities change more frequently depending on Government policies and priorities, such as the Levelling Up agenda that will impact Arts Council England’s national portfolio until 2027.

Arts Council England’s 2 main funding programmes for individual artists are Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) and Project Grants.

Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) allows artists to apply for between £2,000 - £12,000 to support development through activities such as: time to create new work, mentoring, training, research, networking and developing ideas. You can apply to one of 4 open rounds each year. DYCP grants are intended to benefit the individual artist applying.

Project Grants are for engaging the public with your creative output. They are for artists and organisations to apply for between £1,000 and £100,000. The fund is open all year – there are no deadlines. Grants of between £1,000 and £30,000 take 6 weeks to get a response. Grants between £30,000 and £100,000 take 12 weeks to get a response. You will not get funding for projects that begin before these response times, plus 2-3 weeks after, because there will not be time for them to get you’re the money. 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, but it must be cash income.

ACE applications are expected to include a fee for all artists and other people involved. There are video interviews with artists who have been successful in applying. If you need support in making an application, Arts Council England can support with access costs and paying for your own support.

Arts consultants Ashleigh Bowmott and Laura Sweeney, operating as The Uncultured, have produced an overview of Arts Council England’s Project Grants and DYCP applications, with useful explanations of the form and jargon. Artist duo the White Pube have collected successful Project Grants applications in their free Successful Funding Library. Use both of these resources to better understand how to make a good application.

Apart from Arts Council England, find out what charities and grant-awarding foundations you are eligible to apply to. They sometimes aim their funding only at organisations (such as charities), or for specific types of activity or person (regardless of the project involved). There’s more information on grant funding on our website.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is money, material or services from private businesses and companies to support your work. It’s far more likely that sponsorship support will come in the shape of free (or reduced cost) services or products that the sponsor provides, rather than cash. Simply, profit-making businesses do not usually give money away.

Some examples of sponsorship are:

• Free drinks for an exhibition opening from a drinks company or bar

• Reduced cost materials for an exhibition from a timber merchant

• Free accommodation for a visiting artist on residency from a hotel

• Free advice to make a new work from a specialist manufacturer

Selling your work

Depending on the kind of artwork you make, you might be able to sell it for money. Different types of art are easier to sell than others, with painting, prints and collage easier to sell than sculpture, installation or film. Most people who buy art put it in their homes, so something that doesn’t need electricity and can fit on a domestic-sized wall has an advantage. Particularly violent or disturbing images, or work made from dangerous materials, will be especially hard to sell.

Many artists think of galleries, especially commercial galleries, to sell their artwork. There are many myths around commercial galleries and what commercial gallery representation can do for an artist. Depending on the sort of work you make, and how much you want to sell it for, you might also be able to sell work at:

• Open studios – when group artist studio open their doors to the public to show work and work-in-progress

• Artist focused art fairs and trade shows

• Online - through your own website or online galleries

• Social media such as Instagram, like with the Artist Support Pledge.

Wherever you choose to sell is important to how you are seen and understood as an artist. Galleries you seek a relationship with in the future can be put off if your work is too widely and cheaply available. Selling art is similar to selling luxury goods – people want uniqueness and high quality along with an explanation to justify how your work costs what it does.

Pricing your work

You need to decide for how much you will sell your work. Recent stories in the press outline how early career artists have been caught up by the art market only to see their prices crash soon after. Speculation on art prices, like other forms of financial speculation, is common, but most people buy art work because they like it and want it in their homes. In general, your sales prices have to reflect your market (what you have sold work for in the past), be comparable to artists with your level of experience, and reflect the materials and skills used in producing the work.

There are a number of approaches which could help you set a price for your art work; such as comparing prices of your peers, and how to increase prices once you get some shows or sales. There is no single correct formula to use. Ultimately, your work is worth whatever someone is willing to spend on it, which in turn depends on their resources.

Editions

Editions are multiple reproductions of the same artwork. Work like photography and printmaking are particularly popular for editions because they can be reproduced almost identically. Small sculptures that can be cast, in plaster or bronze for example, are also popular.

Editions can make your artwork more affordable. They can cost less to produce than unique, original artworks. There are two main types of edition:

• Artist editions are generally produced in multiples of 3, 5, 7, or 9 copies, with 1 or 2 artist proof copies for you to keep. They are more expensive to purchase, and the price often goes up the more that are sold, reflective of the fact that fewer copies are available. The higher the number in the edition, the lower the price.

• Larger editions are more like posters or mass-produced merchandise, cheaper to buy and sold at a fixed price. They may be ‘unlimited editions’, meaning you will make more to sell as stock runs out.

Once you have decided on an edition size at a certain price, you must stick to it. You can’t produce more in an edition if it proves popular and you sell out. You can only do so if there is a significant difference between the sold-out edition and what you do next. Consider the impact on your collectors if they have bought a work after being told there are only 2 more in the world, if they find out you have made 12 more. You will lose trust and, in the end, the goodwill of people who are interested in buying your work.

Commissions

A commission is an agreement between you and another party – a public body, local council, individual person, gallery, or company – to make a new artwork. The commissioner does not automatically own the work they have commissioned, and you need to negotiate a sale either as part of the commission or at the end of the project. They do not own the copyright of your work either. These details and more must be negotiated in advance and formalised into a contract.

Remember that a commission may involve some compromise in your practice – the commissioner wants a new, specific work in your style, not just an existing piece that they could buy. It is important to negotiate exactly what is expected and what happens to make payments happen.

Wherever the work is shown, you still have the moral right to be credited 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 artist Susanna Heron talk about the relationship with commissioners for her large scale, site-specific work.

Bill of sale

A bill of sale records the details of the sale of an artwork, and proves it is authentic. Make and sign one for every artwork you sell, and give it to the buyer to prove their work is really yours.

After a sale

When people buy an artwork they expect it to last. It’s your responsibility to tell the buyer what they need to do to keep the artwork in good condition. This might include how to frame it, and if it needs ultraviolet protective glass, or if it must be hung out of direct sunlight or avoid temperature variation (like above a radiator for example).

It should also include any installation conditions about the theme or meaning behind the work, like if it must be in a domestic space, or limitations around lending or display. It’s also a good idea to ask them to tell you if they sell the work, although conditions like this are not usually enforceable – you can ask, but you can’t do anything if they choose not to follow your guidance.

Keep in touch with the people who buy your work – you are more likely to sell new work to someone who has bought it before.

Networks

Who is your network?

Your professional network is all the people you know in the art world, from interns or administrators to artists, curators, your tutors, collectors and friends. It is the most important and valuable resource you have, and can significantly impact your career. Your network is the best way to find a job, tell people about your work, help you understand how the art world works, get feedback on your work, help with applications and advice, and to celebrate and commiserate your successes and challenges. As with friendships, your network is reciprocal – you support for your peers with your time, resources and knowledge, and they support you with theirs.

Your network also includes colleagues and friends in non-art jobs who may be able to help you with fundraising, research, sponsorship, materials, publicity or any of the other things an artist’s career needs. You broaden your professional network through any work in the art world or beyond, keeping in touch with new colleagues and friends. Be friendly and respectful to everyone – as well as making the arts a much nicer place to work, you never know where or when you might meet someone again further down the line. Today’s administrator is tomorrow’s gallery director.

Listen to Nick Kaplony and Melanie Stidolph talking about the importance of networks, and how to build and maintain them.

