Research

Creative Scotland is seeking to address the inconsistency in rates of pay for freelancers across its funding programmes.

Although it does not set rates of pay itself, Scotland's arts funding body said it wants to ensure that industry-standard rates are equitably and consistently applied.

Alastair Evans, Interim Director, Strategy at Creative Scotland said: “Creative Scotland is committed, through any activities we support, to ensure that artists and professionals working in the creative sector are paid fairly with appropriate terms and conditions and employment opportunities.”

Research to identify key priorities for change is being carried out by consultancy practice Culture Radar and Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University.

They are currently seeking 'sector representatives' who have either made or been included in Creative Scotland funding applications, to contribute online to rates of pay consultations between 27 February - 2 March 2023. 

Evans added: “We encourage as many people as possible working across the industry to contribute to this important piece of work.

“This research will help to create the conditions for more meaningful and sustainable opportunities to work across, and progress through, the sector.”

A project collating the diversity of arts and humanities research infrastructure in the UK is underway.

The Mapping the Arts and Humanities Project is being conducted by the School of Advanced Study, a postgraduate institution of the University of London.

It plans to capture the institutes, centres and networks supporting arts and humanities research across the country, to produce an interactive tool that will allow researchers to connect with potential collaborators outside of their existing networks.

The project teams also hopes the interactive tool will be used by policymakers to locate where policy-relevant expertise is concentrated, and external organisations to identify academic partners.

Dean of the School of Advanced Study and Chair of the Mapping the Arts and Humanities project board, Professor Jo Fox, said that despite having access to more information than ever before, research networks in the arts and humanities can still be hard to find.

“Our new map will provide a consolidated source of information that will help us all to find and connect with research activity more easily, and boost visibility for research infrastructure across the country.”

The project team have already collected hundreds of pieces of research infrastructure across the country but say they “have only just scratched the surface”. 

The final map is expected to launch in November this year, with the project team planning to share interim findings and insights from the mapping process on the project’s blog. 

Almost nine in 10 gallery leaders are concerned about their organisation’s future due to the cost-of-living crisis, according to new research by Ecclesiastical.

The heritage insurer’s study surveyed 100 decision makers working in art galleries and found 86% are concerned about their organisation’s future. 

More than three-quarters (77%) said they need to drastically cut costs to survive, with 80% saying they will need to prioritise innovation.

In response to the cost-of-living crisis, almost half of respondents (49%) said they are making staff redundancies, 48% said they are reducing opening hours and 45% are seeking new suppliers.
 
Nearly half (44%) said their gallery will be opening on fewer days, while 43% said they will have to limit the rooms that are open and heated.

Customer Segment Director at Ecclesiastical Insurance Faith Kitchen said the arts sector is facing “unprecedented economic uncertainty”.

“Art galleries are having to face huge challenges, and many are looking at ways they can cut costs while still maintaining visitor numbers. Our research shows art galleries are having to make difficult decisions including making staff redundancies and reducing opening hours to reduce costs.”