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At midnight on Sunday, I spotted a post on social media which indicated there was going to be a major issue for ALL ARTISTS - anywhere in the world - who sell artwork to buyers in the USA.
MOST POSTAL SERVICES AROUND THE WORLD
HAVE CANCELLED DELIVERY TO THE USA
+
ART SALES TO THE USA ARE GOING TO CRASH
I spent most of yesterday and this morning working on a new page for my website - called Shipping Art to the USA i.e. https://www.artbusinessinfo.com/shipping-art-to-usa.html
Today, being a bank holiday is not the best day to announce it's now public - however the proverbial will be hitting the fan today and tomorrow.....
My new web page for all those caught out by the change in tariffs / border control and the comprehensive suspension of postal services Link is https://www.artbusinessinfo.com/shipping-art-to-usa.html
I know a lot of artists - across the world - who regularly sell art to Americans are very worried about what this means for their business.
My new website includes sections about
three key drivers around the problem for artists
what has been happening in the last month
what it means in practical terms for artists
what it means in different continents and countries around the world.
plus lots and lots of references
The irony in the title is that the AIRLINES are the current driver leading to the comprehensive suspension of aircraft for carrying post to the USA.
Bottom line, yet again, the change in policy at motormouth speed is way in advance of the systems developments required to deliver what the USA wants which is
cancellation of the exemption from tariffs for all post and parcels with a value of between $800 and $100
all post/parcels for imports MUST arrive in the USA marked up "Delivery Duty Paid" (this is Trump's notion of how to get the other countries to pay him money)
On top of this there's an argument going between lawyers as to whether Trump can cancel the almost universal exemption of certain classes of art from any form of tariff duty payable.
The airlines have seen the writing on the wall and they are NOT HAPPY! (I'm assuming they worked out the reality, i.e. masses of small packages not going anywhere fast and stuck on planes because space has run out in normal storage areas before packages are processed).
So they pulled the plug! Well done the airlines is what I think!
So given the complete carcrash of a mess which is currently exploding around the world, I thought I better get on with my new page!!!
So what I've published is my "best effort to date" BUT it is neither comprehensive nor do I guarantee everything on it is correct. However I've included a lot of references to people writing about this issue in other places and will continue to review and update in the coming days.
This is the short section providing headlines about implications for artists
Implications for Artists - as producers and exporters of art to buyers in the USA
I'll be writing more about this - but right now I'd like to have lunch and get out in the sunshine and "have some time off"!
This isn't as much a blog post by me, as me alerting you to an interesting article in The Evening Standard on 30th January. It's a very interesting article which I think will resonate with a lot of people - and it's a RECOMMENDED READ from me.
The author JJ Charlesworth is an art critic, art magazine editor and writer with twenty-five years of experience in contemporary art, publishing and education. Since 2006 he has worked on the editorial staff of the London-based international art magazine ArtReview, where he is one of the editors. He says he has also lectured and taught extensively, tutoring at London’s Royal College of Art, the Royal Academy Schools and Central St Martins College
Below I summarise
key points from what he has to say
commentary from me - marked up as "ME"
So what does he have to say?
Here's some key points:
Major financial challenges
major art institutions in London face major financial challenges
the Tate and the Royal Academy of Arts have announced serious deficits (£11million and £2 million respectively)
Changing agendas do not bring in punters
Over the past few years art galleries have been pursuing programming agendas that don’t always resonate with audiences.
culture wars (decolonisation / identity politics / Just Stop Oil etc etc) are not attractive to many exhibition visitors
whereas major art galleries can host sell-out exhibitions for major "old favourite" artists from the past (e.g. Monet at the Courtauld; Van Gogh at the National Gallery in 2024)
ME: I think he's got a very important point.
He quotes numbers of visitors for institutions compared to pre-pandemic levels and suggests which ones are struggling
Staff working in the 'art' side of major museums in the UK seem to be surviving Covid-19. Those working in the trading arms appear to be not so lucky.
Some of the strategies being employed to allow art galleries and museums to live within their means seem a bit crude at present - and, in my opinion, there needs to be rather more business 'nous' employed in my option.
This is a tweet by the union representing the staff at Tate Enterprises Ltd - the commercial subsidiary, which operates retail, publishing and catering within the galleries - following a socially distanced demonstration will take place outside Tate Modern at the end of July.