Online social networks can be useful tools for growing your network. Although she’s now deleted her profile in response to Elon Musk’s takeover and legitimisation of hate speech, public relations specialist Binita Walia previously explained how to use Twitter to increase your visibility to different audiences.

What do you get from your network?

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.

• Recommendations and advice: Artists will also know about good framers, cheap suppliers or shipping companies, and will share this practical information with each other. For the rest, there’s the Artquest Directory.

• 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 most often buy work from artists whose practice they already 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. And artists can introduce people to their colleagues who may be interested in their work too.

Own Art created a series of films exploring the motivations of art collectors - required watching for any artist looking to understand why people buy art.

• Developing work: if you studied art formally you could rely on conversations with tutors and fellow students to develop your ideas and solve problems around your work. After graduation, or if you entered the arts through a less formal channel, building new relationships will allow these useful conversations to give insight into your work and help you develop.

• Promoting work: in the arts, word of mouth and personal recommendation carry a huge influence. Your network acts as a public relations machine, and word about you will spread fast – whether for good or bad. Keep in touch with people when you have something new and significant to tell them.

Start now: you’ve already started building your network with whatever experience you have as an artist, and whatever you were doing outside of the arts before you began. Make sure you keep in touch with everyone to maintain those crucial first links.

Artquest Exchange is a free online social network for professional artist networking around the corner and around the world. We encourage artists to form their own peer networks, find new local friends, and plan trips and exchanges with their peers around the world. Each year the network hosts 30works30days, a free month-long challenge to make a new artwork every day and upload it to our website.

If you went through formal arts education, your college’s alumni network can be useful for expanding your contacts. The UAL Alumni Association has over 200,000 former students and staff in 148 countries. Graduates, and anyone who completed one full year of study, get access to UAL Libraries, UAL Arts Temps for job opportunities, career support, reunions with former fellow students, access to local alumni groups and associations, and discounts on short courses and postgraduate progression.

Other significant alumni networks include:

• AlumniRCA: to expand your professional network, connect with your fellow graduates and ensure you remain a part of your lifelong alumni community. All RCA alumni have access to an online community, events programme, library access, careers advice and support, and discount access to RapidFormRCA, the College’s additive manufacturing workshop.

• Graduates from the Slade School of Art can access UCL Alumni, a global community of more than 430,000 former students. Alumni get free access to thousands of academic journals, access to lifelong learning opportunities, and a UCL email address for life.

• Goldsmiths Alumni: for 3 years after graduating alumni get email account access, careers support, library membership, events and for Goldsmiths Taught Masters courses, entertainment, shopping and more.

Peer mentoring

Peer mentoring a when people with a particular shared interest regular meet to support each other through constructive feedback and care.

For artists, this often means giving and receiving feedback on each other’s work and work-in-progress. Peer mentoring groups can also give you:

• help and encouragement on the practical day-to-day life as an artist. This is important in combatting isolation and self-doubt, acknowledging your successes, and getting perspective on your failures.

• practical information, like recommendations for framers, materials suppliers, or ways to approach galleries.

• a deeper network of artists, curators, writers or other arts professionals. This is helpful in finding out about opportunities that suit your work, and finding employment.

The Artquest website has resources on peer mentoring, including a guide on setting up a peer mentoring group by artist and experienced peer mentor Chloe Cooper and information on running peer mentoring groups online.

Artquest Crits are informal online group crit sessions for artists, led by an artist career specialist and hosted by Artquest. These regular sessions help you meet new artists, create a safe space to give and receive feedback on your art work, and give a taster of online artist peer mentoring.

Artquest Salon is a continuation of the crits for artists looking for more insight, run as an online semi-independent artists’ forum with ongoing peer-to-peer feedback on your work. These bridge the gap between the one-off Artquest Crits and setting up your own independent peer mentoring group.

There are many other peer mentoring opportunities listed in our Directory for artists. Highlights include:

• 3D Women Platform - artist-led platform for women and non-binary artists.

• Peer Sessions – a London-based nomadic crit group founded in 2009 by artists Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas.

• Art/Work association - a peer forum of artists and creative workers. Members of A/WA generate an ongoing programme of talks, screenings, seminars, reading groups, workshops and critical feedback sessions, conceived as a platform for artist-led learning.

• Turf projects – a Croydon based space that run monthly artist feedback sessions.

• Photoscratch - a networking and feed-back event for documentary photographers and people involved in the associated industries of photographic picture making.

Promoting your work

Self-promotion is sometimes culturally frowned upon in the UK as ‘spin’ or ‘blowing your own trumpet’, but every artist needs to make sure their audiences know who they are, what they’re doing, and how to get more information. Think of it as promoting your artworks, rather than promoting yourself, if that helps – you could be making the most incredible art on the planet, but if no-one hears about it, no-one will ever get to see it.

Through promotion your shows will get visitors, you will develop your network and build relationships with galleries. If you promote your work and your projects effectively, opportunities will come to you rather than you having to constantly seek them out and apply for things. Some promotion is essential, and it’s important to find out what works for you, your time and resources, and your interests and capabilities.

Types of promotion

Read more about promotion for 2 different purposes on the Artquest website, briefly:

• Promoting specific events, like an exhibition, talk or workshop.

• Ongoing, day-to-day promotion to stay visible in the art world. This might be something you can integrate into your art practice so it doesn’t feel like too much work, such as using your favourite social network.

Talking about your work

It is important to be able to speak and write confidently about your work. Making this work takes time and practice for everyone. Practice a short introduction to your work of no more than 2 minutes that you can say or write easily to lessen anxiety at exhibition openings and events. Use your artists statement as a starting point and prepare a few lines to introduce your work before stepping into a situation where you might need to talk about it.

Promotional tools

There are useful promotional tools that you can use to raise awareness about your practice:

Artists Statement

Your artist statement is a short piece of writing about your work that introduces the key concerns in your practice. You will use it when applying to opportunities, promoting your work and talking to people about what you do. Revise it often to make sure it still makes sense for your current work. It can become a useful exercise in understanding your own work, too.

Artists CV (curriculum vitae)

An artist CV is different from a CV you would use to apply for a job. In an artist CV, only include the experience you have as an artist, including education, residencies, exhibitions, press coverage, and significant funding or grants. It should be tailored to the specific opportunity you are applying for. For example, a CV for a residency application would highlight residencies that you have taken part in, whereas one for exhibitions might show more solo and group exhibitions to show your relevant track record. Keep a ‘master’ CV – on with everything you’ve ever done in your art career – and edit down a copy for each application to no more than two A4 pages.

Artists biography

An artist biography is a paragraph or two about you and your career as an artist. A biography is different from an artist statement: an artist statement talks about your work and the thinking behind it, but your biography talks about your life.

Business cards and printed invitations

At exhibition openings and arts events, business cards are still the easiest way of giving someone your contact details. They don’t have to be expensive to produce or corporate looking – in fact, making them to your own design and materials works best. Many artists include an image of their work on one to make them more memorable and decorative. At Artquest we often use the nicest ones as bookmarks, helping keep some of the artists we meet in mind. Include your name and contact email address, your phone number, website and social network accounts.

When someone gives you their business card, write a note on the back to remind you where you met them and any actions to do, like email a price list, invite them to an exhibition, or ask them to visit your studio. These prompts will help you when you are sorting through the business cards you have collected. This lo-fi approach needs no mobile phone battery or signal, and looks less impolite than typing into your mobile.

