Artquest

Artquest is the first port of call for visual artists and craftspeople when creating new work, trying to exhibit and sell work, manage your career or thinking about working internationally.  Perhaps you need a bit of training, or are looking for national and international opportunities?  We can also give you free online legal advice or show you people who can help with money and funding.

Artquest News

Fifzine is an online networking site focusing on visual arts practice, operating across the creative disciplines. Users can upload, manage and browse their work online, providing a platform to collaborate and develop their practice with a network of like-minded creative practitioners.

Fifzine also acts as a link between its community and businesses seeking to work with the very best in contemporary practice. More than simply a window to browse talent, Fifzine’s newly developed Marketplace system also provides organisations and businesses with the tools to discover, access and work with artistic talent. The development of Marketplace will bring mutual benefits to businesses and artists offering them a managed and fair structure for them to exploit their work and expertise.

Artquest is delighted to be entering into a partnership with Fifzine for the benefit of London’s professional artists watch this space for further developments in this collaboration.


Artquest's Artlaw archive has been voted the 'best legal fun on the web' by Guardian blogger Ana Finel Honigman.  She talks about Artlaw author Henry Lydiate's warmth and humour, advising that 'anyone not in a panic over some legal problem would be advised to simply read him for pleasure'.  You can read the whole blog on the Guardian website.


Mycake is an online book-keeping and benchmarking service for visual artists and craftspeople.  As part of Artquest’s commitment to encouraging London’s creative practitioners to become more self-reliant, proactive and professional, we’ve teamed up with Mycake to bring you the Mycake pilot project.  More information is available on the Mycake page.


Artquest has selected Will Clifford, Ruth Beale, Jaimini Patel, Veronqie Chance and Helen Rousseau as lead artists for Forum 2007/2008.  The Forum project begins in September 2007 and ends in March 2008.

News

Design and Artists Copyright Society Royalties Report 07
DACS has released its royalties report for 2007 outlining their progress for the year. It has paid an impressive total of more than 6 million in royalties to 14,500 individuals. These monies have been paid out through their three main services: Payback, Artists Resale Right and Copyright Licensing. Also outlined in the report are future plans for service improvement including reduction of administration charges and the development of an online 'My DACS’ account for art market professionals tailored to their specific needs. To read the full report click here and go to the 'About DACS' section.

Fine Artists and Innovation Research Project.
Central Saint Martins is undertaking a research project, funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), to analyse the working lives of fine art graduates. This project will analyse the career profiles of fine arts graduates to investigate how their creativity contributes to innovation in the wider economy. This research will help to fill a significant gap in their understanding of how artists work, how this feeds into the wider economy and how this has changed over time.  Central Saint Martins hopes the findings will help inform both policymakers and educators about the issues facing artists.
All online survey responses will remain anonymous and be used internally for the research project; your details will not feature in any research output or be communicated to anyone unless you give explicit permission. Click here to take the survey.

Sir Brian McMaster has finished a report entitled Supporting the Arts: From Measurement to Judgement.  This 29-page report and recommendations outlines a possible future direction for Arts Council England, commissioned as it is by DCMS, the government department that funds ACE.  Among the recommendations are that at least two artists should be on every regularly funded organisation board, a greater focus on internationalism (with ACE working with the British Council and DCMS) and a new focus on risk-taking and excellence rather than a target-led allocation of funds.  As recommendations, they still need to filter through the DCMS and ACE structures, so don't hold your breath for sudden changes in either institution.

After the sudden resignation of Peter Hain and subsequent promotion of James Purnell from the DCMS to DWP, Andrew Burnham, MP for Leigh in Liverpool, has been appointed the new Secretary of State for Culture.  Without much information on his voting record on cultural issues, it remains to be seen where Burnham will take his new portfolio.

The Creative Industries Observatory (CIO) at London College of Communication is conducting an international research project concerned with the activity and location of creative industry organizations and their participants and they are looking for as many London-based creative businesses to participate.  Fill in the CIO survey online.
 
In exchange for participation, CIO offers:

1. An invitation to an evening reception later on in the year, in which the results will be showcased, with the chance to network with other invited companies, policy makers, academics and practitioners.
2. A subscription to their website which includes an online newspaper "Creative News", providing a forum for people in the industry and topical information on events, activities and trends in the creative sectors.
3. Entry into a prize draw to win £250 worth of Amazon gift vouchers. 

All information will be treated confidentially and all research will be presented anonymously. Please contact CIO’s research team on 020 7514 2181 if you have any further questions.  

Know of a news item that Artquest might be interested in?  Email us at info@artquest.org.uk with a link and some information.

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