The Arts Council of England

We are doing more and more to support artists' careers, circumstances and livelihoods so that they are freer to concentrate on their creative work.

Supporting the individual artist is one of the Arts Council's strategic priorities. The Year of the Artist, initiated and funded by the Arts Council, started in May 2000. Organised by the Regional Arts Boards (RABs), more than 1,700 artists were commissioned to work in 1,500 places, reaching over 25 million people and increasing public awareness of the way artists conceive and develop their work.

We have worked with the RABs to develop a national framework for artists. This focuses on improving resources, production, professional development and advocacy. The work is being pioneered in the visual arts and will inform other areas of arts activity.

Step one is resources. The Arts Council is researching how many artist-run spaces have been set up nationwide and how to develop these. To improve workspace provision for artists across the country we are exploring new financial mechanisms to help artists' groups buy the freeholds of studios and buy new equipment.

£1 million from the Individual Artist Fund has been devolved to the RABs for them to distribute to artists in their area.

We are giving practical help for production. For example, an initial programme of 30 international fellowships has begun, to give artists from different disciplines three to six months in Europe, North America, South America, China, Italy or Finland to develop their practice. More residencies will be announced.

The Arts Council sees encouraging vibrant international exchange as an essential contribution to British contemporary culture.

As well as one-off fellowships or awards, continuous professional development for artists and creative people is an urgent need in this country. The CreativePeople framework, a national network of 10 consortia, has entered its two-year development phase. Each consortium focuses on a region, an artform or an employment group, such as arts management. It pulls together information and guidance to help those working in the arts and crafts plan and carry out their own development. With its set-up years funded by the Arts Council, this framework is the single biggest funding commitment to professional development undertaken by the arts funding system.

Finally, advocacy is a vital part of our work for artists. We are undertaking research into the employment situation of artists to inform the development of new legislation and improved incentives in relation to tax breaks, benefits and employment. Research on the issue of 'droit de suite' – the legislation harmonising the levies imposed throughout the European Union on the resale of art by living and recently deceased artists – has identified models of good practice in Europe. We will use the results of the research to help secure a collection and distribution system that delivers maximum benefits to artists and minimum cost to the art trade.

Through all these approaches and more, we are committed to supporting individual artists so that they are better able to focus on their work.

The way she has looped herself, there in an arc
of spiteful rope, explains she is learning

to take things in her stride, and it shows
how different she is to me, whose feet,

at eight, are already too big to negotiate
these cracks in the pavings along our street

under which – listen – a sleuth of bears
is gathering, maddened at being disturbed.