Website

People inevitably turn to Google when looking up an artist. Make sure you have your own website or, at least, simple, free Tumblr, blog or Wordpress site so you can be found easily. Even an up-to-date profile on LinkedIn will help.

A website can help raise awareness of, or even sell, your work, depending on your practice, and is useful when applying for opportunities: you can send a short email enquiry and link to your website for images and supporting material.

Also include on your website:

• Photos of exhibitions, installations, and projects

• A brief artist’s statement

• Artist CV or short biography

• Contact details, or links to galleries that represent your work

• Scans of, and links to, press articles or reviews – remember that articles and reviews may eventually be taken down from news websites, so keep a copy

• Information about upcoming exhibitions and projects.

Documenting your work

It’s important to have good photographs, video or audio documentation of your work. You’ll use these to apply to opportunities and send to curators and galleries. They could also be useful for publications, your website, social networks, or magazine articles.

Asking a suitably experienced friend to photograph your work to bring out different aspects. You can trade skills for this favour if you haven’t the money to pay for it.

Think about what method of documentation is best for your practice. For example, if you create installations, a combination of photographs and moving image might be necessary to convey the experience of the work.

Social networks

Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, and other social networks can be valuable tools to reach an audience, if used regularly and well. Instagram is currently the most popular platforms used by artists. Not all artists are interested in all networks, and some artists aren’t interested in any of them. Make sure you have the time to take on this task before you begin, and use whichever platform suits you best. Remember the well-documented mental health problems that over-use of social networks may cause.

Social networks are also a useful, informal way to follow-up with someone you have met in real life and got on with. They are good for research about the art world, artists, curators, press, galleries, exhibitions and opportunities. Look at the people who comment or like your posts to find new connections. Make sure the people you are dealing with are genuine before swapping personal details.

What you share and post can add to the narrative of your artistic practice. You could post:

• photos or videos of finished artworks

• teasers and sneak peeks into how you make your work

• research and the conceptual thinking behind your works

• about exhibitions or places to see your work in real life, or other work you admire

• share news of commissions and what projects you’re working on

Don’t give everything away all in one go: keep your audience engaged and wanting more. To add variety to the content you post and support the peers in your community, share other artists posts, or make posts or stories of your visits to other artists exhibitions.

Take some time to discover how your social networks can use your work. Instagram, for example, has posts, reels, stories and archived stories for content, while tags allow you to identify galleries or other artists. Make yourself aware of the copyright implications of sharing your work online, too.

Press and media releases

A press release is a public text aimed at media companies and journalists with information about a project, exhibition or other event. It aims to provide enough detail for a news article to be written, and to encourage journalists to come to your event. They have an established structure to help journalists quickly understand what the event is about, and to decide if they should attend or write about it. It should be descriptive of the event – what it is in clear language. The art world can use a lot of jargon and specialist language which can be off-putting for non-specialist journalists. Try clear language like ‘gallery’ instead of ‘project space’, and don’t include any difficult philosophical concepts or ideas.

Start with a strong and provocative headline to grab attention. Begin your text with a short introduction to summarise the key details of your art exhibition. Include your name, the name of your event, dates and opening times, any venue address or website, and any unique or intriguing aspects of the event.

Think about what makes your event interesting: a distinctive style, significant themes, guest artists. Include complimentary quotes from yourself, other artists, or curators to provide some insight and context. Offer some background information about the artists and curatorial concept in simple language.

It’s a good idea to include some images that represents the event or past work and have this available for download, which saves carbon emissions rather than using email. Use a standard image format such as JPEG or GIF and keep as small as possible while still useful for printing (maximum 300DPI). Include image credits, such as the title, photographer or copyright holder, and what the image is of – is this a picture of a sculpture, a still from a video, or a reproduction of an artwork? Include dimensions, title, year made and other key information of any art that appears in the image.

End your press release with contact information for enquiries, including a name, email address, phone number, and website. Be prepared to accept enquiries and monitor your communications after you send out the press release.

Before sending it out, carefully proofread and edit the text for spelling and clarity.

Mailing lists and email newsletters

You can send updates to your network, like current projects and news, via a well-designed email newsletter when appropriate. Get permission before adding people to your list and let them opt-out if they want to. Consider using a mailing list provider (such as Mailchimp) which allows people to unsubscribe when they like – many are free below a certain limit of subscribers. If you are particularly good with social networks you might not want to maintain an email newsletter, but remember that more people have email than are on any one social network.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effective from 2018, is a data and privacy law. If you are sending emails, newsletters, receiving and making payments or promoting your art work, you will need to be aware of GDPR. If you are collecting information such as email addresses and phone numbers from people, it’s your responsibility to protect their private, personal and sensitive information. Curator Space has an article on how to abide by GDPR regulation and. data handling.

Your rights

Copyright & IP

Copyright and other intellectual property (IP) rights are some of the most important and powerful rights artists have to protect their work. It’s worthwhile having some idea of how these rights operate and how you can enforce your rights. As well as the Artlaw archive on Artquest, DACS have accessible and free information on essential artists copyright protection. In brief:

• Copyright protects any original artwork from being used or copied without the creator’s permission. There are some exceptions to this, notably performance and live art, which need to be protected in different ways.

• Copyright lasts for the whole life of the creator, plus an extra 70 years. Art work made by artists who died more than 70 years ago is not protected by copyright. It might be protected by trademark or other intellectual property laws, however. Art work that is not protected by copyright is said to be in the ‘public domain’.

• Copyright is an automatic right, and it begins when you finish an original work of art. It is not registered and you don’t need to do anything for your art work to be protected by copyright. Instead, if someone has copied a work of art, the creator needs to enforce their rights at court. Trademarks and design rights are different and do need to be registered to protect them.

• You cannot hold copyright on an idea, only over how you make something out of an idea. For example: if you had an idea to make a painting about climate change, and another artist paints it first, your copyright is not infringed. You did not have any copyright protection in the first place. Remember too: it is possible for people to have the same idea even if they haven’t met or seen each other’s work.

• No-one can hold copyright on the title of a work. You keep the copyright of your work, even after you have sold it, unless you sign a contract selling your copyright. Never, ever sell your copyright: consider licensing your work to others to make use of, for a fee. For more information on licensing, see the DACS and Artquest sites.

You can become a member of DACS when you take advantage of their annual Payback service, if your work is resold for over £1,000, or if you use their Licensing service. Every year, DACS collects and distributes millions of pounds of royalties to visual artists and craftspeople whose work has been reproduced.

Contracts

A contract is an agreement between two parties – like people, companies, organisations, charities, local councils, or any mix. It is a written record of what each are going to do and when they are going to do it, and anything important that should happen along the way – like getting paid or delivering work. Without something written down – even on email – you will have no proof of what was agreed and no way to hold the other party to account.

Some artists don’t believe in having written contracts, feeling like they show a lack of trust. But artists who have written agreements can make sure they get paid, that their work is protected by copyright, and that they are treated with respect. Contracts show trust by showing that each is willing to be held accountable for the agreement. Ask yourself if you would agree to pay rent or take on a job with no written record of your rent level, holiday entitlement, sick pay, or salary.

It is vital to have some written agreement, like a contract, in all your professional circumstances including:

• Working in a job

• Getting a commission

• Selling your work

• Getting a studio

• Working with other artists

• Being represented by a gallery

• Licensing images of your work

It is even more important to do so when you are expecting to be paid, or your copyright is involved. For artists, this is the majority of circumstances.

