As well as the obvious costs of rent and exhibition costs, you may also need to consider business rates if you are in a commercial property, commissions costs and exhibition fees for artists – perhaps even trying to pay yourself.

Many artist-led spaces fund part of their costs by letting sections of their properties to artists for studio space, such as thenow defunct 1000000mph in London or Studio Voltaire.  At the very least, a good aim is to have the space pay for itself, and many spaces will ask for donations from artists to fund their show, or help them with applications for project funding.

You can apply for project funding (not for running costs) from Arts Council England, but their recent budget cuts of 35% plus a cap on regularly funded organisations makes this increasingly difficult.

In April 2009 the Department for Communities and Local Government has announced plans for grants for the creative use of vacant shops, but no application or other information has yet been announced.

Other sources of funding can be found in the Money section of this site.

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