Understanding Artists Today: Insights from the Artist Advisory Group
Artists from two areas in England discussed the challenges of making a sustainable living from art, as part of our newly formed Artist Advisory Group.
In the first of a series of meetings, eight artists from North East Lincolnshire and West Midlands areas met with representatives from Creative United in September 2024.
The groups explored a range of issues relating to the realities of earning a living as an artist in the UK. Areas of discussion included the challenges of trying to create a sustainable income selling artwork, both online and off-line, the difficulties in reaching and engaging new audiences and the impact on the creative process when taking on non-art related work.
Mary-Alice Stack, Creative United’s Chief Executive said:
We set up the Artist Advisory Group to help inform our service development and ensure that we are doing everything we can to support creative livelihoods right across the country. We can only do this by better understanding the challenges and opportunities that exist for individual artists and makers in different parts of the country. It’s brilliant to be working with such an interesting and diverse group of artists in these two areas as our first step towards building a more detailed national picture through consultation with artists more widely across the UK.
The four main themes Creative United will explore with the group this year are:
– Building sustainable art practices and artists’ livelihoods
– Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the arts
– Access to skills and opportunities
– Community and ecosystems
A range of talented artists make up the group, with experience including graffiti, photography, multi-media, performance, sculpture, textiles and visual arts.
The initial focus for the Artist Advisory Group will be on these artists in North East Lincolnshire and the West Midlands – two Arts Council England Priority Places – with an ambition to broaden out the group to more areas in future years.