Today the press is being welcomed back to @Tate Modern, but the workers from #Tate Enterprise working in shop & cafés won't be: instead they'll be made redundant! Culture bail out money should save jobs! #CulturevsCovidpic.twitter.com/custyXB3Pp
— PCS Culture Group (@PCSCultureGroup) July 24, 2020
I'm left
wondering whether the Head of Coffee - on a salary which exceeded that of
curators of art at the Museums(!) - will be on the list of those whose jobs may be for the chop. (READ my post from January 2020:
Next time stop and think before you have a coffee at the Tate)
To be honest - if it were staff in Conservation (which requires training for jobs with limited opportunities) who faced the prospect of losing their jobs I'd be very concerned. However the trading arm does NOT exist without the reason why the art galleries and museums exist. Jobs in catering also crop up rather more frequently than jobs for conservation staff or curators.
While it's always sad that anybody loses their jobs through no fault of their own, let's keep a proper perspective on this.
It's a lot more sad for people who are losing their lives during the pandemic and
there is going to be a major structural shakeout with respect to how organisations are run in future - and there's no guarantee that ANYTHING will ever go back to being the same as before.
If more cuts in spend are needed, and I were in charge:
I think I'd be very inclined to start with all those earning a salary of over £35k - right up to the Director - with the percentage cuts increasing as salaries increase.
That would enable more people to remain employed and reduce those who would need to claim benefits.
More about the job losses
These articles tell you more about the consultation about the need to cut back on staffing due to the anticipated decreased level of trade at the Galleries.
I had an interesting enquiry on my art business news blog - which struck me as potentially relevant to a lot of people. Or at least those producing prints.....
Here's the question
can I please ask whether you are currently aware of the latest situation regarding the recently imposed 25% US import tax on printed works from the EC, including on lithographs and photographs?
I work with the photographer [name] and we have contacted several sources regarding this, including our own government, and none have been able to confirm whether this tax still applies now that the UK has left the EC.
We would therefore very much appreciate your understanding of the situation.
Bottom line it appears that prints and postcards will now attract 25% import tax when imported into the USA. Making them 25% more expensive.
I won't go into the whys and wherefores bit it appears that this is a retaliatory trade tariff strike by Trump who is annoyed that the EU subsidised the airbus and undermined the competition from whatever aircraft the US was producing. Which is ironic given that airlines have grounded so many planes recently and many people are completely rethinking the wisdom of air travel in relation to the planet.
Anyway....
I started to look into this and found various articles with some alarming headlines and content
A decision in a 15-year trade dispute between the United States and the European Union about the manufacturing of airplanes could result in a price hike for American buyers of certain types of photographs and prints.
Starting October 18, the U.S. will impose a 25 percent import duty on all of the following coming in from the U.K. and Germany: printed books, brochures, leaflets, printed matter in single sheets, lithographs on paper or paperboard created in the last 20 years, and pictures, designs, and photographs printed in the last 20 years. Such import costs could potentially be passed along to buyers. (Art News)
Now the trade tariff applies to the EU (as I understand it) but the UK has left the EU - so does it apply to UK prints, photos?
Moreover should it apply to UK prints and photos made in the last 20 years?
I wasn't entirely certain about this - primarily because the website of the US Office of the United States Trade Representative is opaque beyond a joke and how anybody makes any sense of anything is beyond me. Any official publications seem to delight in saying what they mean in plain English as opposed to tortuous legalese (which has its place - but as the only explanation is a complete nonsense!)
However I'm an ex-government bod used to inspecting, auditing and digging around in official documents to work out what's going on and it would appear that there is indeed a very real issue of substance..... ....and maybe a way out!
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2020) Revision 15 re. trade tariff 4911
This is the document which explains the additional penalty being imposed by the US in relation to the enforcement of WTO right relating to the large Civil Aircraft Dispute. Basically they are seeking a VERY long list of PENALTY trade tariffs to make-up for the damages they have been awarded amounting to $7.5 billion.
The Covid-19 Pandemic to date has made economic survival very difficult for a number of artists. However the coming Global Recession is going to make life difficult for a lot more artists - all around the world.
