signposting & interesting info

There are many brilliant areas of research and analysis currently being undertaken, not just into studios but also into the creative industries as a whole, the issue of social mobility, impact of austerity and reduced funding for the visual arts. Here are some links you may find interesting:

Creative Culture and Connection - responses from arts and cultural organisations on the Covid-19 crisis

Getting in and Getting on - class participation and job quality in the UK Creative Industries, led by Nesta.

The Ecology of Culture - A report commissioned by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Cultural Value Project, John Holden.

Resilience is Futile - Corridor8 and YVAN, Spring Summer 2019.

PAINC! It’s an Arts Emergency - Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries.

Artist Workspace Study

The Artist Workspace Advisory Group met at the GLA for almost eight years, before being absorbed into the Workspace Advisory Group. The Artist Workspace Advisory Group flagged the issue of spaces being lost throughout London as building leases came to an end and requested an urgent audit of London’s artist studios. The group also flagged the challenges of asset ownership for the sector and asked the GLA to consider possible methods of affording the sector repayable seed funding so that studio providers could secure buildings in perpetuity. This report was the first step in evaluating London’s artist studio provision and estimating the forecast loss the sector would experience.

Revisted 2018

The GLA revisited the workspace challenges in 2018. The audit scope was altered and space providers not previously surveyed were included in the report making it difficult to directly compare to the 2014 study. Actual loss of affordable space in London is higher than this report indicates. Alongside this study research was undertaken to consider how to support the finance of permanent studios. The sector continued to request seed funding. The GLA took the direction to form the Creative Land Trust. For the CLT to be a public and philanthropically funded vehicle to own assets that would then be made available to studio providers to operate as artist studios. The sector still needs seed finance and we warmly welcome conversations to progress that need being fulfilled.

World Cities culture report 2018

How the world is responding to the consistent pattern of commercial property pressures forcing artists out of cultural centres is fascinating. Look out for these reports and others. Canada are particularly progressive.

If you have an interesting report you would like to list here please let us know via the contact page. This is a resource we want to grow for everyone’s benefit. All contributors to LAASN give their time for free.