Deadline: 23:59 Monday 5th September 2022

Take Me Somewhere is offering a regular basic income to two currently practising contemporary performance artists in the form of 213* per week (c915 per month) for a 9 month period, as a contribution towards living costs. (*please scroll down to FAQs for explanation of how we calculated this amount)

We believe that major, structural, financial interventions are essential in order to sustain and secure peoples livelihoods, particularly in the post-pandemic landscape and in combating societal inequality and the cost of living crisis. Although we recognise there is a wide need for this across the country, as an arts organisation our modest pilot focuses on artists/ performance makers working in the area of contemporary performance.

There will be no expectations attached to the funding in terms of artistic creation. This fund is not a full artist salary, it is intended to supplement other forms of income such as artist fees or project funding. We expect it to be used broadly towards living expenses. The two artists selected will be paid additionally for their time to measure the potential impact made.

Our ambition is to add to conversation surrounding sustainability and wellbeing in the current moment but also to look at the particular ways the artists we work with feel challenged and can be supported. We are especially interested in finding out what a basic income does for creative practice, health & wellbeing, relationships and financial sustainability. By actively engaging with new artist funding models even on a small scale, we hope to become better advocates for contemporary performance artists within Scotland. We will work with an outside evaluator and make clear our findings, which may be more qualitative than quantitative in nature.

Two selected artists will:

Receive 213 per week for 9 months between October 2022 and June 2023, paid directly into their bank account. (This is likely to be subject to tax as self-employed freelance income, depending on your particular circumstances).

Be required to take part in an evaluation and monitoring process (paid for separately).

Remain anonymous in Take Me Somewheres public facing communications on the project (there is no requirement for artists to remain anonymous if they do not wish to; however Take Me Somewhere will not announce the selected artists through our channels)

You must be:

Over 18.

Currently practising, & having over 5 years professional experience working as a contemporary performance artist, outside of education and not including years studying. (years within FE/HE education will not count as professional experience).

Based in Scotland.

A professional artist working in contemporary, live practice, with capacity to evidence this via the application process. Please see supporting evidence of existing practice.

Willing to complete the evaluation process.

Tax compliant.

You must not:

Be in full time education.

Must not be in full time employment during the period of this project.

Be in receipt of private funding or regular financial support from family/friend, a significant other, private benefactor or trust and foundation. (Please see Financial Stability section 7).

Use this income as a substitute for Creative Scotland Open Project Funding or as match funding towards this endeavour.

Key Dates:

Applicatons Open: 1st August 2022

Applications Close: 5th September 2022

Random Selection Process & Applicants Informed: Week of 12th September 2022

1st Meeting (overview of scheme and establishing evaluation* processes, 1.5 hours): End of September 2022

1st Payment: Weekly BACS payments from 7th October 2022

Midpoint Evaluation Meeting (2 hours): mid-January 2023

Endpoint Evaluation Meting (2 hours): mid-June 2023

Last payment and project ends: 30th June 2023

* In addition to start, mid and end of project evaluation meetings, the successful participants will be expected (and paid separately) for approx 30 mins of time spent on evaluation per month from October - June 2023.

TMS recognises the systemic exclusion within the performance sector and is striving to put equity at the heart of our decision making. We are committed to increasing the diversity of people working in performance and especially encourage applications from those who identify as having characteristics currently under-represented in the cultural sector: including but not limited to artists with lived experience of being Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage and/or a Person of Colour, Refugee, D/deaf, Neurodivergent, from Working Class background, Disabled, Primary Carers (including parental) and/or LGBTQIA+.

Selection ProcessThe process of selection is a non-competitive lottery process. We will pick an application from a random, number generator while still considering equalities, diversity and representation. In order to ensure that at least one of the applicants comes from a self identified, under-represented group we will have two separate draws:

Applications close.

First draw: Is exclusively for applicants who self-identified as being part of an underrepresented group

Second draw: All remaining applications, including those remaining from the first draw, are drawn at random.