It's time to take stock and think about what this means - in the short term and the next 2-3 years.
This post focuses on:
how I'm going to try and help in the coming weeks / months / years
how you can contact me - with suggestions and queries and ideas
current predictions about a global recession
The OECD published its Economic Outlook report today.
This provides forecasts for the scope and size of the recession
The last section below deals with those predictions - and the nuance of the one hit or double hit recession.
It focuses on how long this recession and period of uncertainty will last
OECD Projected REDUCTION in GDP in countries across the world (i.e. national economies contract)
Making A Mark - The Way Forward
I'm proposing to write a number of posts in the coming days and weeks
focused on how to help artists survive and thrive - for example
what to cut
what to improve
what to build
creating checklists of things to think about and do - in relation to creating / marketing / selling / being business-like
as an artist
as an art teacher
as an art gallery
as an art co-operative
re. art fairs
re. exhibitions and competitions.
I'm inviting you to SHARE WITH ME:
the strategies you have used in the past which WORKED (eg 10 years ago re the banking recession). I can certainly remember some of the things which happened then which I'd recommend people do think about or don't repeat!
the dreadful mistakes you've made in recessions in the past and definitely will NOT be repeating this time around.
the innovation you want to embrace
the new initiatives and approaches you're thinking of creating / following
how you cope with uncertainty
Essentially I want to help in any way I can to share learning from the past - and creativity re. the future.
I'll also be on the lookout for helpful blog posts and articles written by those active in the art economy - whether they are artists, art dealers, art galleries, art fairs or whatever.
You can share contributions - or ask questions you want the answers to- with me via:
I'm pondering on setting up a community linked to one of the pages (probably the Art Business Info for Artists FB Page) to enable artists to share what they need help with and what they are doing to address the various challenges.
The Global Recession - cannot be ignored!
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis without precedent in living memory. It has triggered the most severe economic recession in nearly a century and is causing enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being.
OECD’s latest Economic Outlook
What follows is not a pleasant read. However in order to plan to cope with the recession you need to know what's coming at you.
I'll talk more in future posts about very specific issues you will need to address in relation to the business of being an artist - based on what we know happened in the last major recession.
Get on and do!
I firmly believe that the most pragmatic way forward is to
understand what we are facing and
make plans accordingly - for at least the next two years that this Recession will be felt.
I predict that:
All artists who ignore the coming recession may well not survive it and will also become impoverished in the process
However, start making realistic plans now and you may well come out the other side intact.
Conclusion #1: The global outlook is highly uncertain
This is the projected decline in real GDP as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic for the seven countries which make up
The darker colour relates to the additional impact (i.e. additional decline in GDP / deeper recession) if a second peak occurs in a significant way. (i.e. why it so important to prevent that from happening!). The one thing that is certain is that the deeper the decline the longer it takes to climb back out of it.
FOR ARTISTS: the significance of this recession, how deep it is and how long it lasts relates essentially to the buying power of their customers in the marketplace. Sales of art - except at the wealthy end of the market - took a deep dive in the last recession and very many art galleries also closed. There's no reason to suppose the same will not happen this time.
BELOW is the outlook for the OECD countries - Spain is the worst affected and Korea is the least effected. The outlook for countries across the world appears at the top of this blog post.
The projected reduction in GDP in OECD member countries
Those taking the biggest hit are the economies with a significant part of their economy dependent on the service sector. Another way of looking at this is those aspects of the economy which are discretionary as opposed to essential.
Conclusion #2: Amid high uncertainty, two scenarios are possible
The two scenarios are:
Double-hit scenario: A second wave of infections hits before year-end
Single-hit scenario: A second wave is avoided
Overall, economise with not return to the level of performance enjoyed in Quarter 4 of 2019 for at least two years.
Conclusion #3: Unemployment is soaring
Many countries have introduced support measures to protect jobs in the near-term in hard-hit sectors, but young workers in particular are vulnerable.
