Accessing Government Support Schemes with Julie Lomax
Julie Lomax was appointed as CEO of a-n The Artists Information Company in 2018, after having previously worked as the Director of Development at Liverpool Biennial, Director of Visual Arts at Australia Council for the Arts, ad Director of Visual Arts for Arts Council England. She is also currently the chair of The Showroom, as well as on AWITA’s Executive Committee. Julie spoke with our members about various avenues for funding at this time, from both the perspective as CEO of a-n, who are leading an industry response in relation to the impact of Covid-19 on the art sector, but also from the perspective of running an art business as a Chair.
Julie opened her discussion by calling back to a panel she was part of in December 2008. “Patronise Me” was hosted at the ICA in London, shortly after Damien Hirst’s record breaking £111 million sale at Sotheby’s in December 2008, but also in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse on September 15th 2008, widely considered to be a trigger for the global financial crisis of that period. At the time, Julie was the Director of Visual Arts for Arts Council England, and apprehensive about what she could contribute to the panel alongside figures such as Sarah Thornton, author of Seven Days in the Art World. Before the panel, Julie spoke of these concerns with Chris Dercon, the then Director of the Tate Modern. His response was that Julie had the most to contribute to the conversation, for:
“in times of crisis like this, the state is sexy. You’re the ones that will save the artists”
It is from this point, that Julie wants to view public funding and its role in crisis periods, such as our current public health crisis. The issues and solutions raised in 2008, such as models of financing and public funding, are still applicable in this new crisis. There is also a far more significant move towards charity, as highlighted by Hirst’s new artworks, rainbow prints raising for charity as well as raising spirits.
Julie highlighted that there are several different support schemes available, for businesses, for the self-employed, as well as for artists - each of these of course with their own limitations.
“Artists are at the heart of our business and our work and much like the advice we get on airplane journeys to put on our oxygen mask before we help others, we need to get these on pretty quickly so we can assist the artists we work with so they can sustain their creative practise through this crisis.”
Between the 19th and 24th of March 2020, a-n produced a survey to understand the initial impact of Covid-19 on artists. With over 4,000 responses, the image was stark: 92% of respondents reported that they had had work cancelled as a result of Covid-19, with 60% reporting a 50% drop in income. Since this survey was released, lockdown has been introduced, there has been widespread suspension of travel and closures or postponements of exhibitions, Biennials etc.
Whilst there are lots of support schemes, both government and non government, it is important to look inwards in your business first. Julie emphasised the importance of planning at this difficult time. Within both a-n and The Showroom, they made sure in the early stages of this crisis to complete approximately six years worth of business planning. In this critical period, we must look at who we have in the business, but not simply our employees, look towards contracts with artists, and invigilators and other freelancers involved with your business. This whole business approach allows you to look into all aspects of those you work with, such as their caring responsibilities, and what this might mean in terms of hours or other support.
“Really think about not just doing accelerated business planning, but also accelerated care planning.”
It can be difficult to understand and predict what will happen, therefore scenario planning on a four, six and twelve month basis is important. Julie highlighted, that while we may want to be optimistic, when thinking of a business plan we need to take it to the worst scenario.
While accelerated planning at this time is key, we must also take time to pause, to think and work with your team on what your priorities are. A silver lining of this time, is that we can use this enforced pause to think about how to shift your programming.
“We are all going to have to rethink out business models and in some ways it is a great opportunity, especially for organisations that might have got stuck, you can spend some time rethinking your business model.”