Get used to asking for contracts from the people you work with. If you’re not offered a contract, you can write a basic agreement yourself. Even writing an email after a meeting or phone call, with an outline of what you have agreed to do, when it is to be done, and how much and when you will be paid, will be helpful if you have any disagreements in future. Ask them to reply to the email saying that they agree. This is enough to make a basic legal contract.

Contracts help avoid misunderstandings and encourage trust. Good working relationships are very important in the art world where reputation is important and news travels fast.

You can speed up the process of agreeing a contract by making your own reusable standard ‘terms and conditions’. Think about the conditions you are willing to work under – what days and times you are available, If you should be paid for meetings (you should be paid for meetings), and what kinds of communication works best for you. This is a quick starting point for negotiation. Keep it up to date: read through it at least once a year and update it to suit any change in your circumstances.

All contracts and working agreements are the result of negotiation. This is when each of you says what you want and need, and the other agrees to parts or all of it, making new suggestions to try to make everyone happy. You don’t have to accept anyone’s first offer, and you can always talk about the terms and conditions in any job or project. Remember that just because you ask, it doesn’t mean you’ll get everything you want, but if you don’t ask you certainly won’t get anything. Get comfortable talking about money – without it, somewhere along the way, nothing much will get done. If who you’re working with doesn’t mention it, bring it up yourself: you’ll look professional and organised.

See the Artlaw Contracts section for information on a huge range of contracts, including some horror stories of what happens without them. The Contract Store has a few basic contracts for artists available for a small fee. Beware of contract templates, they are unlikely to have everything in them that you need. If you do use them, remember that you still need to make sure they have everything you need for your specific situation.

Some common types of artist contracts and agreements include:

• Exhibition agreement - an agreement between an artist and an exhibition space, usually to confirm the arrangements for one show. These agreements confirm art work to be exhibited, length of the exhibition, issues around copyright, and the responsibilities of the artist and gallery.

• Licensing agreement - when you license your artwork, you are giving someone permission to use it for a particular purpose and period of time. Agree how and where images of your work will be used, how much you will be paid, and when. Never, ever sign away your copyright. Even if your work is not valuable or popular right now, it might become so in future. Whoever owns the copyright can use it for whatever they want, for as long as they’d like, including licensing it for money.

• Commissioning agreement - there’s a lot that can go wrong during a commission. It’s particularly important that artists and commissioners are clear on what they’ve agreed on. Though there are similarities between all commissioning agreements, those around the commissioning of public art tend to me more complicated than private commissions.

• Insurance - artists need to have the right insurance for their work during exhibitions and in transit, and in case someone is injured during a workshop, event or performance. Insurance, and who is responsible for it, is usually covered in a contract.

• Legal advice - avoid legal disputes by having a contract in place before you start working on a project. Think about what could go wrong before it has a chance to and record it in a contract. You can get ideas of what might come up by reading our legal frequently asked questions.

Artists in England can get legla information on a specific issue by sending Artquest a legal query.

Studios

Do you need a studio?

For many artists, the first task on graduating seems obvious: get a studio to continue to make work. But in London studios are expensive, and for some art practices might not be the most important place to begin. Around 20% of the artists who access our services don’t have a studio, with about a third of them reporting they only had a studio while studying.

If you can’t afford a studio, think about what you would use on for if you did. Artists might use their studio to work in, as a space to think in quiet, to store their work, invite curators to see their work, or sell their art. Ask yourself if there are there other spaces you can access to do some of these activities. A studio is not a luxury, however, and professional artists should have one if they need it.

In London and around the UK there are more affordable artist studio organisations alongside private suppliers. Publicly funded studios are often available only through a waiting list. Artists apply and wait until a space becomes available, sometimes for two or more years in London. If you do need a studio, apply as soon as you can. In 2018 there were 13,780 artists on waiting lists for studio spaces in London, and 95% of studio spaces were occupied. Availability of studio space is as important as affordable housing for many artists who choose to leave London.

How to find a studio

The main large studio providers in London include ACAVA, Acme, SPACE, ASC, Bow Arts Trust, V22, and Thames-Side Studios, along with dozens of smaller, local providers.

You can sometimes find a shared studio through some studio providers or searching Artist Studio Finder.

Before you choose a studio, think about what special resources you need. A studio described as ‘affordable’ usually means it is rented for between 30% and 80% of commercial rents. In London this can still be high.

The economics of studio space

In 2018, the last time detailed research into studios was done, almost 80% of London based studio providers charge over £11 per square foot for studio space and the average cost was £14.29 per square foot. Many studio providers in London are on short-term contracts with property developers who are waiting for planning permission to demolish and rebuild the buildings they own. As they don’t own their studios, and since most have very small savings (if any at all), when their rents are increased they have to pass on the cost to artists or give up the studios entirely.

Make sure you can afford a studio before you take it on, or agree with friends (and the studio provider) to share the space and the costs. Our data in the last year shows that 42% of artist share their studios. If you find an artist with a different work schedule than you, you might never even be in a shared studio at the same time.

There are a number of ‘makerspaces’ (specialist workshops available for a membership fee), hire-a bench workshops and hackspaces as well as traditional artist studios. These can be useful for artists just looking for places to make work, who can store it somewhere else. Many of these offer tools and different membership levels, and some even hire space by the day. Spaces such as RARA, London Hackspace, London Sculpture Workshops, London Centre for Book Arts, Thames-Side Print Studio and Blackhorse Workshop are used by designers, architects and amateurs alike. For a list of more artist-led workshops in London, check the Open Workshop Network.

Hypha Studios matches artists with empty spaces on the high street in free temporary studios. They offer studio and project spaces for large and small projects on a long- and short-term basis across the UK.

Open studios

Open studios are events where groups of artists or studio providers invite the public into artist studios. If you get a studio, take part in open studios for better exposure, better relationships your fellow artists, find new audiences and sell your work.

Many of the principles that make a successful degree show work with open studios too.

Residencies and artist mobility

What is a residency?

A residency is a period of time for an artist to develop their practice, often away from their usual location or responsibilities. Residencies are valued by many artists as a period to reflect and focus on their art work. Some residencies, however, ask for artists to contribute money to their running costs, or that a piece of art work is donated in return for the residency. Some ask instead for the artist to work on education or outreach activity as part of the residency. Resident artists might also be asked to put on an exhibition, make a presentation, or work with staff or the public in another way.

The best residencies might provide a studio, accommodation, and payment while you’re there. Very few offer money, space and time without restriction for an artist to make their work.

Different kinds of residency

Each residency is unique. Make sure you read the description of what is expected before you attend. There are some general residency descriptions, but there will be variation even among these.

• Studio residencies usually provide workspace for an artist to use for a time. It might be only a space to think in, or might include access to tools and a workshop.

• International residencies take place overseas and focus on bringing international artists to their programmes.

• Research residencies usually provide artists access to specialist materials or expertise, at a museum or collection, for example, which might include access to collections in storage or curatorial staff. These residencies may not provide a space to works and can be quite vague about what they expect the artist to do.

• An artist in residence is hosted by an organisation, often a non-arts organisation, like a school, museum, library, or company, for example.

• Online / digital residencies are often about an artist developing their work for display on an online platform, like a website or blog.

• DIY residencies are self-organised. Residencies, like all open calls, are often competitive. Although there are many different types of residency, it can be hard to find one that suits your specific circumstances and practice. Artquest commissioned information on making a DIY residency for yourself.