In the second quarter of 2020 (April - June 2020) the predicted unemployment rates - as a percentage of the population are:
USA - 17.5%
OECD - 11.4%
UK - 11.2%
Unemployment is predicted to continue to increase in Q3 (July - September 2020)
If a second peak occurs this is likely to be towards the end of the year and could have very serious implications for unemployment in Q4 (October - December 2020). Assuming a second peak occurs, unemployment rates are predicted to run at:
USA - 16.9%
OECD - 12.6%
UK - 14.8%
Unemployment is predicted to remain high throughout 2021 - and much higher than pre-Pandemic days.
Conclusion #4: Strong fiscal support is warranted but it has consequences
Public debt will increase very significantly - and at some time this had got be paid back - which may have implications for tax rises and cuts in services.
Conclusion #5: OECD and emerging economies face RECESSION and UNCERTAINTY
The global economy is now experiencing the deepest recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s, with GDP declines of more than 20% and a surge in unemployment in many countries. Even in countries where containment measures have been relatively light, early data are already making clear that the economic and social costs of the pandemic will be large. Growth prospects depend on many factors, including how COVID-19 evolves, the duration of any shutdowns, the impact on activity, and the implementation of fiscal and monetary policy support. Uncertainty will likely prevail for an extended period. Given this uncertainty, two scenarios have been developed to reflect the possible evolution of the global economy. In the double-hit scenario, it is assumed that renewed shutdowns are implemented before end of 2020, following another surge of the COVID-19 virus.
The long road to recovery
Just as the Pandemic is not yet OVER, this is not going to be "just a blip" in art sales. I believe we're going to be facing a very different art economy over the next two years.
It's going to be a long road to economic recovery. My take on the nature of that economic recovery to date is that
It's going to look pretty different - and that
We may well see a number of strategic shifts in how the economy - and the art economy - operates in future.
Artists will need to be nimble in their thinking and on their feet.
Are you ready to start addressing these very important issues?
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
It strikes me now is a good time for artists, art teachers, art societies, art organisations as well as art galleries and museums to start thinking through the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid 19) in terms of
what are the practical implications
what are the potential risks
what mitigating action can be taken.
This is after noting this morning that:
art galleries and museums are changing practices
art fairs are taking action
arts organisations are providing advice
Plus remembering that:
not everybody is equipped with the knowledge of how best to prepare and plan for risky situations
some might be inclined to snooze at this stage - and then have a really horrible shock later in the year as the impact of the virus hits.
Don't be one of those who'll be saying "I never thought that......"
Are you currently sleeping on the job?
Risk Management for Artists
I created a Risk Management Resource for Artists for artists some years ago - based on my training in risk management for work.You can find this resource on my Art Business Info for Artists website (in the section on PRACTICE / Office Practices)
Risk Management for Artists - this is a page which provides a Guide for artists on how to to identify, assess, address, manage, reduce and mitigate their art business risks
The first half of the first page of "Managing Business Risks" (Version 2)
This FREE 5 page guide:
outlines risk assessment and risk management processes that enable you as an artist to reduce and better manage risks to your art business
enables an artist to get a much better appreciation of the relative importance and priority of the different risks you are exposed to and how these might be tackled.
RISK ASSESSMENT
Identify all the risks you’re running
Identify their relative level of importance
Analyse the probability of the risk actually occurring
RISK MANAGEMENT
Rank the likelihood and importance of different risks to determine priorities
Devise a plan to reduce the likelihood of all major risks occurring
The government has revved up all its advice pages on Brexit on the GOV.UK website ready for going into "purdah" when Parliament rises tomorrow, prior to the General Election on 2012.
This post is about the latest updates issues prior to the change in what can and cannot be done or said. It's especially relevant to
all those who trade outside the UK
all those who are not living in their country of birth.
You can also read my first post Brexit #1: Do or Die? About which one might comment that Boris is not dead in a ditch somehere
What is "purdah" in an election context in the UK?
For those who have never worked for the government (unlike me) "purdah is a technical (and quite possibly an inappropriate) term to refer to the constraints on government activity during the period of time between
the dissolution of the governing administration and
the swearing in of the new government.
This time around, this will cover an approx. six week period from 6th November to 12th December 2019.
There are restrictions on what a government can do during this period and very tight restrictions on all publicity. see
Which is how come I got an email from the HMRC part of the GOV. UK website 4 hours ago to say this
The UK government has agreed an extension to the Brexit deadline until 31 January 2020.
