Once you have appointed an artist, it is very important to organise a project planning meeting with the artist and anyone else who will be involved in the project. This will give you the opportunity to ensure that your aims and objectives are clear and that everyone is working towards the same outcomes. It will allow you to modify the brief if necessary and sort out the practicalities.
Remember that the artist is not familiar with your organisation and how it works. They will need to find out a whole range of information from the practical (such as where they can get a cup of tea and park their car) to the philosophical (for example the aims and objectives of your organisation).
For short projects or if the artist is based far away, a face-to-face meeting may not be practical. In these cases you may need to hold the planning meeting over the phone but you should still ensure that you send the artist a copy of what you have agreed and communicate this to anyone else who is involved with the project.
For larger projects you may need to set up a project management group which represents all the partners involved in the project and it is essential that all the group are involved in the initial project planning session.
What needs to be covered in the planning session will vary depending on the nature and complexity of the project. However, these are some of the areas you should consider:
- Agreeing the project aims and objectives
- Contact names and numbers
- Who will support it and how the project will be supported by the host organisation. It is important that someone who knows the group is present during the sessions as this will enable the artist to concentrate on the artwork
- Timetable and deadlines
- Materials and facilities. It should be clear who is providing what and what is available
- The make-up of the group and any special needs
- How the project will be documented and evaluated
- Insurance and any health and safety concerns
- Payment of fees and materials costs
With regard to payment of fees and reimbursement of expenditure on materials, it is again important to remember that most artists are self-employed and do not have the financial resources of larger organisations. Therefore, it is important that you set up mechanisms to ensure that they are paid promptly and that expenses for materials can be reimbursed quickly. Ideally, it is helpful if you can set up a float for materials in advance rather than expecting the artist to pay for these up front.