ACS, The Artist’s Resale Right & Introducing Artistate

 

© Craigie Aitchison, Small Yellow Bird, 2001, oil on canvas.                                                                   12 Mar 2021   There is no question that the last twelve months has taken its toll on the art world. The spread of COVID-19 has created a series of obstacles that we, as an industry, are still learning to navigate. With this in mind, ACS has brought together a selection of the activities and areas that may be of interest to our members below, including an exciting new service called Artistate.     ACS & the Artist’s Resale Right     Au Jus (2021). Oil on linen. 60x70 cm by ACS & City and Guilds of London Art School Studio Residency alumnus, Flora Yukhnovich, who is now represented by Victoria Miro gallery. Image courtesy of the artist   Throughout the turbulent time and the multiple lockdowns, ACS has continued to proudly advise both member artists and non-member artists about the support available to them through the arts council and government funding. ACS has also begun developing new services and forging new partnerships that we hope will be of benefit to our member artists.  One of the things that has become most apparent is that an increasing number of our members are relying on the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) royalties we administer to support themselves and their artistic practices. Given the support that ARR provides for artists and their estates, ACS is delighted to confirm that government legislation has safeguarded ARR for the thousands of artists and artists’ estates who rely upon the royalty, following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.   Introducing Artistate: Questionnaire   Many of our members have spoken to us about the logistical and legal difficulties that they have faced when administering estates of artists who have died without leaving a will or who have made no plans for the care and management of their work after their death. To help combat this, ACS directors Pierre Valentin (partner at Constantine Cannon LLP) and John Martin (John Martin Gallery) have teamed up with other professionals to form Artistate. Artistate provides specialist legal, financial planning, tailored for established artists and artist estates.  Artistate has recently launched its online questionnaire which aims to help ACS members identify some of the complexities that artists and their estates may face. This link will take you to the questionnaire.     ACS’ Community Interest Activities

Clockwise: Bankroll (2020), Kebab (2020), Rolling Tobacco (2020) by ACS Studio Prize Winner 2020 Dion Kitson. Images courtesy of the artist   In the face of so many challenges over the past year, ACS is delighted to have been able to continue supporting graduates, emerging artists and our members. We are proud to announce the return of the fifth ACS Studio Prize, opening on 1 April, which gives one student or recent graduate £4,500 to help fund an artist’s studio for a year. This year’s judging panel will be made up of artist Bob & Roberta Smith, and ACS Managing Director and founder of Bridgeman Images, Harriet Bridgeman.  In addition, Senior Manager Kimberley Ahmet has begun to deliver ACS' intellectual property talks virtually. The ACS talks are designed to equip students with essential knowledge regarding copyright and ACS is committed to ensuring that as many students as possible leave university with practical tools, even though we have not been able to visit in person. These have taken place across the country, including the Slade School of Fine Art (UCL), Kingston University and the Royal Drawing School. ACS has also contributed to educational literature on the subject for Turf Projects, as part of their Arts Council England (ACE) funded ‘Artist Groundwork’ series. Visit the ACS website to find out more about our community interest initiatives.   Licencing: Bridgeman Images   As many of you already know, Bridgeman Images is ACS' sister company. Representing over 1,000 artists and artists’ estates for their copyright, Bridgeman is renowned as one of the leading licencing agencies within the publishing, editorial, advertising, television, film, and design and product sectors.  Like the Artist’s Resale Right, licencing your work through copyright, reproduction and extended licencing rights can provide a welcome source of revenue. If you are interested in learning more about Bridgeman or would like to join, you can contact Bridgeman’s Artists Manager Aretha Campbell here.   Social Media and Newsletter   ACS proudly promotes our member artists’ exhibitions, events, projects and new works across our social media channels, website and monthly newsletter. If you would like your exhibitions and activities to be included, please tag us into your social media posts or email information and images to ACS Artist Liaison Victoria Heald here. The ACS newsletter is sent out each month, if you have not received our newsletter recently, you may have been automatically opted-out due to data protection regulations. If you would like to be added to the newsletter list, please email ACS Artist Liaison Victoria Heald with your preferred email address here.