© Copyright AA2A Ltd Oct 2019

‘Making it out there’ AA2A’s guide for students and graduates

This digital pack aims to provide students and new graduates with contacts,

recommendations and tips to help them understand and navigate the art world

Thanks to all our artists, who have been working alongside students at universities

across the country and have given their time and advice generously to help us produce

this pack, in the hope that you would feel inspired to carry on ‘Making it out there!’

AA2A is funded by the institutions and…

helping artists realise their ambitions and students visualise their future

1 Cover - intro, ‘thanks’ and funders credits 2 Contents - this page! 3 Artists Top Tips - useful and inspiring advice from AA2A Artists

4 AA2A - Artists Access to Art Colleges - over 50 artist and designer-maker placements in 14 institutions across England

5 Self-employment - intro to finance, legal requirements and tax

6 Self-employment - benefits, New Enterprise Allowance, Gov.uk website and HMRC

7 a-n & Artists Union - artists’ organisations providing networking, resources, insurance and rates of pay

8 Axisweb & Saatchi Art - online visual arts directories, exhibitions, sales and art hire

9 Studio Groups & Open Studios - artists studio providers and Open Studios network

10 DACS & ArtQuest - copyright protection, ‘Payback’ and legal advice

11 Exhibitions, Education & Competitions - showing and selling work: running workshops and awards

12 Listings & Crowdsourcing - opportunities listings and crowdsourcing - ways to find work and fund projects

13 Arts Council England - and other national funding bodies

14 Crafts Council & Craft Central - designer-makers development, opportunities and business training

15 Careers services & Alumni - national and local advice: Alumni and Post Grad access

16 Other career options - teaching (PGCE and salaried training) : MAs, PhDs and arts related jobs

17 Support organisations for self-employment - where to go for help and advice

18 Pack information - AA2A contact details : Copyright statement and permitted use of this pack

CONTENTS

Artists Top Tips

Be confident to make approaches

to national organisations, and

always ask questions when you

don't understand Fiona Candy

On graduation, get involved with as many design and art related projects as possible - get stuck into all opportunities straight away Rachel Horne

Do something every day, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Stay engaged. Draw, see a show, look at your work. Just don’t stop

Alexandra Harley

Network! … the more people you know, the more opportunities will occur Adrian Baynes

Try to be creative about

everything, even your

business cards and CV

Wendy Mason (AA2A)

Don’t stop working after your degree. In interviews the fact that you are already busy with something will demonstrate your commitment Lubna Din

Stay passionate,

make mistakes and

keep on keeping on Sophie McIntosh

Believe in yourself Denise Swanson

Be brave - you never know

where it might lead Joanna Atherton

Creative people are the only

truly free people. Don’t let life

get in the way of your passion

Elizabeth Brownsword

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Tiago Duarte Uni of Central Lancashire Tiago is originally from Portugal. He describes AA2A as “a healthy and positive scheme, which reinforces connections with the local art communities”

• Join our mailing list for newsletters and info on next year’s schemes

• Get more from AA2A by becoming one of our Student Reps

our aa2a artists advice

© Copyright AA2A Ltd Nov 2019 page 4

things to do…

AA2A Artists Access to Art Colleges

AA2A enables artists to continue their practice in an environment that is both stimulating, informative and filled with opportunities to forge new connections with peers, students & art professionals

Any graduate can apply the year after they finish studying and some MA and BA graduates can apply straight after graduation. Whether you’re an artist or a designer-maker you can apply to any one of the institutions who host schemes across England. Applications are made directly to each Uni or College who then select their four artists - see our how to apply page.

These placements are like mini residencies, giving you at least 100 hours of access to workshops, library lending rights, some lectures etc. Running from Oct to April, the schemes are really flexible, so you can arrange your access hours around other commitments, such as part-time jobs. AA2A also helps their artists if they’re on benefits or a low income with some expenses (up to £350). AA2A Artists usually offer to do presentations, technical demonstrations or Q&A sessions for students as part of their scheme. Many institutions arrange exhibitions, which can be particularly valuable for your profile early in your career. AA2A also has places for two Student Reps per institution, who meet artists and help to spread the word to other students

All Artists and Student Reps have webpages on the networking area of our site so they can blog and upload images. We also promote their work through ‘Pic of the Week’ and post a ‘Tip of the Week’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Four of our Unis have AA2A Facebook peer support groups for students and graduates interested in self-employment. Four Unis also provide additional easy access to local museums, galleries and archives through our ‘AA2A Plus Collections’ project

https://aa2a.biz

AA2A works with Diversity Champions to ensure we keep our opportunities relevant and accessible to all. Our thanks to all our Champions - Shape, Flow The Art House, Dash, Accentuate, and National Black Arts Alliance for helping promote AA2A

