GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

progressive and bold approach to the environments we want to work in as well

as supporting the work of artists in the UK.

She said: The motion that I submitted with the other executives, we talked

about how can we help members, how can we send a very clear message out

there to the rest of the art world that we are setting up this trade union, we are

growing, and that is where we came up with reigniting the 1% for Art. If anyone

has not heard of it before, it existed many, many years ago. It kind of exists in

the States, it kind of exists in a few municipal places still around the country,

but it was basically based on if you have a new build, if you are doing a

massive refurb, think about how you can spend 1% of your budget on art and

that is not just about putting pictures on the wall or making something that is

integrative within the fabric of the building. It is about engaging with your local

community and telling those stories, bringing them, getting them involved.

There are loads of different ways you can do it. So it is not a new idea, but it

has been eroded over time. Just like artists used to get paid for putting their

work in a gallery. It might surprise you, but artists do not get paid for putting

their work in a gallery. You think they do, but they do not and that is a massive

thing. Everyone in the gallery gets paid – the cleaner, the security, the people

on the door – they are all getting paid, but the artist who is putting the work in

there is not getting paid. We used to get paid. It was Northern Arts in the North

East that established the artists’ rate of pay in galleries and it is slowly but

surely being eroded. It is being eroded because of cuts, because of austerity,

but because artists do not know their rights, they have not kept themselves

informed.

So it is one of the things we need to do. It is about getting organised and

challenging that and we are getting organised now, this is part of it. Really this

motion is a good opportunity for the big organisations to understand that the

trade union movement is behind us. We are tiny, but we have got this big trade

union movement behind us and they are saying, “Actually this is a good idea,

we want to value artists, we want to invest in artists, we want to make sure they

are paid a decent wage”, so it is really, really important that you support this

motion. This is going to send a clear message to our membership as well and

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