Memorandum submitted by Sarah Thelwall
I am a freelance strategist who works in the
UK Art Market. I work on two levels 1) supply chain development
initiatives and research projects 2) hands on organisational and
artist development.
This written evidence sets out my understanding
of:
— The basic structure of the market(s).
— Key barriers to sector development.
— Suggested future developments.
UK ART MARKET—STRUCTURE
& DEFINITIONS
The UK Art Market is in fact split into two
main areas—art as product and art as service. The market
for art as product operates differently at the top and bottom
ends (defined by price and re-saleability). The market for resale
of art goods (via auction houses etc) only exists at the top end
of the market. These markets are approximated below:
Art as Product—This covers the market
for art objects across all media and covers both permanent acquisitions
(to public or private collections or for domestic use) and loans
and residencies connected to exhibitions of art objects.
Art as Service—This covers the market
for the skills and resources that artists provide. It is as broad
as the skills supplied by trained individuals who, upon leaving
art college, choose to work in the Creative Industries. It is
as focused as the provision of services through galleries such
as fulfillment of commissions, residencies and provision of educational
programme content.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
The UK art market has grown significantly over
the past decade. The most notable developments are:
— The top end of the "Art as Product"
market is demonstrating significant and ongoing growth from the
position it occupied a decade ago. The most prominent marker of
which is the ability of the UK market (artists, dealers and collectors)
draw sufficient international collectors to it to justify the
risk of establishing Frieze Art Fair in London.
— Relationships between publicly funded
galleries and collectors continue to grow as this provides an
alternative acquisition route (ie bequests) by which the galleries
can acquire key pieces of contemporary art.
— The retailing of art goods for domestic
use is also showing significant growth both in London and beyond
as seen in the success of individual retailers such as Art Lounge
(Birmingham) and The Biscuit Factory (Newcastle) but also seen
in the ongoing success of The Affordable Art Fair (London).
— Growth of "Art as Service"
as gallery education programmes expand.
— Growth of "Art as Service"
as artists find more demand for their skill set as the Creative
Industries grow.
BARRIERS TO
GROWTH
The "art as product" market faces
barriers to growth which may be summarised as follows:
Top End:
— Lack of appropriate trade association
for commercial gallerists hampers ability of the sector to interface
with DTI and prevents it from making use of export assistance.
— Lack of code of practice between
elements of the market requires participants to learn by their
mistakes which mitigates against sector development.
— Insufficient funds for and patchy
acquisitions of contemporary art by publicly funded galleries
often results in key works being sold to collectors and galleries
abroad.
— Inappropriateness of acquisition
models in public galleries—models that can no longer accommodate
or reward the risk involved in buying the works of young artists.
— Lack of business skills and market
knowledge amongst artists due to lack of coverage of these areas
in HEI's.
Lower end:
— Lack of business skills amongst artists
means that few have the skills needed to sell direct to buyers
nor do they have the skills required to establish sufficient B2B
relationships with art retailers to provide them with a sensible
level of income.
The "art as service" market faces
barriers to growth which are largely related to the appropriateness
of the skill sets that artists develop whilst at art college.
There is presently little emphasis given to the skills that they
need to manage their portfolio careers or to take a proactive
stance upon their career development as artists.
OVERALL DEVELOPMENT
All elements of the market are reacting to this
market growth. Clearly the focus of activities for artists, dealers,
collectors, public galleries and funders are different. There
are however a number of initiatives that would deliver value to
across the board. These include:
— Improvements in data collection objectives,
methodologies and processes so that these better reflect the goals
of the participating elements, structures of the market and are
better placed to provide ongoing & easily replenished statistics.
— Professionalisation & development
of key elements of the supply chain.
— Recognition by key sector support
bodies that this market is within their remit eg Arts Council
England, Creative Industries Development Agencies, Regional Development
Agencies, Small Business Service.
— Support for mechanisms that bring
together the expertise held in the current continuing professional
development organisations in the visual arts with the scale and
resources of the Business Link network to improve access to such
support.
— Support for key representative bodies
eg a trade association for contemporary dealers in the primary
art market, support of the trade association for artists (National
Artist Network).
— Support of the professional development
group for artists (Artists Professional Development Network).
— Support of an initiative for the
professional development of gallerists and dealers.
— Development of best practice within
the sector for artists, public galleries and dealers and their
interactions with each other.
— Better use or more appropriate SIC
codes and a separate index for the Art Market in the Creative
Industries would be particularly useful in the improvement of
the data on the sector.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion the UK art market continues to
demonstrate significant growth in all areas. There is the appetite
within the sector to develop the infrastructure and practices
that support it. There are a number of changes that, if made,
could make quantum leap differences to the efficiency with which
the supply chain operates. Such changes could be expected to be
well received by the majority of organisations and individuals
in the sector.
February 2005
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