Drawn applications checked to ensure they meet the minimum eligibility criteria, including documents related to proof of income and years practising, in case they arent sufficient, then there is a redraw.

We looked at a lot of examples of non-competitive processes and looked at resources including Jerwood in Practice. The recipients of the award will remain anonymous although our findings will be made public (there is no requirement for artists to remain anonymous if they do not wish to; however Take Me Somewhere will not announce the selected artists through our channels). Some of the data we acquire from the evaluation will be quantitative and qualitative and possibly personal in nature hence the requirement for anonymity. We are also keen not to prejudice any future work or income the selected artists may receive within that period.

Artists will be asked to fill out a basic eligibility questionnaire.

Proof of Professional Artistic Practice in Contemporary Performance.Applicants should provide one piece of evidence from each of the following two categories:

1. Proof of income from your work as a professional contemporary performance artist (within the last 5 years). One piece of evidence from the following list:

Grant Award Letter

Creative Scotland Funding Award Letter or email

Commissioning agreement or residency/presentation contract

Invoice or payslip (not from non-artistic roles)

2. Proof of active engagement within contemporary performance (within the last 5 years). One piece of evidence from the following list:

This scheme is intended to provide a financial buffer and be a small step towards removing financial barriers and hardships that exist for artists when making work.

This is not the right opportunity for someone that is receiving other significant sources of support, is inherently financially comfortable, or for whom it would not make a significant difference to their practice and way of working and living in the world. Because this initiative is aimed partly at supporting individuals financially, we politely ask you not to apply if you are financially secure and in receipt of:

Financial support from friend or family

Rent from additional property (or in kind rent support)

Investment income

Significant inheritance

International government support

Regular funding from a trust or foundation that supports your practice (as opposed to project funding)

PHD funding

Other regular private financial support that supports your artistic practice.

We do not include government benefits or income from other part-time employment that you may currently use to support your work within this definition of income. However, please see below for more information on how this might affect any benefits you receive and how to decide if this is the right opportunity for you.

We ask that you carefully consider if accessing this opportunity will negatively affect any benefits that you receive. We do not intend that the scheme makes people worse off financially and expect you to check in advance of applying whether additional income will affect this or not.

Whilst this is not an employment offer it is likely, depending on your own specific circumstances, that the payments will be treated as income for tax purposes and/or affect any benefits or social welfare that you receive.

Applicants are required to investigate what their own particular tax and social welfare situation may be should they receive payment. Those in receipt of a social welfare payment who will be asked to confirm that they have advised the Department of Social Security/Job Centre Plus of this change in their circumstances.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says this: A UBI based on current benefit levels would bring clear gains for those who are currently ineligible, where they are on a low income but are shut out, or fall out, of the existing system; it would probably bring smaller gains for many of those successfully claiming current benefits.'

You can check how our Artist Basic Income opportunity might affect benefits on the UK Government website or at the entitledto website. It is our intention that the payments are made to two artists whom this will make a financial difference to, rather than having a negative impact and we ask that you check this before applying. Further useful information about benefits can also be found on MoneySavingExpert or at Citizens Advice.

As part of the evaluation we will measure against baseline outcomes at the start, middle and end of the programme. We will ask you to log some comments under certain themes in a journal* in the intervening months. We imagine this to take up 7 hours of time over the 9 month period. There is a payment of 287 for successful applicants.

We will aim to measure things like your current financial sustainability, capacity to research and develop new creative work, your capacity to practise self-care, or the hours you are able to spend on creative work versus other employment at the start, middle and end of the project to get a sense of impact over time. This not exhaustive. Evaluation categories will include:

Creative Practice - Learning and Development

Health and wellbeing

Relationships

Financial Sustainability

*If writing is a barrier to you then we can look at ways in which to support the process through other means.

Is this Universal Basic Income ?It is important to note that our Artists Basic Income is not a Universal Basic Income. This is a sectoral intervention to support practising artists to focus on their creative practice. As a small organisation we are not in a position to offer more than 2 opportunities, although it draws on the similar principle and we believe that this type of support should be made available to all people.

