Issues and Areas of Interest

The Artists Foundation is currently working on:

Empowering artists
By giving artists (and those who support artists) the tools to become active in public policy debates, artists will be able to help shape these policies that impact their livelihoods. The Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC) will be a key tool in achieving this goal.

Alerting artists of pending legislation and issues that could impact their livelihoods.
Via the Artists Foundation website and list serve & via Artistsunerthedome.org's list serve and website

Reshaping how artists and artist run organizations are seen by policy makers
The Artists Foundation is dedicated to raising the awareness of local, state and national policy makers to be more aware of artists and artists run organizations and how they operate in the Commonwealth. By educating policy makers to see artists and artist run organizations as small businesses, as self employed, and as entrepreneurs, we hope they will become more inclusive to artists in their thinking, outreach, and policy making on issues such as small business, commerce, and labor.

Likewise we are encouraging artists to see themselves also in this light to seek out programs and resources that may prove helpful to them in their creative endeavors.

Addressing creative economy & tourism issues
One of our key goals is to enlighten everyone to what is the foundation of the creative economy. The untold story is that artists’ unpaid or underpaid labor are what support the creative economy and allow it to grow. The majority of the studies of the creative economy don’t take this into account. Nor do the studies take into account the commercial art sector. The commercial galleries are usually left out of any dialog on art policies and are not supported/promoted in anyway by arts councils. Commercial galleries are one way that artists can earn income. Seldom do artists earn moneys from exhibiting their work in non profit spaces. If there is a stipend offered it rarely covers the costs incurred by the artist to fabricate or even frame their work. Also missing from this puzzle are the grass roots, alternative spaces and artist run spaces and what they contribute. These organizations are hard to find and quantify.

The Artists Foundation hopes to ensure that when the arts are promoted on local, state and national levels that artists, the commercial sector, as well as the grassroots/alternative/artists run organizations are acknowledged, promoted and supported.

Fair trade means fair trade
Artists are always asked to donate work to various causes and institutions. Yet they can not deduct the fair market value of the work on their taxes. Artists can only deduct the materials costs of producing the work. Of course if an artist doesn't earn enough in annual income a tax deduction may not be helpful. We are offering some standards for auctions and donations of artwork from artists.

1) Any organization that sponsors charity auctions or solicits donations of art from artists will endorse and help to pass legislation that will change the state and federal laws to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of the artwork they donate.

2) If the art work is to be auctioned, that the artist can set the lowest bid allowed on their work at the auction. If the work is being made specifically for the event (ie artists are invited to all make chairs, plates) then there needs to be a standard minimum bid set before the event.

3) The artist is offered a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of their art work -recommended is 50% but no less than 25%-with the option that the artist can donate their work/proceeds outright to auction/institution.

4) If the auction/event is a fund raiser also via ticket sales, that the artists are allowed to attend the event free of charge or at a greatly reduced price (1/3 of the ticket price or more).

5) Artists are given the contact information of the person(s) who purchased their art work at the auction/event and the entity conducting the auction clearly informs the person who wins the art that the artist retains the copyright of their work.

6. Artists are paid their percentage of the sale as soon as possible after the auction sale moneys are collected (payout of the artist's percentage should not take longer than 90 days the same it is legislated by the State's Consignment of Fine Art Law)

7) There needs to be a written signed agreement between the artist and the entity conducting the auction that spells out the terms (1-6) and the other procedures (drop off/pick up of work not sold, insurance policies etc)

Addressing Health Care for the uninsured or underinsured.
Affordable health care for the self employed, uninsured, and underinsured is one area the Artists Foundation has been dedicated to since its founding in 1973. The Artists Foundation has been working with the Massachusetts organization, Health Care for All, on these issues since the mid-nineties.

Identifying and promoting successful models
Our goal is to identify and promote existing models that benefit working artists to policy makers.

Addressing housing and studio space issues.
One of the most important issues facing Massachusetts is affordable housing. Artists face this issue two fold if they need to have a separate work space. The AF is interested in setting standards or at least guidelines for artists housing for Massachusetts. There is a clear need for affordable rental live/works spaces and work only spaces for artists. Not every artist is in a position to buy property or wants to own property. These are some of the many issues the AF will be working on.

Employment for artists
Most artists earn the majority of their income in ways other than by primarily selling or producing their art. How people can support artists other than buying art is to hire artists and give them flex time and/or be supportive in other ways of artists in the workplace. We hope to promote this initiative to Massachusetts employers.