Before you apply, check that the type of residency will benefit you as an artist. For example, if you are sociable and like conversation with other artists to move your ideas forward, an isolated, rural residency might not be for you.

Finding residencies

As well as the Artquest website listing of mostly UK residencies, there are 2 main listings of high-quality residencies available internationally: Res Artis and Transartists.

AA2A (Artists Access to Art Colleges) is a UK scheme that provides studio space and access to facilities in art schools for 6 months from September, in return for some teaching. As well as the residency, it can be a useful way to build experience of teaching.

Artists anywhere in the world can also join our Artquest Exchange social network to meet artists around the corner, including arranging trips and mutual exchange.

Artquest Exchange offers:

• Contact with over 2,500 artists around the world.

• A local network, allowing you to find artists living and working near you.

• Potential collaborators, exchange partners and new friends.

Exhibitions

An exhibition is a public showcase of an artist’s art work. Although these traditionally happen in an art gallery, artists also find inventive new ways to show their work.

One of the main measures people in the art world use to judge an artist’s career is through the number and type of exhibitions they have taken part in. Different weight is given to solo (one person) exhibitions, group exhibitions, if they’ve been selected by curators or organised their own exhibition, if it’s happened in a gallery, during a commission, or other kinds of project.

Generally, an artist is judged more favourably if they have been picked for something, and if someone else has paid for it.

Getting exhibitions

Artists get exhibitions by building a long-term, trusting, professional relationship with galleries and curators. Often a gallery director or curator will follow an artist’s career for some time - possibly years - before approaching them for an idea for an exhibition they want to include them in.

Most galleries do not accept unsolicited applications – where an artist just sends images of their work without being asked for it. Sending an email or printed application to a gallery outside of an open call is not likely to get you very far – you may not even get a reply. Open calls are often selected by curators and gallery directors, so you can be seen by arts professionals by applying to these. Early in your career, consider prizes such as New Contemporaries. Some have submission fees, requiring payment to apply.

Gallery directors and curators also spend a lot of time visiting exhibitions - this is an important part of their job. Build relationships by inviting those you think would be interested in your work to your public events and exhibitions, open studios, or for private studio tours. Research curators and galleries that show work like yours, either by medium or theme, and keep inviting them to different exhibitions even if they don’t come at first. Show an active interest in the rest of their programme and find the right person to put on your mailing list. Keep people informed about key achievements in your practice and career through effective self promotion.

Different types of galleries

Learn how different galleries operate and understand how they programme exhibitions. Our website has sections on getting exhibitions, interviews with gallery directors introducing how they work with artists and information on curators and how to work with them.

Galleries are often defined by how they are funded and how they are run. There is sometimes a mix, like an artist-led space that is publicly funded.

Commercial galleries are for-profit companies set up to make money by selling art. They represent individual artists, mostly by helping find buyers for their work through a network of collectors.

Early in an artist’s career it’s quite normal for a gallery to sell a work for double the price the artist asks for it, and keep the difference as their ‘commission’. A commission is a portion of the sales price kept by the gallery to cover their costs and bring in a profit to the business. For example:

• You make a painting and want to sell it for £1,000

• The commercial gallery selling it would charge £2,000 to the buyer

• You and the gallery each earn £1,000 from the sale.

Costs for a commercial gallery include rent, staff salaries and pensions, promotion and marketing, art fair costs, tax and shipping. As a business, commercial galleries seek to make a profit for their owners too. Because commercial galleries earn income from sales, artists should never need to pay them.

There is no set, regular starting commission for working with a commercial gallery. Usually, the proportion of the sale price kept by the gallery goes down the more work an artist sells.

In the past commercial galleries would financially support the costs of making new work, but now this is very rare and usually provided for artists who sell a lot of work, for an exceptional project, or where the investment is likely to bring a good return.

On Artquest you can watch a video with a gallerist explaining what to expect from a commercial gallery.

Publicly funded galleries get a significant part of their income from grants, often from Arts Council England. They are otherwise hard to generalise. They are often funded through a variety of grants that can be applied for and tend to show the work of more established artists, usually only by invitation. Many also have programmes to show the work of early career artists too.

Being publicly funded means these galleries have to consider getting new audiences and may try to encourage people who don’t usually come to art galleries to visit them. They often have some educational responsibilities too, although sometimes this is provided by them having a gallery space rather than official education programmes.

Publicly funded galleries overwhelmingly do not accept applications to exhibit. As they only choose artists to exhibit, and as the money that funds them is reserved for significant artists, exhibiting at them is a prestigious opportunity. As such, exhibitions in these spaces often only comes later in an artist’s career.

Despite regular funding, they are very likely to have limited resources and will usually fundraise to make exhibitions happen. Arts Council England funding is usually intended for staffing and building costs only, and often does not include money for the exhibitions programme. Most UK state funding has not been increased since 2010 (equivalent to a 53% cut after inflation). Consequently, many publicly funded galleries plan exhibitions 1-2 years in advance to raise money. They will sometimes, but not always, pay an fee to the artist for exhibiting, and you should confirm this if you are invited to exhibit.

Artist-led galleries are set up by artists to make their own exhibitions. These galleries might only include artists from a particular network of friends and colleagues, run open applications, or choose artists to exhibit. Contact them or read public information on their websites before sending a proposal to make sure it can be considered.

Such spaces might be funded by the artists who run the space, and might have very limited project funding or no money at all. Don’t assume that these galleries will be able to fund your exhibition: you may need to find or apply for money, or even work at the gallery to make your exhibition happen. These galleries are very unlikely to represent you or make sales. Some may try actively to sell your work for a commission fee to help support their programme, but most do not.

Artist-led spaces tend to offer validation with other artists, helping you build your professional reputation and find more exhibition opportunities.

Curators

Curators organise and pick artists for exhibitions and work in a variety of ways. Some are employed by galleries and are responsible for the programme, sometimes with the gallery director or other curators.

Some are independent, work freelance, build their own relationships with galleries, and initiate their own exhibitions. Freelance curators are a vital contact for artists to get exhibitions, and you should have some idea of how to meet curators.

All curators will specialise in different areas, time periods, materials, themes or other areas of interest, in the same way as artists specialise in whatever makes their practice distinct. Maintain contact only with those you feel should be interested in your work – do your own research by looking up who has curated exhibitions you are interested in. Remember that assistant curators today can be gallery directors tomorrow, so keep in touch, stay professional, and be nice to everyone.

Organising your own

Building relationships with galleries takes time, and there aren’t always opportunities that fit your work. Sometimes it’s a good idea to organise your own exhibitions if you’ve the time, contacts, skills and patience. These could be one-off exhibitions, an infrequent series of projects, or you could set up a longer-term artist-led gallery if you find a suitable space. Running an artist-led gallery or organising an exhibition is a significant commitment and is expensive, particularly in London, with some of the most successful responding to the unexpected opportunity of a temporary space. They can:

• Raise your profile.

• Build networks.

• Help you develop useful professional skills.

• Make a space to exhibit your artwork and that of your friends.

Setting up an artist-led gallery

If you are in a position to set up an artist-led gallery, it’s a good idea to set up a formal organisation. This limits your liability if the money runs out, might allow you to be paid as an employee, might let you accept donations or apply for charitable income, but also includes a legal requirement to submit accounts and other regulatory requirements. The type of structure you choose will affect the funding and support you can get, as well as the legal reporting requirements to various governing bodies.