HMRC will continue to help businesses prepare for Brexit in all scenarios, including the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 31 January 2020.
Many of the steps that you have already taken to get your business ready for Brexit will still be useful preparation for the UK leaving the EU, with or without a deal:
if you have received an EORI number starting with GB, please retain this number, your EORI number will remain valid for use in trade with businesses based in the EU if the UK leaves the EU without a deal – your EORI number can be used now to trade with businesses based outside of the EU
if you are an importer and have registered for Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP), you should retain your letter of approval – it will remain valid if the UK leaves the EU without a deal
if you received a letter from HMRC telling you that you’ve automatically been registered for TSP, we will be writing to you again soon to authorise you to use it to import TSP standard goods from the EU if the UK leaves without a deal – please retain these letters and your TSP number.
To find out more about the steps you need to take to get ready for Brexit, go to GOV.UK.
I'm going to start writing periodic posts which either provide:
pointers on things to think about re. Brexit
feedback on what seems to be happening / changing (or not) post 31 October - should that be the eventual "do or die" date!
This is prompted by the fact I wrote
detailed commentaries on the art economy back in 2008 - and periodically thereafter - as went into recession post the banking crisis and the subsequent impact on the wider economy and people's lives.
This was the gist of the question. There's a bit more to it - but in essence this is the conundrum many people are facing
Does anyone have any ideas of how a No Deal Brexit is likely to affect us as artists and crafters who make a living selling to the public?
Here's what I had to say - revised for the opportunity to format on Blogger - and the opportunity to add in more reflections.
Posts will either be on this blog and/or on my Art Business Info. News Blog - which you can subscribe to. Probably bigger ones on this one - and smaller updates on the other blog.
DO OR DIE?
The emphasis is emphatically
NOT going to be on the politics
it'll be about
how to meet the challenge of Brexit for your art business and
how to share what works and
how to solve problems.
Comments will remain switched off on this blog - however Facebook posts linking to posts about Brexit do provide an opportunity for practical comments ONLY (political comments will be deleted).
What it's like in the art market during a recession
photograph of a hurricane - lots of turbulence in the atmosphere and scope to blow people and structures off their feet
I wrote quite a bit about the art economy during the recession following 2008.
BASIC FACTS are that
Uncertainty causes people to tighten their metaphorical money belts - and they put buying discretionary goods like art on pause. It lasted a long time. We've seen some evidence of that already.
Those who are well off are mostly unaffected and continue to buy - at Christies and Sothebys - as before. Hence if you are pitching at the wealthy you probably have less to worry about.
If a lot of people lose their jobs then there's a very big dip in disposable income and buying art and galleries start closing, often with little notice (and a lot did, mainly because they weren't run very well as businesses and hadn't made adjustments for a recession).
My guess would be that the less well run art fairs will go under fast - so I'd exercise caution over bookings and deposits - and
Check the status of
organisations running art fairs and/or
any other organisation you place big money orders with and
Many artists started to focus more on making more affordable art for those who were prepared to risk spending on discretionary non-essential items
Artists with no business plans nor understanding of how their cash flows work typically end up having have to take other jobs(if they don't have one already) - IF they can get one - because they're in the same boat as everybody else looking to get income from employment
The climb back to 'business as usual' can be long and slow if it's a deep recession.
Artists who got burned learn to make sure that
they have enough to keep going when sales are lean - and
when to make essential changes to how they do business
and
If you're a tiny business without an adequate cash reserve then whatever the state of the economy it always pays to have some steady bread and butter income which pays the bills coming in. Brexit has got nothing to do with it. There are any number of things which can happen which can cause problems - and some people have no inkling just how big some problems can be and you still get by.....somehow.... Speaks the woman who well remembers paying 18% mortgage interest rate at the start of her mortgage! (my comment on the thread about why a lot of the challenges are not dissimilar to other challenges we confront and survive)
What will it be like after Brexit?
Here are some more thoughts and reflections about what makes a difference when the going gets tough.
Ten years ago I wrote two very long posts about Art Instruction Books. I posted one to my Making A Mark Facebook Page this morning and it seems it still has a resonance with my followers.
It took different models of the way people learn - and extrapolated this into how this applies in relation to art instruction (but not art instruction books)
It strikes me as interesting that over the last ten years
in some ways art instruction has remained the same (for some) in terms of how it works
in other ways it has changed hugely.
