Our projects gather intelligence about how and why artists work to create new resources and insight. We use this to build new programmes with our partners, as well as gaining a better understanding of how we can help artists meet their ambition.

Artquest is a programme of University of the Arts London supported by funds from Arts Council England.

Our core programme includes hand-picked opportunity listings, resources covering all aspects of an artists career, internships and residencies, seed funding for peer mentoring groups, monthly advisory studio visits, discounts on workshop facilities, free online legal advice, a free online studio exchange service, and various resources for new graduates and art school tutors.

We do not charge membership fees, our core services are provided free of charge, and many of our projects provide funding for artists development. The whole programme is delivered by three artists working part-time for Artquest, alongside around 80 freelance artists each year.

Recent projects have focussed on the needs of artist-parents, the impact of urban regeneration, the motivation to pursue a career as an artist in the face of very low incomes, the place of higher education as both employer and trainer of artists, and the opportunities and threats created by increased technological change. All of our projects tell us how artists work and the barriers they face: we use this insight to generate new supportive projects, and share our research with policymakers and advocacy campaigns so they can better support artists too. We work with dozens of partner organisations to eliminate duplication and promote joint projects.

All of our content (except Artlaw) is distributed under a Creative Commons non-commercial, attribution, share-alike license – please reuse our content.

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Artquest is a programme of University of the Arts London (UAL) and national portfolio sector support organisation of Arts Council England (ACE).

Our staff are:

Nick Kaplony: after graduating from Camberwell College of Art and having worked as assistant curator at the Arts Gallery London and Pump House Gallery Nick joined the Artquest team in June 2007. Nick is a practicing artist and freelance curator. His areas of expertise include: education and community projects; exhibition marketing; curating; the public gallery sector; funding applications.

Russell Martin: a graduate of The Glasgow School of Art who has lived in London since 1998. Initially working in gallery education, his self-initiated projects include workshops, residencies, peer mentoring, artist-led galleries, radio programmes, and a series of interdisciplinary arts social events. Russell is also a member of the board at Block 336 and City and Guilds of London Art School, and is an advisor for PRAKSIS, an artist residency in Oslo. His areas of expertise include: peer mentoring projects; artist-led spaces; education and community projects; funding applications and general presentation skills; artists networks; negotiation.

Tom Pope: graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2011 and has worked extensively in education and events before joining Artquest in September 2018. His areas of expertise include: gallery education, commissions, arts events, private funding and sponsorship. Tom’s artistic practice combines performative strategies with photography in a collaborative and playful manner, while additionally undertaking large scale participatory performance projects.

Front page image kindly provided by Michael Heeny.