Scottish Artists Union AGM, DCA, Dundee

Today I attended the Scottish Artists Union (SAU) Annual General Meeting, which was held at DCA, Dundee.

It was rather disappointing that despite having over 900 members, there were only about 40 people (including some non-members) at what was an interesting event.

I am pleased that, along with Deniz Üster I was elected onto the new Executive Committee, and look forward to being more involved with the SAU.

A couple of motions were proposed, one coming from a member and the other (made up of 7 component parts all relating to Creative Scotland) from the executive. After in depth debate, both were accepted.

Lorraine Simpson then delivered a superb presentation on the findings of her research into the Public Entertainment License (PEL). The SAU had commissioned Lorraine to carry out this research, and the report will be available on the SAU website within the next few weeks.

Simpson contacted all of the Local Authorities to gain an understanding of their position in relation to the change in the PEL. Only 3 Local Authorities have specified that individuals and organisations hosting free events such as exhibitions, Open Studios, workshops will need to apply for a license. 9 Local Authorities (Glasgow included) have not yet decided upon their stance, and the other Local Authorities are not going to insist upon a PEL for free events. Lorraine reported that most Local Authorities were very reasonable, and that it is worth artists talking to them about their plans.

The next presentation was about the SAU members survey. The results were somewhat grim. 59% of respondents have never received and exhibition payment, over 70% of respondents earned less that £5000 from their practice last year, and 85% have not been issued with contracts.

This lead nicely into Janie Nicol reporting on the WAGE event that happened just over a week ago in Glasgow (see earlier blog post for information about this).

Donald Urquhart was the guest artist speaker, and concluded the day by discussing his work in relation to collaborative practice.

All in all it was a good event, managing to be more than a business report, and marking the start of some exciting investigations.

Studio visit

This afternoon I had a studio visit from Anne-Louise Kieran, the Visual Arts Development Officer for North Lanarkshire Council. Anne-Louise had visited my studio at the recent Open Studio weekend, and got in touch shortly after to offer me an exhibition at one of the spaces that she programmes. 

It was really good to talk to her about her background, her role, my work and my forthcoming exhibition. The exhibition will take place at Motherwell Concert Hall and Theatre from Sept 4th 2013 - October 30th 2013. It seems like I have a lot of time, but I know how quickly time flies, and I am already thinking about making work for the space.

Given the nature of the building, the exhibition will consist of wall based work. I am conscious that  the work will predominantly be seen by a non-art audience and I will be mindful of this when producing the work. By this I do not mean to "dumb down" the work, but I need to ensure that the work can be appreciated on a number of levels and is not dependent on having an art background in order to get something from it.

 In light of the WAGE RAGE discussion that I attended yesterday, it was pleasing to hear that a small fee will be offered and that they are willing to help with things such as hiring a van to collect the work, assistance with hanging the work, and offering to loan some frames for the duration of the exhibition. Anne-Louise was supportive of the need for some guidelines or legislation around the payments given to artists for exhibiting their work.

WAGE RAGE

Tonight I attended the public meeting to address the need for artists' exhibition fees in non-profit art institutions in Glasgow and beyond.

The event was introduced by artist Charlotte Prodger and then short presentations were given by Isla Leaver-Yap (Freelance Curator), Corin Sworn (Artist) and the Scottish Artists Union. Lise Soskolne, co-organiser of W.A.G.E (Working Artists And The Greater Economy) delivered the main presentation. 




For more information about W.A.G.E, please visit http://www.wageforwork.com

Lots of interesting points were raised, but I will share these with you when I am more awake!