An inquiry into artists’ pay and conditions in the public sector in response to the Artist Leaks data.
This report into artists’ pay and working conditions published by Industria and a-n The Artists Information Company reveals the extent of underpayment of artists in the UK’s public art sector. Structurally F–cked draws its title and data from testimonies gathered through Artist Leaks, an anonymous online survey of visual artists conducted by Industria.
The testimonies also reveal how artists, especially those from less privileged backgrounds, have been forced to sustain multiple additional jobs to subsidise poorly paid commissions in the public art sector, or have decided to leave the artworld entirely to protect their mental health and financial security. This supports recent data by the Office for National Statistics which reveals a rapidly shrinking proportion of working-class people in the creative sector.
Structurally F–cked concludes with proposals for new ways in which publicly funded institutions can better work with artists. It calls for commissioners to commit immediately to paying artists at least minimum wage and work towards the introduction of an ‘artists and freelancers’ living wage. It also appeals for a radical shift in transparency in the sector by asking institutions to provide breakdowns of ‘lump sums’ into hourly and daily rates.