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Do artists’ liveli­hoods matter?

Although artists’ liveli­hoods depend on their agency and capac­i­ty to cre­ate and cap­i­talise on their social and eco­nom­ic assets, there’s an inevitable — and unen­vi­able — strug­gle between the intrin­sic moti­va­tions under­pin­ning their art prac­tices and the small busi­ness’ expec­ta­tions of a self-employed status.

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Turn­ing the tables: strate­gies for artists’ equity

This pre­sen­ta­tion address­es the prob­lem­at­ic con­di­tions for artists’ prac­tices and lives that define and con­fine their con­tri­bu­tions to con­tem­po­rary visu­al arts and soci­ety. The aim is to inform sec­toral and polit­i­cal dis­cus­sions on future reme­di­al pol­i­cy inter­ven­tions, strate­gies and infra­struc­tures that ame­lio­rate bar­ri­ers to artists’ mul­ti­ple con­tri­bu­tions and secure their social and eco­nom­ic status.

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Grass­roots call for rad­i­cal change

An inde­pen­dent review demon­strat­ing the severe impacts of the pan­dem­ic on the social and eco­nom­ic cir­cum­stances of visu­al artists reveals the diver­gent per­spec­tives at nation­al and local lev­els in Eng­land about what artists and the arts are for, and on how and where future arts pol­i­cy should be made and implemented.

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Telling tales: artists’ pan­dem­ic stories

A new qual­i­ta­tive, lon­gi­tu­di­nal study sur­pris­ing­ly demon­strates how the lives and artis­tic prospects of many visu­al artists improved in pan­dem­ic con­di­tions and by doing so, pro­vides clues to the infra­struc­tur­al shifts need­ed to hon­our and sus­tain the tal­ents and vibran­cy of this diverse con­stituen­cy in future.

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A flour­ish­ing life

A pub­lic con­ver­sa­tion in Novem­ber 2021 com­mis­sioned by Pro­for­ma for Desire Lines and facil­i­tat­ed by Chris Bailkos­ki brought togeth­er Jack Ky Tan and Susan Jones. Read extracts from this dis­cus­sion that explored how mis­con­cep­tions and imbal­ances in the arts ecol­o­gy lim­it artists’ sta­tus, pay and liveli­hood chances and what needs to hap­pen to ensure artists can live a flour­ish­ing life through art prac­tices over a life cycle. 

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