There are different ways to set up a legal structure for arts organisations. Each has different levels of legal reporting requirements, financial management, governance, potential income sources, public access to documents, and liability for the directors. Take legal advice before setting something up: The Henry Lydiate Partnership, Art Law Studio and Canvas Art Law are all good sources of individual advice.

Unincorporated associations are the easiest to set up because they do not need any registration and have no reporting requirements. They are made up of any number of individual people who are each legally responsible for their own tax and financial arrangements coming together for any common purpose. They must have a written constitution – a note of what you will do and how you will do it and, if it’s big enough, how it will be managed and run. They can be useful to test out an idea before something more formal is needed. Individuals can make a profit, but everyone is liable for losses incurred by everyone else. They can’t own things so are best avoided if there is significant property involved. Unincorporated associations often can’t apply for any public funding and are totally unregulated.

A charity is an organisation set up to carry out activities for exclusively charitable purposes. A charity must help ‘the public’, and should not benefit particular individuals. There are 13 charitable purposes. The most relevant for the arts are likely to be:

• the advancement of education;

• the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science.

• other charitable purposes which help and benefit the community.

They cannot be set up to benefit artists – artists are considered ‘small businesses’ under the law and are not a charitable purpose. They are regulated by the Charity Commission and often also by Companies House if they carry out trading activities via a company.

Charites are a recognisable and trusted structure in the arts, and are trusted by other charities and public funders because employees and trustees cannot legally withdraw money from the charity. Charitable objects are broad so there is good leeway for a range of arts-related activity. Trustees have limited liability if the charity collapses, as long as they have acted ethically and within the law. They can earn money through a subsidiary company, get sponsorship, take gifts and legacies, and accept tax efficient donations. They can also have volunteers to reduce salary costs.

The main disadvantage is the complexity of annual reporting requirements, with usually need a specialist accountant and/or lawyer to handle. They are more difficult to set than before recent changes in the law, and cannot directly trade. Charites are not controlled by a founder or individual director, but by the board of trustees, who can vote to change the activity of the charity or even get rid of the director but can only rarely be paid. They cannot make a profit or distribute any surplus money to anyone at all.

Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) were created in 2011 to provide some of the benefits of joint charity / company structure with lighter regulation. Charitable Incorporated Organisations are regulated by the Charity Commission. Trustees, who usually cannot be paid, have limited or no liability, as with a charity, but regulation is significantly simpler. They can accept tax efficient donations, have volunteers, but unlike charities they can also trade directly.

CIOs are still quite new, and are not as widely recognised as charities in the arts. They cannot directly benefit artists, as with charities, and are similarly not controlled by their founder, but by trustees.

There are 2 forms of company: limited either by shares or by guarantee. Companies are a popular structure for commercial organisations but need not be profit-making. They might be set up for a social purpose. Both forms offer limited liability for directors or shareholders:

• Company limited by shares: shareholders hold shares relative to their liability: more shares mean more liability, related to the cost of their shares or investment. Public limited companies can sell and trade their shares to the public.

• Company limited by guarantee: each director guarantees a certain maximum sum towards the company’s finances if the company is wound up – often this is limited to £1. They cannot issue shares or pay dividends to directors.

Companies are very flexible in their activity, have relatively low regulation and limited liability, and they can trade and pay directors or staff. Companies limited by shares can pay dividends to directors, which limits their tax payments.

Companies must submit annual accounts to Companies House and, depending on their activity, their annual reporting may be quite complex. Donors and funders are less likely to give public money to profit-making entities, and some will not give to companies at all. Companies also cannot have volunteers, and must pay the National Minimum Wage for anyone classified as doing work.

Community Interest Company (CIC) are a type of limited company (either by shares or guarantee) that provide benefits to a defined community. It has the flexibility of a company and access to financing. CICs have an asset lock to stop the transfer of profits or assets for less than their full market value, which also protect assets for the community if the CIC is dissolved. They also require a community interest statement describing its social purpose; what are the business activities for the benefit of the community.

CIC’s benefit from simpler reporting requirements than for a charity, can trade and limit director’s liability as well as pay directors directly, but they can also accept donations and have volunteers. On the other hand, they have no tax exemptions like a charity. CICs are regulated the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies and under Company Law.

Finding empty spaces

Even though many shops and businesses have closed in recent years, leaving ample empty property in London and around England, getting access legally to put on an exhibition or event can be a challenge. But many artists and artist-led groups manage to do this. Organisations that are actively working this way include Hypha Studios (nationwide), originalprojects (Great Yarmouth), The Koppel Project (London), Proposition Studios (London) and the Empty Shops Network, whose website also contains useful advice for artists. In general, it’s easier to work in a group to secure a space so that someone is always on hand for meetings, and so you can rely on different expertise and skills to negotiate a temporary license.

Research empty properties by keeping an eye out in the areas you are interested in. Look for shops, warehouses, community centres, cafes, libraries, or even outdoor spaces. You can also contact your local council or planning department to ask for council-owned property, or where they know of vacant or abandoned property. Some commercial real estate agents might list properties and be able to tell you about places that have been on the market for a long time. In London, however, estate agents tend to be so obsessed with making money that they are unlikely to help anyone unless they see a benefit for themselves.

Once you find somewhere, contact the property owner or their agent to ask about using the space. Explain what you want to use the space for and how long you want to use it, including time for setting up and emptying the space after. Tell them what kind of artwork you plan to show and why it’s important for you and advantageous for them. Letting artists use their building can offers financial benefits, promotes the property, engages the community, and contributes to the cultural vitality and regeneration of the area.

When negotiating for access, ask about health and safety at the site. You will need to organise insurance for art work and for people attending the venue, so making sure the property meets minimum safe standards is important. Ask about electricity supply, fire exits and security at minimum. Get legal advice if you are not sure.

Find out who owns an empty building through the title registry at the Land Registry database (£3 per digital search / £7 for posted report) or through some local councils.

Wellbeing for artists

Artists and other creative practitioners face many common mental health issues as a result of precarious, low paid careers, a high degree of self-reliance and isolation, and dealing with regular rejection. Whether you sometimes feel low, demotivated or stressed, or experience more serious challenges to your mental health, these experiences are normal, common, and you can find help. Some common experiences for artists are outlined in the free Mental Health for Creative Freelancers publication by Hannah Berry and Graham Johnson mentioned in the introduction.

The past several years have brought social challenges to many people, including:

• the impact of COVID-19 and the losses many incurred,

• Brexit and the ongoing hostile environment including increases in xenophobia, racism, misogyny, and recent far-right rioting,

• and the general undervaluing of creativity and culture in wider society.

Starting out in any new career is daunting and feeling like you are missing some key information is common. It is very hard to be an artist in the UK right now. Pay is very low, costs are increasing, reputation is overwhelmingly important, and career progression is erratic and easy to miss. Working in London is hugely pressured and expensive.

Everyone is affected by these challenges and copes with them in their own way. Any one of them would be difficult to deal with. Minoritised people, like women, LGBTQ+ people, people from the global majority, and disabled people, can find them particularly challenging.

Some particularly frequent mental health issues we are asked about at Artquest include:

• Imposter syndrome – the feeling that you are somehow ‘tricking’ people into believing that you are better than you are. Sufferers may feel they are a fraud, that they lack the talent others perceive in them, or that they do not deserve their successes.

