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From Susan Jones, Director of Programmes, a-n The Artists Information Company
Charles Morgan?s sound-off (AP issue 90, 31 January) strikes a chord in the light of our research into arts council and regional arts board recommendations on artists? rates of pay for residencies and community projects between 1989 and now (see the full research report at http://www.a-n.co.uk). This reveals that arts council officers? salaries have increased in real terms by 41% whilst artists are a mere 2% better off. If Arts Council England truly believes that ?artists are the life-source for our work? (Ambitions for the Arts 2003), why have actual levels of reward for artists been so meagre? And why was the £150 rate, established for 2000 Year of the Artist (a year that was supposed to create a legacy in the form of a real change in artists? professional status), still in place in 2004, until we made the case for an increase? Like many arts organisations at the time, we raised concerns that the framework for the new Arts Council was flawed and would foster fragmentation at a time when the visual arts needed a support infrastructure that is dynamic and values practice, rather than the demands of ?instrumentality?. It?s time for ACE to listen to the sector?s experts.