Case studies: Beyond the Campus
Artist's career development as joint knowledge exchange: Artquest and University of the Arts LondonArtquest is an artist career development programme and valuable knowledge directory for artists in Higher Education and beyond.
The initiative launched in 2001 in partnership with University of the Arts London (UAL), where it has since engaged in organising alumni events, offering professional development guest lectures and guidelines as well as facilitating DIY workshops and networking events. Artquest's online services are open to artists anywhere in the world, and include an extensive 'Art Directory' with links to funding, residencies and resources, among others, and practical guidelines under the heading 'How to', explaining artist's survival tactics, marketing processes and legal issues. Additionally, the website offers information and links about international art scenes (Artroute) organised by continent and country. This is a handy tool for researching potential residencies and funding opportunities abroad, as well as fully utilising the site's international social network Artelier. Artelier is an international studio exchange network which enables artists to safely and securely negotiate studio and apartment exchanges online. |
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Artquest's offline programme is not restricted to UAL students and alumni – it is accessible to visual artists in England regardless of where or whether they have studied at all. Artist's can benefit through a wide range of career development and self-promotion workshops, artist's talks and other London based projects that have emerged through Artquest (List of projects).
Future Map 14, an annual exhibition featuring the best emerging talent from University of the Arts London, is a great example of a project advocated by Artquest. This year the showcase is launched with a stand at London’s global art fair Art14 from 28 Feb to 2 March 2014. Artquest currently curates a talks programme to be delivered alongside the showcase, considering different facets of professional practice necessary to maintain an artists career and explores approaches to achieve success. They believe that "Future Map can be an important first career break for young artists and designers, providing an introduction to top UK and international gallerists, curators, collectors and critics".
Future Map 14, an annual exhibition featuring the best emerging talent from University of the Arts London, is a great example of a project advocated by Artquest. This year the showcase is launched with a stand at London’s global art fair Art14 from 28 Feb to 2 March 2014. Artquest currently curates a talks programme to be delivered alongside the showcase, considering different facets of professional practice necessary to maintain an artists career and explores approaches to achieve success. They believe that "Future Map can be an important first career break for young artists and designers, providing an introduction to top UK and international gallerists, curators, collectors and critics".
Interview with Russell Martin, Programme Manager
Beyond the Campus had the opportunity to talk with Russell Martin, Programme Manager at Artquest, about the importance of professional development knowledge in the arts and his organisation's relationship with University of the Arts London:
Why is professional development knowledge so important for the success of emerging visual artists?
Artists at all stages in their careers need to understand the changing context in which they will operate - some of this they learn from actually being artists and from friends, with some deeper knowledge from services such as Artquest. We’ve found that many artists don’t want to learn everything about being an artist - all the business and fundraising skills, for example - and instead prefer to barter these with other artists in return for services they can provide.
London, with a high cost-of-living and a lower than £10k annual median wage for artists make for an extremely challenging environment: competition between the huge number of artists living and working here is offset by the enormous amount of opportunity. A specific service that understands these needs, and links artists to wider regional, national and international practice, is vital for the artistic health of the capital.
How does UAL integrate your pool of expertise and knowledge into their academic programmes?
We work within Student Enterprise and Employability (SEE: see.arts.ac.uk), itself a part of the Centre for Learning and Teaching in Art and Design (CLTAD), which both focus on the student experience and preparing graduates for professional life. We provide professional development talks to colleges in UAL, as well as taking part in annual graduate events such as Artsmart, Futuremap and the Creative Enterprise Week. We’re currently working on some professional development teaching materials for fine art courses, which we’ll be testing at UAL and then providing for free to all art schools.
How does Artquest benefit from the research activities at UAL?
UAL has a very large research area; in the coming year, we’re looking to pilot new research into artists livelihoods and the motivations behind artistic practice, specifically putting money into the context of other reasons artists give for practicing. UAL Research can help us find researchers, complete and manage funds, and disseminate our research throughout HEIs.
Are there any operational benefits from collaborating with UAL?
Without our UAL partnership, Artquest would need to raise an additional £100k in operating expenses - but more than the simple financial benefits, we gain access to over 3,000 professional artists who teach across UAL, finding out what they need from our service and finding ways to provide it. We're also able to contact new graduates, maintaining our service for visual artists at all stages in their careers, wherever they studied, or even if they’re self-taught.
(Edited by Silvie Jacobi)
Why is professional development knowledge so important for the success of emerging visual artists?
Artists at all stages in their careers need to understand the changing context in which they will operate - some of this they learn from actually being artists and from friends, with some deeper knowledge from services such as Artquest. We’ve found that many artists don’t want to learn everything about being an artist - all the business and fundraising skills, for example - and instead prefer to barter these with other artists in return for services they can provide.
London, with a high cost-of-living and a lower than £10k annual median wage for artists make for an extremely challenging environment: competition between the huge number of artists living and working here is offset by the enormous amount of opportunity. A specific service that understands these needs, and links artists to wider regional, national and international practice, is vital for the artistic health of the capital.
How does UAL integrate your pool of expertise and knowledge into their academic programmes?
We work within Student Enterprise and Employability (SEE: see.arts.ac.uk), itself a part of the Centre for Learning and Teaching in Art and Design (CLTAD), which both focus on the student experience and preparing graduates for professional life. We provide professional development talks to colleges in UAL, as well as taking part in annual graduate events such as Artsmart, Futuremap and the Creative Enterprise Week. We’re currently working on some professional development teaching materials for fine art courses, which we’ll be testing at UAL and then providing for free to all art schools.
How does Artquest benefit from the research activities at UAL?
UAL has a very large research area; in the coming year, we’re looking to pilot new research into artists livelihoods and the motivations behind artistic practice, specifically putting money into the context of other reasons artists give for practicing. UAL Research can help us find researchers, complete and manage funds, and disseminate our research throughout HEIs.
Are there any operational benefits from collaborating with UAL?
Without our UAL partnership, Artquest would need to raise an additional £100k in operating expenses - but more than the simple financial benefits, we gain access to over 3,000 professional artists who teach across UAL, finding out what they need from our service and finding ways to provide it. We're also able to contact new graduates, maintaining our service for visual artists at all stages in their careers, wherever they studied, or even if they’re self-taught.
(Edited by Silvie Jacobi)