• The Inner Critic – the critical voice in your head telling you that you’re not good enough, not talented enough, that you should quit when things get too hard. It may drive you to unrealistic standards and lead to feeling inadequate.

• Balancing work and life – particularly hard for home workers, it can be challenging to keep boundaries between personal time and professional or working time, leading to overwhelm, stress, and challenges in your personal life. Feeling like you must always be available for work is compounded by precarious careers, where it can feel like saying no to a job one time will lead to a withdrawal of future offers.

Imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome is the belief that you are undeserving of your achievements and esteem – that you are a fraud, or untalented. It is a feeling that you’re not as competent or intelligent as you appear, and that people will sooner or later find you out.

Around 70% of people will suffer from imposter syndrome at some point in their lives, including those with high achievements and successful careers. It is more common amongst minoritised people and those historically told they are not enough (or ‘too much’): such as women, people from the global majority, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people. It is reflected in levels of income, and dictates who applies for jobs and opportunities, and in your career progression. It is often also seen in people who are ‘perfectionists’ and those with high investment in their activity.

Imposter syndrome can be negatively reinforced by the general working conditions in the arts and creative industries including:

• Precarious jobs – most work freelance, and have to apply for multiple jobs to find work. Jobs can end abruptly and with little or no notice.

• Competition and rejection – many artists apply for the same projects, but only one can win, leading to feelings of failure instead of anger at the inequity of the arts.

• Chronic low pay and struggling with money – particularly for those in London, low incomes and high costs are inherently stressful.

• Comparing yourself with others – social networks in particular encourage artists to compare themselves with their peers, and everyone looks more successful on Instagram.

• Self-doubt and periods of low self-esteem – struggling with a creative practice can leave artists feeling demotivated.

You can fight imposter syndrome by:

• Talking to your peers – get involved in formal or informal peer mentoring groups or one to one check ins, making emotional support and listening a part of your everyday professional conversation.

• Share your successes along with your doubts – most artists focus only on success, and are reluctant to talk about period of uncertainty. Recognise that even if you don’t succeed at everything, at least you’re trying.

• Understand that low self-esteem is very common – it can have its roots in unresolved trauma, which takes many forms.

• Recognise that negative feelings are more like opinions and not facts – feelings and emotions change, and can be changed with work.

• Reforming your relationship with social networks – limit your time on social networks and read our tips for healthy social network use.

Remember that feeling like a fraud is a product of how you see other people’s success. Most people present the best of themselves to feel better and impress others. Get out of the habit of comparing your ‘cutting room floor’ with others’ ‘showreel’.

You are probably your own harshest critic. Think about how you speak to yourself in your own head - would you talk like that to a friend who you saw was struggling? You would respond instead with kindness and compassion, encouraging them to see the positive elements of what they can do. Cultivate this kindness in yourself.

Instead of being embarrassed by your old projects or past failures, remember that without them you would not be where you are today. Be kind to your younger self, and forgive them their mistakes. All those old projects are like stepping-stones that have brought you to where you are now.

To start, invite a trusted friend to talk about some of the following areas:

• What do you do when you feel ‘not enough’?

• Have you been put off making an application for somethings or taking up an opportunity because you feel you don’t deserve it, or aren’t good enough?

• How do you recognise success and get used to talking about failure?

• What is your relationship with social networks like? Do you want to change this?

The Inner Critic

The Inner Critic is the voice inside that says you are not good enough. It is particularly toxic because culturally many have come to believe that self-criticism is an effective motivator. It is not. It serves to activate the body’s self-defence system, triggering a ‘threat response’ and emotional disconnection. It also reduces cognitive ability and encourages feelings of isolation, reducing opportunities for support. Research shows that the more people criticise themselves, the slower their progress over time and the less likely they are to achieve their goals.

Try this short exercise to overcome and re-evaluate your Inner Critic: motivating with compassion. No-one else will read this unless you choose to talk about it later, so be as honest as you are able.

1. Think about an issue that often troubles you and that leads to harsh self-criticism. It could be a:

• Behaviour you want to change

• Habit you haven’t succeeded at forming

• Feeling about how your work is going

• Comparison you make with other people

Write it down in a few sentences.

2. Now write down what the self-critical part of you is saying. What is your Inner Critic thinking and feeling?

Pay close attention – your Inner Critic might be trying to keep you from being embarrassed, or stop you from feeling vulnerable, and keep you safe.

Notice the words and tone of voice your Inner Critic uses. Does this sound like someone in real life that you know? Think about what that might tell you about your real-life relationship with that person.

3. Think about how you feel being criticised like this. Write down how the Inner Critic makes you feel and the real impact this has on you, your actions, and your motivations. Notice your own tone of voice now, and anything that tells you or makes you think about.

4. Now imagine that having heard how they have made you feel, your Inner Critic wants to apologise. Get into the character of your Inner Critic and write an apology to you from them.

5. Remember that the Inner Critic is often just trying to keep you safe, but in a very unhelpful way. Turn now to your Inner Critic with interest and curiosity. Think why they are speaking to you in this way: what is your Inner Critic trying to do? How is your Inner Critic trying to protect you? Write down anything you notice and try to understand what is motivating your Inner Critic.

6. Spend 2 minutes acknowledging your Inner Critic’s unhelpful efforts and thank them for trying to keep you safe. Your Inner Critic is a part of you. As such, you have the power to change your relationship with them, and tell them to back off when you need them to. Write a note thanking your Inner Critic for trying to protect you.

7. Finally, imagine now you are talking with a good friend. A friend who is all-knowing, compassionate, who supports and cares for you unconditionally. You might be lucky enough to have such a friend: picture them if you know someone who fits this description.

What does your compassionate friend observe about this process and what you have written and felt? What would they say to motivate you around the troublesome issue or behaviour you want to change? Write a short note from your compassionate friend to yourself with some advice.

Balancing work and life

Working freelance as an artist can include:

• Deadlines

• Professional development and training courses

• Admin and accounts

• Working outside your art practice for a more regular, higher, and more stable income

The problem isn’t just an issue for artists: in 2024, over 50% of gallery workers also felt they had poor work-life balance.

Setting healthy boundaries between your work life and home life will help keep you resilient and healthy in your career. But not everyone has access to the resources this might usually require. Think about the following tips and see where you can develop them for your circumstances.

Create a separation between your work and your life spaces, whatever this looks likes for you. Make a separate working space, even a corner of the room or a table, or find somewhere else to work, even if just for a short while. Some might prefer a busy café, others the calm and quiet of the British Library.

If it works for you and you are physically able, consider incorporating walking or movement into your practice. Take a notepad for ideas that appear while you move.

Set yourself clear, achievable working hours (if you are freelance or working from home). Keeping to your working hours are always more important than working all night to meet a target.

Structure your day to include plenty of short breaks and get away from your desk. Make sure these breaks are real breaks – no thinking about work during these periods or reading something associated with your work. Instead, do something else with your body – a walk, cook or bake, something creative outside of your work, chat with flatmates or family if you live with people. Do not ever feel guilty for taking a break, even if you are very busy – this is when you need a break the most.

If you continually miss deadlines or targets you’ve given yourself, the problem might be that you’re being too ambitious within your resources. Ask if you can hand in something late or extend a deadline (this won’t work for open call opportunities). Be realistic: understand your capacity, recognise when you’re taking on too much or over-promising.

Be kind to yourself – acknowledge what else is going on in your life and recognise your efforts among your other responsibilities. Know that your circumstances now will change and you can do more.