Is this expected to be a Living Wage? No. This a contribution towards living costs. The two people taking part in our pilot will be professional artists, who can still earn income from their artistic practice or other work.

Am I expected to work full time as an artist & live off this amount?No. This 213 a week / 915 a month (approx. week x 4.3) is intended as a non-outcome driven contribution to living costs, supplementing other work or artist fees.

How was the amount calculated?213 per week was budgeted in Oct 2021 & based on Scottish Government led pilots. We also looked at other European pilots, the largest being Spain (1,015 per month /852.04 or 198 per week). The Green Party have been campaigning for a Universal Basic Income at 85 per week. The only scheme we have seen which is higher is Ireland (1,169.60 325 per week /272), which was annouced in April 22 after we had made our application to Creative Scotland for this funding. These initiatives offered a contribution to income with artists also earning income from artistic projects.

This is distinct from the Living Wage which is about meeting the real cost of living as is currently set at 19,305 per year (1,608.75 per month or 371.25 per week). The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, state: It is important to distinguish UBI from a Minimum Income Guarantee, which at its most basic is simply a set of policies designed to ensure no one falls below a set income level.

I am an artist but dont work in contemporary live performance. Am I eligible?No. Unfortunately this pilot is only for artists working in contemporary live performance. Our vision is that Scotland is the place to experience and create radical performance and our mission is to create unparalleled conditions for this to transpire. To see the kind of work and artists we support please read our curatorial statement here.

I have a job and I am on PAYE, can I apply?Yes. If you have a part-time PAYE job that supports your practice then you are still eligible to apply.

I receieve benefits, should I apply? We advise you to check whether recieving the income will affect any benefits before applying. Further information is included in the documenation above.

I am studying or recently graduated from college/university?You must have 5 years of professional experience as an artist that is outside of study. We will not accept applications from those in study or who have graduated in the last 5 years.

Can I apply as a collective / group?No. We will only receive applications from individuals. This is about supporting individuals to increase their financial sustainability and develop their own practice.

Can I put this towards a project or use it as partnership funding?No. This is a pilot that is geared towards allowing more time to develop artistic practice. It should be invested in you and in ways that will affect your creative practice, health and wellbeing, relationships and your financial sustainability.

I work in the arts, but Im not an artist, can I apply? Applicants who cannot demonstrate that they have a professional creative practice that centres contemporary performanceare not eligable. This includes:

Full-time students

Arts Administrators

Producers

Promoters and agents

Artist managers

Marking and PR professionals

Craft makers

Designers (e.g. lighting, industrial, product, interior, VR, AR & MR, jewellery, graphic design etc.

Production Managers

The list is for illustrative purposes only and is not exhaustive.

How will I be paid?Payments will be made automatically and directly into your bank account on a weekly basis.

Is this taxable? It is likley that this income will be taxed. Findings from the Scottish Government pilot highlighted issues around any tax and benefit leglistlation required being reserved to the Department of Work and Pensions in Westminster. It is important to understand whether you will be disadvantaged by receiving this income.

What do you mean by evaluation? Our intervention in this area is small - we see this as an artist supportproject that like all of our projects will be evaluated. There have been large government fundedprojects thathave extensive data available. In our modest project our hope is that a learning by doing approach allows us to remain closer to the needs and challenges of artists working in a particular, relatively small sectorial area and at a particular moment in their career. By actively engaging and evaluating even on a small scale we hope to become better advocates for contemporary artists within Scotland. We will work with an outside evaluator and make clear our findings whichmay be more qualitativethan quantitative in nature.

Will there be value / merit assessments made of applications?No. Once an applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria they will be included in the randomised selection process which will determine the participants. We will not make any value judgments as long as the applicant is eligible.

For any further questions you can email connect@takemesomewhere.co.uk

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Artist Basic Income Take Me Somewhere