1. Introduction

2. Overview & Partners

3. Good Practice

   1. Finding The Right Artists
   2. The Briefing Process
   3. Contracting
   4. Artists & Money
   5. Legalities
   6. Evaluation

4. Project Examples

5. Useful Contacts

6. Groundwork UK

The Briefing Process

It is quite difficult for a non-artist to write an artist’s brief. You may well have a strong idea of how you want a project to unfold, but until you begin a dialogue with artists or companies about possible creative solutions, it may be very hard to envisage just how they might engage with your plan.

The paradox is this – if you write too vague a brief, you may end up with the wrong solution. If you write too tight a brief, you may stifle the creative process – or worse still, put the best artists off the idea of submitting a proposal completely. You may not be the best person to write the brief at all! If in doubt, get expert help.

Within the arts sector, it is commonplace for the brief to be negotiated and drawn up with the active involvement of artists – In some circumstances it may be possible to talk to them about the project when the idea is still in it’s infancy, and ask about possible ‘treatments’.

One common way to explore a range of solutions is to offer a small fee to each artist on your initial shortlist to pay for the time to work up a detailed proposal. Or you can pay someone - an artist or arts consultant - to help work up the initial brief (and also see if a Local Authority Arts Officer or Arts Council person is able to take a look at it for you - they won't always be able to but it is worth a try!) - then you can review and rescope the brief with the appointed artist in response to the ideas and the expertise they bring.

Even if a fee is not available, artists will often be prepared to explore ideas with you, if required, as part of the process of competing for a bit of work.

Experienced artists can often offer up really good ideas that you would not have thought up on your own – and in the process of negotiating the brief you get to explore the scope and limitations of any given situation with them. If they understand the need for the boundaries you need to set, they are much more likely to accept and work with those in a way that benefits both parties.

You need to be clear in the brief about the objectives of the project (so the artist can respond to identified needs) and any parameters/limitations you have - timescales, budgets, technical specifications, stakeholders to be involved etc - so that an artist knows what is required and can plan and cost their response appropriately.

1. Groundwork Arts Toolkit

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