Show me the
money (or fuck off).
In 2013 my bessie Bryony wrote a brilliant blog about wages and worth in
the arts, it kick started a debate about how we change this culture.
Like most freelancers I’ve spent January getting my receipts in order
for my accountant, sorting e-invoices and waiting for a cheery response from
HMRC - so in the spirit of Bryony’s post and following the ‘public outcry’ *rolls
eyes* of Ellie Harrison receiving £15k for a years worth of work I thought I’d
let you know what my accounts look like.
In 2014/1015 I made a grand total of £0 – in fact I made a loss of £7k.
Now, some of you who watch naff pseudo-business shows on telly will tell me my business acumen is off kilter. Alan Sugar, I’m not but as most of my peers will agree I keep a keen eye on numbers and run a tight ship. During the last financial year I took 4 weeks off and worked on projects back to back for the rest of the year, so why such a hefty loss?
Now, some of you who watch naff pseudo-business shows on telly will tell me my business acumen is off kilter. Alan Sugar, I’m not but as most of my peers will agree I keep a keen eye on numbers and run a tight ship. During the last financial year I took 4 weeks off and worked on projects back to back for the rest of the year, so why such a hefty loss?
Increasingly artists are expected to operate like the publicly funded institutions
they are working with. We’re expected to have full time staff that can respond
to emails at the drop of a hat. We’ve got to have office and/or studio space to
develop the work in because they’ve got no space. In some cases you can have rehearsal
space but then there’s no fee – this is what has been branded ‘time and space’
– incorrect, its called exploitative.
We’re expected to have marketing departments and budgets for social
media - this is so we can pay to market the shows at venues that are already
taking 40% of ticket sales. We’re asked to pay for documentation and HD video
minutes after signing on the dotted line - gone are the days when a flashy
business card and swanky MySpace were all you needed. Being an artist in 2016
requires you to have infrastructure, public funding, at least three members of
staff and a perpetual crowd funding campaign.
We’re asked to sign contracts that waive our moral rights, clauses that
secure the future of the monolithic institutions and just in case you make a
profit you’ve got to give them a percentage of the profits – they’re desperate
for the cash, but don’t even think about asking for a discount card for their
over priced coffee because the coffee shop is an external business so
technically its not owned by the art centre, not to conflict with its charity status
or government subsidy.
The wealthy sign cheques to these institutes in exchange for named
bricks and seats, this cash is lured out of their Coutts accounts under the
guise of ‘making art happen’ when really its being spent on tea infusions,
meeting rooms and legal departments.
In 2015, to keep up with the sheer volume of work I have to make to keep
afloat I took on a Lead Producer and Assistant Producer, both of whom work
above and beyond their call of duty. We’re currently running at full capacity
on very little gas with expectations of us that far exceed our capacity. Last
year I had to spend over £1k on insurance before I could even step foot on a
stage or think about employing a team. I now have insurance to insure me
against terrorism.
In 2015 a Marketing Manager post in a subsidised space was advertised at
£35k pa. In 2013 a Theatre Producer post in a subsidised space was advertised at
£42k+ pa. In 2012 an Artistic Director post in a subsidised space was advertised
at £150k+ pa. A charity commission search into our biggest arts spaces show they have
an income of £11– £43 million per year.
A survey carried out in 2014 by Stage Directors UK found the average salary for
directors in subsidised theatres was £10,759 pa. Last year the Paying Artists campaign revealed that nearly three-quarters of artists are getting just 37% of
the average UK salary from their practice and in November, Create London found
that 88% of its Panic! survey participants had worked for free at some point in
their career. In the past year I’ve been asked to co-curate festivals, lead
workshops, attending steering groups, advise young people and discuss good
practice (the irony) for free.
The money is there, its just being unfairly distributed. Even with
Equity and ITC rates of pay artists are still not being paid properly.
The truth is our sector values those who administrate our practice more
than the art that generates the income to pay these roles. I’m not saying these
people don’t have value but when their well paid jobs, often with accompanying
pensions are so massively disproportioned to the wages of artists populating
the spaces it’s feel unfair. A pension? We can only dream of such luxury.
Artists are constantly asked to haggle their fee as if our practice is a
stock or share with a fluctuating price. We’re asked to subsidise low touring fees
with Arts Council funding, we’re asked to develop work with Arts Council funding,
we’re asked to pay for the work with Arts Council funding – lets remind
ourselves that these spaces already receive NPO, Lottery, foundation and
philanthropic funding to do just that!
A recent GfA application has cost me around £1k in wages and expenses to
collate the relevant information, write, speak with partners and get all the
planets to align – who covers this cost?
It’s easy when talking about money for venues to pass the buck and be critical of Arts Council England but I don’t think they are to blame. Even through all their cuts they’ve tried to cut the cost of their own infrastructure before passing this cut onto artists – have we seen this from our own institutions?
It’s easy when talking about money for venues to pass the buck and be critical of Arts Council England but I don’t think they are to blame. Even through all their cuts they’ve tried to cut the cost of their own infrastructure before passing this cut onto artists – have we seen this from our own institutions?
As I stare into the abyss of 2016, all of the work I’m currently promised
is funding dependent – this means if funding isn’t granted I won’t be paid but
I’ve got to keep the world pencilled in my dairy - it’s the worst business
model ever! In the words of Bryony’s lush post “…and I’m an award winning
artist!” - If I’m struggling to make it work by making work how are the
emerging or marginalised artists surviving?
Yes, there are some companies and spaces who are equally as frustrated
that artists struggle to survive but enough is enough, it’s boring, I’m not
paying this game anymore. I value my health and wellbeing more than their need
to put on a show – this isn’t a Judy Garland film, we don’t have to put on a
show to save the local rodeo.
How do we change this culture and prevent this from becoming another
rant about an artists worth? Having a ‘I
value the arts’ twibbon isn’t going to cut it, queen.
I'm dyslexic so this blog might not make sense, have spelling errors and be grammatically incorrect - tell someone who cares.
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