For example technology has well and truly arrived :
Lots of artists now teach students remotely - as a matter of routine
Lots of artists now control their own websites and online learning schools / video output / podcasts - and are not beholden to other publishers / platforms etc to deliver their content and generate their own followers in terms of students
It's normal to have art students who don't live in the same country as you
In order to do that art instructors have had to become good at making videos and/or podcasts and/or modular instruction.
What I find very interesting - as somebody whose first degree is in education and who has initially formally trained as a teacher - is that most people are doing this with no idea about how to teach.
So we have
on the one hand - democratisation around publication of art instruction; and
on the other - there's an awful lot of utter [expletive deleted] out there - because there is no accreditation and there are absolutely no quality controls. Anybody can produce complete rubbish!
not forgetting that some artists are proving to be excellent instructors despite no training
For the most part, people have not been so much into writing art books as they are about writing content - of a chunked up modular kind, which sometimes has - but often doesn't - an underpinning structure of what needs to be learned. No matter what kind of art.
The Economics of Publishing - in summary and since
In fact I'm somewhat amazed that I was quite so prescient. But for the fact that I used to have a boss who periodically used to roll me out in front of the management team peers and ask me to perform my party trick - which was to tell everybody what was going to happen in the next 5-10 years. Based on the fact I seemed to have developed an uncanny habit of being able to tell what was going to happen over a strategic time period. In fact I was only ever doing what on any sensible R&D set-up would do - which is keep both eyes and ears open and read around to see what everybody else was doing and what new developments were getting underway and building traction. That way you assimilate the clues that are out there and sooner or later they begin to make a coherent story which either becomes even more convincing or morphs and changes into something slightly different.
Which is why I always knew the UK would vote for Brexit if they ever got the chance! But that's a different story....
In terms of publishing what I predicted would happen has happened.
publishing hit the same buffers as the music industry due to the changes technology and the means of production - and a lack of experience within the industry about how manage change and how to cope with new ways of working. For example see
even if some of the same publishing names exist, they've often been bought up within a global conglomerate which retains the name as a brand
others have gone bust or no longer print art books
more or less all printing is now done in India or China and timelines have to accommodate the time for shipping books actually via a ship!
the entry level / amateur hobby market continues to obsess publishers
so much so that many books are printed now with very little instruction and lots of blank pages so that people can fill them in like a workbook. My jaw dropped when I saw one of these for the first time. I couldn't believe people were actually buying them - but they do!
colouring books took over the world - a bit like 'paint by numbers' did when I was a kid - and totally invaded every known category of art instruction books on Amazon. Apparently a colouring book is now to be regarded as an art instruction book!
books seem to have more pictures and fewer words - because that's actually cheaper and suits an audience which has become image obsessed and text light
people are publishing small quick guides online
more or less all art instruction books must now be made as ebooks as well as the printed version
which has implications for both content and how they are formatted if they are to work well as e-books (but not all the authors have made that change!)
publishers now LOVE authors with major online followings - half their marketing can be done for nothing by the artist!
those that stick with conventional publishers now understand the real financial benefit comes via the workshops which can be sold off the back of the book rather than through the book itself - when you take the opportunity cost of taking time out to write and produce a book into consideration
When I wrote my book it was made very clear to me that the only way to make it economic to publish was to sell the international rights around the world. The spin-off was that the content had to be capable of being acceptable to different audiences around the world - which accounts for why no brand names appear on the art media in my book - because not all art media exports around the world!
So what happens next?
What I'm doing next is buying up second hand versions of older books on the basis that "text on paper" is a disappearing commodity.
The future will be more of the same for the time being
rather less artists having a bread and butter job as an art teacher in schools and colleges - as their second job - and rather more running an online art school
too many untrained people teaching others despite the fact they only have a partial grasp of some of the basics of art
fewer experienced people creating art instruction books
too few decent art instruction books - unless lovingly produced by an artist who cares deeply about passing on good art instruction in relation to his or her specific area of expertise
more and more publishing companies going under - unless small independent operations which are resistant / immune to the overtures of the corporate big boys flashing their wallets!
much more art instruction via video and online modules and much less via art instruction books
I have hopes though that we may also see an emergence of the in-depth manual for advanced artists by those recognised to be expert in their craft - and a re-emergence of a high regard for knowledge about the craft of making art - in different media.