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Susie Olczak Anglia Ruskin University Susie exhibits internationally and trained to teach English as a foreign language to support her practice

My advice to new graduates is... find

flexible work to allow you to keep

making and just to stick with it. Keep

plodding on and the benefits will come

• Have a look at page 19 for loads of support for the self-employed

• Talk to someone who’s self-employed

our aa2a artists advice

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things to do…

Self-employment ...and maybe a part time job too

Self-employment is the simplest type of ‘business’. Also known as ‘sole traders’, most of us stay small but you can also have employees and expand. You can work with other self-employed friends on projects and simply invoice each other for work done. The main difference between you and a limited company, is that you and your business / finances are not separated for tax purposes. Most artists have a job (as an employee) as well as being self-employed, as this provides a regular income, which can be useful if your self-employed income is low or variable. Like all taxpayers, you won’t pay income tax on the first *£12,500 you earn, but you will need to pay National Insurance of £3 week once your profits reach £6,365 a year. You’ll also pay 9% ‘NI’ when earning over £8,632. VAT usually only affects those earning over £85,000 a year. Self-employment is not as complicated as you might think. If you can fill in a form and are prepared to phone a helpline for advice, then you’ll be fine. You don’t have to have an accountant or even a separate bank account. In fact there are only three actual legal requirements. First you must register as self-employed using a simple form. Second, you must record what you earn and spend, so you can fill in a ‘Self Assessment’ tax form once a year and finally, you must pay any tax you owe. Once you’ve made the decision to go self-employed, try to give it three years. The first year you’ll be learning the ropes, the second, you’ll have dealt with self-assessment and your first tax bill and by the third year, you’ll know if it’s for you. * figures given are for April 2019-20

www.hmrc.gov.uk/courses

HMRC videos on YouTube

www.startupdonut.co.uk

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Louise Cattrell Louise is a painter and print-maker. As well as being a member of DACS she has been on three AA2A schemes since 2002

DACS is marvellous. I joined, not only

for the Copyright advice and protection

but I also signed up for ‘Payback’, so

they send me a cheque every year

Artquest …including Artlaw

• Find the Copyright © symbol on your computer and use it

• If you’re a member of an organisation like DACS, list this on your CV

• Try to get your work in a magazine or book so you can claim ‘Payback’

Artquest has 2,000 pages of free information. Their ’How to..’ pages range from Censorship to Peer Mentoring and some information is specifically aimed at graduates. It has an extensive legal advice section, with articles from Artlaw (try the FAQs page). They also have a free newsletter

our aa2a artists advice

www.artquest.org.uk

www.dacs.org.uk

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things to do…

DACS Design and Artists Copyright Society

Registering with DACS is free. They simply keep a percentage of the royalties collected on your behalf to cover their costs if you want them to look after the licensing of your artwork (e.g. if your images are to be used on commercial greetings cards) or if your work is reproduced without your permission. Eligible artists also benefit from legal advice about copyright issues. DACS also administer the Payback fund. If your work has been in a book, magazine, TV or some online publications, you can claim a share of the £4 million+ fund (which comes mainly from photocopying licensing revenue). The form is easy to fill in and if you qualify, the minimum you’ll get each year is around £30 and the average payment to artists is over £250. You can claim for the same published work every year. Payback is usually open for claims in August and September. DACS also administer the Artists Resale Right. If your artwork is sold through galleries or dealers and has been resold for over €1,000 you may be entitled to a percentage of the sale price.

Established by artists for artists, DACS is a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation

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Pack information

This pack is licensed for use by AA2A host Universities, for circulation to their students during the academic year 2019-20

• Current AA2A & our ‘Engage’ artists can get a free copy by contacting us

• If you don’t qualify for a free pack, buy one for £5.95 from our website

• Only students at the AA2A host institutions listed may use licensed packs

• Under Copyright law, no part of this pack should be reproduced, posted or shared on social media, unless done as part of a license agreement

• This digital pack has embedded links and is not designed to be printed

• This pack is updated at least once a year and to the best of our knowledge, information was correct when last updated in Oct 2019

Disclaimer Please use this pack for guidance only and always

check details before acting on any of the advice given

For more info on AA2A’s employability support packages visit our website or contact :

Wendy Mason, AA2A National Director email:  aa2aproject@gmail.com

AA2A Ltd is a Social Enterprise Company dedicated to running the AA2A project web:  https://aa2a.biz   Facebook   Twitter Instagram

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