When you feel you are struggling, ask for help. A favour from a friend now can be repaid later, and asking for favours deepens friendship.

If you live with others, talk with them about housework and be honest about your capacity and expectations. Sometimes you might be able to do more, and sometimes less, as indeed might they. For some, housework is a calming and meditative activity, but for others it’s a source of stress.

Get organised – think about solutions for persistent issues and make time to solve them. Consider a regular slot in your week just to organise what’s coming next. You can learn how to prioritise tasks and begin to notice when you procrastinate or put things off.

Plan holidays or longer breaks and don’t rearrange them if something else comes up. A break might be at home, visiting friends or family, going camping or something more expensive. Being organised, having a realistic schedule, asking for help, and being honest about your capacity with employers means you can schedule time and money for holidays

Mental health and the law

Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people from unlawful discrimination, and includes poor mental health, even temporarily, as a disability.

As part of the law, employers (but not people who commission freelance workers) need to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the work environment for disabled employees. These might be temporary, like a change in hours or duties, or more permanent, like new equipment. Employers should do this on a case by case basis and tailor it to your needs. Such adjustments will balance the needs of the organisation and the employee. If you are employed, your company should have access to an occupational health specialist to advise them under health and safety regulation.

You could consider talking about some of these topics with a friend or colleague:

• What does your working life look like now? Do you feel it is balanced?

• How has your working life changed now you have become an artist? Is it more or less balanced? What can you do this week, or this month, to make it better?

• Can you think of times you have taken on too much / over-promised and what you did about it?

• How comfortable are you in asking for help?

Resources for mental health

• Mental Health for Creative Freelancers publication by Hannah Berry and Graham Johnson

• Mind, the mental health charity

• British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), listings of accredited therapists

• NHS resources on mental health

• The Samaritans

• Access to Work, money from Government to help make work more accessible

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, designed to help creatives overcome creative blocks, their inner critic, and protect time to focus on their art more regularly.

More help for artists

As an artist you’ll never stop learning and acquiring new skills. It might be that your medium requires learning new skills or techniques, or perhaps you will take part in talks and short courses. This section highlights a few of the dozens of organisations that exist to help artists with all aspects of their careers.

Artquest

Artquest gives advice to artists through several projects. We refer artists to different strands depending on the kind of advice and length of support they need.

You can get free professional advice from Artquest:

• artquest.org.uk: our website, open for free to artists anywhere in the world.

• Ask us anything: artists in England can message us, including about legal issues. Our artist staff get back to you in five working days.

• Artquest Exchange: peer-to-peer online networks and advice through our free professional network. Open to artists anywhere in the world.

• Artquest One to One: a free hour-long advice session with an artist career specialist. Available to any artist in London. 28 sessions available every month, except August and December.

• Artquest Crits: general feedback on your work in small online groups. These one-off groups are led by an artist career specialist. Includes tips on how to run an online or offline peer group session.

• Artquest Salon: feedback on your work with artists working around similar themes. Artist-driven small groups with a regular membership, meeting online three times over a year. Current groups focus on painting and activism in art. Open to artists who have attended an Artquest Crit.

Organisations

Artists Union England is a trade union for professional visual and applied artists - the only representative body for visual artists in England. They aim to represent artists at strategic decision-making levels, positively influence the role artists play within society and challenge the economic inequalities in the art world to negotiate fair pay and better working conditions for artists.

a-n The Artists Information Company is a UK agency supporting the practice of visual and applied artists. Through advocacy and information, a-n stimulates and supports contemporary visual arts practice and affirms the value of artists in society.

Established by artists for artists, DACS is a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation acting as a broker for 80,000 artists worldwide. Runs the annual Payback scheme, distributing millions of pounds of royalty fees to artists whose work has been used in books, magazines or on TV, as well as secondary uses, such as photocopying.

Open Workshop Network is a growing network of 40+ open-access workshops covering 24+ disciplines and 125+ different types of tools across London, including makespaces, Fab Labs and hackspaces. Each is a member-led organisation, with the network collectively covering almost all media: ceramic, screen printing, welding, 3D scanning, plaster casting, architecture, woodwork, metalwork, digital fabricators and engineers.

Engage is a membership organisation representing gallery, art and education professionals in the UK and in 15 countries worldwide, and promotes access to, enjoyment and understanding of the visual arts through gallery education.

Artsadmin is an arts lab for the creation of performance, site-specific and interdisciplinary work, where the innovative, experimental and unusual are nurtured. Artsadmin develop artistic talent and support artists at all stages of their careers, use their expertise to help artists realise ambitious ideas, and creating a safe and supportive space for experiment, risk-taking and development.

Visual Artists Ireland is the representative body for visual artists across all Ireland: providing practical support to artists in all art forms throughout their careers.

Lawyers Volunteering for the Arts was set up by a group of London law firms to offer free legal support to non-profit arts organisations.

Networks and groups

Peer Sessions is a nomadic crit group providing a forum for the discussion of contemporary art at postgraduate level. Meetings aim to offer constructive feedback to practicing artists and engage with current concerns in art and culture. Peer Sessions also organise projects focussed on facilitating and supporting artistic collaboration.

Groundwerk is a monthly series of free practical workshops designed for artists and creatives wishing to gain the skills to support their practice, organised by artist-led gallery Turf in Croydon.

The Contemporary Visual Arts Network nurtures contemporary visual artists and organisations to produce internationally regarded, critically engaged work that is valued by society. Present in each region of the UK, CVAN produces talks, training, professional development and sustains networks of artists.

Art/Work Association (A/WA) is an association of artists and creative workers and a self-generated programme of talks, screenings, seminars, reading groups, workshops and critical feedback sessions, conceived as a forum for peer exchange. A/WA offers a support network for associates and enables self-organised learning, professional development and critical dialogue. Supported and hosted by Auto Italia.

Art Monthly’s previews and events calendar (London only) lists useful opportunities to meet new people and keep up to date on the latest currents in contemporary art, with ArtRabbit covering similar topics and news around the UK and internationally.

About Artquest

PRIMER was written by the Artquest team of professional visual artists, working part-time on this UAL public programme. Much of the material here is edited from our free-to-access website with over 2,000 pages of advice, listings, articles, film, audio and opportunities for over 30,000 artists and makers who visit each month, covering every area visual arts practice.

Every month, Artquest lists high-quality opportunities for artists - everything from deadlines for awards, exhibitions, residencies and conference papers to commissions, mentoring, training, fellowships and journal submissions. We filter and select these opportunities for quality and reliability; because we don’t accept advertising fees, our opportunities are selected on the basis of merit only.

Our small, dedicated, team are all practicing artists, curators and writers. We create new resources in response to the needs of artists and makers.

Nick Kaplony

Nick is a graduate of Camberwell College of Arts and has worked as assistant curator at the Arts Gallery London, and as 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, two art project spaces, and an artist-led commissioning agency. Russell has lived in London since 1998.

Tom Pope

Tom graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2011 and has worked extensively in education and events. Tom’s practice combines performative strategies with photography in a collaborative and playful manner, while additionally undertaking large scale participatory performance projects.

Keep in touch on Threads or Instagram, join our email mailing, or see our audiovisual content on SoundCloud, YouTube and Vimeo.

Written, edited, designed and published by Artquest, a public programme of UAL.

Copyright © UAL 2024

Released under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license v4.0.

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Artquest is supported by Arts Council England and University of the Arts London.