I know of one in the offing - being published by a specialised art society in the USA. It occurs to me that in fact art societies are excellent vehicles for creating specialised texts for the future. Maybe we shall see more?
Maybe I'll write another one of these posts in another ten years. The scary bit is I can include a reminder to self on my iPhone!
A spreadsheet Arts + All Museums Salary Transparency 2019 was put online and started circulating amongst staff in art museums and galleries last Friday morning (31 May 2019). It seeks to record the salaries of different workers in art galleries and museums around the world.
It has taken off and is now approaching warp speed! On June 3 Hyperallergic said it had 660 entries. I looked this morning and checked how many had completed it and it now has over 1800 entries meaning it has tripled in size in less than 3 days - suggesting future growth, as it goes intercontinental, will be exponential.
The data it provides includes
name of gallery or museum
role
Department
City
Country
Starting Salary
Year of Starting Salary
Current (2019) or Ending Salary
Hourly / permanent / or contingent employment
In part time how many hours per week
Benefits?
Year this salary was current
Years of experience at time of current salary listed
parental leave
and these are some of the people who are recording their salaries
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Tate in the UK
Most of the data to date currently comes from the USA - but is expanding to include people in other countries - and will continue to do so long as it is shared within personal networks.
Also note that some museums are named by type and broad location whereas others are completely transparent and name their employer.
It's now locked in terms of inputting data BUT can be updated
We've locked the Excel sheet below so that the data remains intact. New entries are still very welcome, using the Google Form link above. These are always anonymous. They will be uploaded to the sheet below once every 24 hrs. If you have any Qs or concerns, email checkthenameinthespreadsheet@gmail.com
Being locked means that the frozen pane does not seem to work - meaning that the row containing the column headings disappears off screen which is somewhat irritating - but I'm sure they'll fix that when they work out how to lock cells rather than the whole sheet.
Who started it
Here's some of the news coverage so far and some of the reasons why it came about
Michelle Millar Fisher—an assistant curator of European decorative arts and design at PMA and previously a staffer at MoMA, the Met, and the Guggenheim—created the document and posted it to her Instagram page, where she wrote: “A few years ago, thinking about transparency and the multi-vectored gaps in pay, I started sharing my salaries for each job I’ve had, from nannying to curating, every time I give a career talk. . . . Please contribute if you can.” Fisher told Artnews that she was inspired to make the spreadsheet after writer-curator Kimberly Drew disclosed previous salaries she earned at the Met, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and other institutions. Art Workers Circulate Public Spreadsheet to Promote SalaryTransparency, Reveal pay gaps | Art Forum
✊🏾 'It's Helpful to Know All Scales': Online Spreadsheet Discloses Museum Workers' Salaries https://t.co/cnrOfouTvm
Today, I shared two slides about how being undercompensated at The Met was a motivator. What I didn’t mention was the fact that I knew I was being underpaid bc @taylorcnewby was transparent about his own salary. Taylor, thank you for being an ally. pic.twitter.com/Cg9NrqQfJ3
I think the response it is getting is very likely to be instigated by those who have also looked at some of the salaries quoted for some of the top people in the organisation (see TAB 2: Top Staff Salaries) and then become outraged at the massive differentials between the top and lower down the organisation
NYT "Why You Should Tell Your Co-Workers How Much Money You Make" It’s unlawful for private sector employers to prohibit employees from discussing wages and compensation. Take advantage of that protection. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/smarter-living/pay-secrecy-national-labor-rights-act.html "Open discussion of salaries among peers and co-workers, experts said, is a powerful tool to fight pay inequity. Not only does it serve both selfish and altruistic means — it simultaneously puts you and your co-workers in a better position during salary negotiations — but pay transparency can even protect companies by “minimizing the risk of disparate treatment claims and increasing job satisfaction for workers.”"
Search for your museum's 990 to see salary listings (find under the "Schedule J" tab) https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits Podcast: Museopunks, Episode 35: Salary Transparency in Art Museums https://www.aam-us.org/2019/05/22/museopunks-episode-35/ "On September 11, 2018, the Board of Directors of the Mountain-Plains Museums Association unanimously voted to require that any jobs or paid internships posted to the MPMA Job Bank would include the level of compensation– whether salary or hourly rate. ...In this episode, we’re joined by Will Stoutamire and Lauren Hunley (both on the Board of the MPMA), and Michelle Epps, President of the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network, for a discussion about salary transparency in the museum field."
Last month, at London’s National Portrait Gallery, I was presented with the BP Young Artist Award, by BP’s CEO, Bob Dudley. It’s a prestigious award, and I was happy to receive it, but I’m not happy about being part of BP’s PR strategy. And so as a symbolic act I am donating £1000 of their prize money directly to Greenpeace projects that aim to protest BP’s further extraction of fossil fuels from the Earth. I hope this action will help keep the issue of BP’s role in climate change from being overshadowed by their contribution to the arts.
I think it is an important role of artists to represent and be critical of the context they find themselves in, regardless of where funding comes from. Art should not be a passive PR tool used by corporations to carry their name and logo. I feel it is my responsibility as an artist involved with the portrait award to voice my criticism of BP and I hope the other exhibitors and award winners agree with me.”
Apparently he likes having the title of "Young Artist of the Year", which doubtless will do his career no harm, but he doesn't like the actions of the sponsor of the awards
I was genuinely puzzled when I read this - it seemed to me to be very odd.
I would have thought that anybody who felt that strongly about the actions of BP would never have entered the competition in the first place - on principle.
I came up with a number of explanations
Maybe this sentiment only arose after criticism from family and/or friends and/or the public - and that's why he now needs to make this announcement?
Maybe it's being photographed next to Bob Dudley with an award with the BP logo on it that caused the change of mind?
I did a little bit of digging on his Facebook and Instagram accounts and it turns out there is no question Henry Christian-Slane really is an eco-warrior (see Instagram post below). His other Instagram posts suggest he cares a very great deal about reef systems - so maybe the last suggested explanation was in fact the trigger for his donation.
The major difference between when I started writing about art funding generally and now is the huge cut in public funding for the arts in general and art in particular over the past few years (it must be at least 25% if not more)
We're now living in an age where sponsorship by major corporate bodies or very rich individuals (and how did they get their money?) is absolutely essential to the well-being of art collections, art galleries and museums and art competitions.
My view is clear - as stated back in 2015.
I'll state my case up front. I really am not in the least bit bothered by BP's sponsorship of art galleries and museums. I'm far more concerned about:
fossil fuel companies behaving in a social responsible manner
those trying to repair their reputation paying a fair price to society for the privilege of being associated with a prestigious art gallery or museum which only exists due to generous state support.
Of course I'd rather that energy sources came from renewable sources. However until somebody makes energy consumption from non-fossil fuel a cost effective and efficient proposition for most of the companies and families in the UK (and elsewhere) I don't see much alternative to the continued use of fossil fuels.
That in turn means oil companies will be looking for ways of sanitising their image - and offers a wonderful opportunity for sponsorship - so long as this is at the right price.
What do you think
Are all artists eco-warriors? Should they be?
Do other artists who entered (or thought about entering) or were selected for the BP Portrait Award agree with Henry Christian-Slane and his actions?
I'll also restate the questions I asked back in 2014
here's some questions to ponder on:
Should BP be sponsoring the Arts in this country - and why (or why not)?
Do you think exhibitions/competitions etc would suffer if BP funding was no longer available?
Do you think another company would fill the gap if BP no longer funded art?
Do you think any substitute sponsor would be better or worse than BP?
It's worth thinking about what the alternative might be. For example - supposing a Russian Oligarch whose money was generated by the oil industry were to invest in improving his profile in this country, might we be back at where we came in - or worse?
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. I'm really interested - and it's a question which is not going to go away....
This is what Jonathan Jones thinks - after reminding us all that the first sponsor of the Portrait award was John Player - the tobacco company!
It seems it’s always the controversial businesses that spend on the arts – the saintly ones don’t crave the publicity. Today it would be unimaginable for museums to take tobacco money. Perhaps museums need to find the next sponsors who need to clean up a dodgy image – soft drinks giants, maybe?
