The Arts Council of FinlandPresent and Future

Photo: Marja Helander

General profile / distributes €33m for the promotion of the

arts annually (0.06 % of the state budget) / receives 13 000 applications annually / awards 4 000 grants annually / provides 800 peer review statements on artist

pension applications and festival subsidy applications annually to the ministry

The Arts Council of Finland was founded in 1968 to fund and promote the arts. It advises the Ministry of Education and Culture on art policy. It receives its funds from the state arts budget and operates under the Ministry at arm’s length.

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 2 / 16

Types of support to artists / Providing grants for artistic creation

ACF grant recipients (3 537 in total) by art form in 2011

Artist grants / These grants are annually awarded by

national arts councils to support the work of professional artists for a period of between six months and ten years. In total 577 artists (3 % of professional artists in Finland) received grants amounting to €10m in 2011. An annual grant of €19 000 is tax-free.

Project grants / These grants are annually awarded by national

arts councils to individual artists or working groups for materials, equipment, study trips, training courses, gallery and studio rents, and the like. Project grants amounted to €2.5m in 2011.

Support for drama literature / These grants are intended for playwrights who

have had a new play performed for the first time in a professional theatre in Finland during the previous year. The grants are annually awarded by the National Council for Drama. In 2011, the grants amounted to €230 000.

Music 16.0% Visual Art 18.0%

Literature 29.7% Dance 4.9 %

Media Art 2.2 %

Crafts & Design 6.9 %

Architecture 1.9 % Circus Art 1.5 %

Cinema 4.4 %

Other 4.5 %Photography3.8 %

Theatre 10.2 %Critics 0.4%

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Project grants for children’s culture / These grants are intended to support

children’s culture and youth projects of professional artists, groups, critics, teachers, and researchers. In 2011, the grants awarded by a subcommittee for children’s culture amounted to €173 500. As of 2012 the grants are awarded by the regional arts councils.

Grants for art projects promoting multiculturalism

/ These grants are intended to support the artistic activities of immigrants and ethnic minorities, as well as art projects in Finland that promote interaction between different cultures. The grants are annually awarded by a subcommittee for multiculturalism. In 2011 the grants amounted to €100 000.

Grants for international projects / These grants are awarded by the Central Arts

Council and they are intended to support international cultural co-operation and exchange projects in different fields of the arts. Grants are available to professional artists and art experts in different fields of the arts. In 2011, the grants amounted to €165 000.

Providing grants for artistic creation

Artist-in-residence grants / The Central Arts Council awards these

grants to help cover the travel and living costs of professional artists who have been accepted as participants in international Artists-in-Residence programmes abroad. In 2011, the grants amounted to €94 300.

Travel grants / Travel grants are awarded by the Central Arts

Council and they are intended for professional artists, art experts in different fields of the arts to help cover the foreign travel costs of artistically significant projects. In 2011, the grants amounted to € 272 200.

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In addition, writers, visual artists, composers, lyricists, arrangers, and illustrators receive grants awarded by separate boards or subcommittees.

Providing grants for artistic creation

Grants and subsidies to writers and translators

/ In 2011, €2.9m in total were allocated to fiction and non-fiction writers.

Grants for visual artists / In 2011, €960 000 were granted to

visual artists whose work may be publicly owned and displayed.

Grants for musicians and composers / In 2011, €120 000 were granted to

composers, lyricists, and arrangers whose works have been published as notes or recordings, and to performing artists whose works have been recorded.

Grants for illustrators and comic artists / In 2011, €75 000 were granted to illustrators

whose works have been published in books or other media and comic artists whose works have been published in comic books, albums, or other media.

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Awarding prizesState prizes

/ Each national council and the Central Arts Council annually award state prizes amounting to €225 000 in 2011.

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 6 / 16

/ The Central Arts Council currently employs five artist professors. They are appointed for a five-year term from among the candidates proposed by the national arts councils. The prerequisite for being appointed is that the candidate is considered a particularly gifted artist based on his or her artistic activities to date.

/ Artist professors carry out creative artistic work within their own field of the arts. They may also lecture in universities and educate other artists.

/ In 2010 Parliament decided to change the positions of artist professors into artist grant positions. This change will be implemented gradually as the current terms for artist professors come to an end. Six positions have already been changed into 10-year grant positions, however the recipients of these grants can still use the title of Artist Professor.

/ The salary of artist professors is approximately €3 200 per month.

Employing artist professors

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 7 / 16

Types of support to communities Operational subsidies for communities

/ Operational subsidies awarded by national arts councils are intended to support the ongoing operations of communities in different fields of the arts, such as associations, foundations, co-operatives, and companies. In 2011, the subsidies amounted to €6.7m.

Special subsidies for communities / These subsidies awarded by national arts

councils are intended to support individual projects of communities in different fields of the arts, such as associations, foundations, co-operatives, and companies. In 2011, the subsidies amounted to €2.5m.

Subsidies for children’s culture / These subsidies are intended to support

projects promoting children’s and youth culture by groups such as associations, foundations, co-operatives, municipalities, and companies. In 2011, the subsidies awarded by a subcommittee for children’s culture amounted to €306 500. As of 2012 the subsidies are awarded by the regional arts councils.

Subsidies for international projects

/ These subsidies awarded by the Central Arts Council are intended to support international cultural co-operation and exchange projects in different fields of the arts. In 2011, the subsidies amounted to €135 000.

Artist-in-residence subsidies / These subsidies awarded by the Central

Arts Council are intended to help cover the start-up and operating expenses of Artists-in-Residence programmes run by municipalities, associations, and other communities. In 2011, the subsidies amounted to €293 500.

Quality support for film productions / Quality support is intended to support the

development of new film productions. The National Council for Cinema awards quality support to producers of films, television programmes or similar productions on the basis of high artistic merit of the producer’s previous productions. In 2011, the subsidies amounted to €455 000.

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Regional arts promotionThe thirteen regional arts councils support artistic work in their respective region by

/ awarding working grants and project grants to individuals

/ awarding subsidies to communities / awarding grants and subsidies for the

promotion of children’s culture / awarding cultural wellbeing grants / allocating support to arts promotion projects / awarding prizes / employing regional artists

These regional arts councils also maintain artist residencies abroad. In 2011, the regional arts councils allocated €5.3m to arts promotion.

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 9 / 16

Regional artists employed by regional arts councils / Regional arts councils appoint regional artists

for set terms that vary from two to five years. Each regional arts council first defines its needs in terms of artform or other focus area and then selects a qualified applicant.

/ Regional artists work for the good of professional and amateur artists in their local area and also carry out their own artistic work. Their work is one of the regional arts councils’ most visible forms of art promotion. Regional artists work in different fields of the art and also as producers of art.

/ At any one time up to 49 regional artists are employed by regional arts councils.

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 10 / 16

Decision makersDecisions regarding grants and subsidies are made within the Central Arts Council, as well as within the national and regional arts councils. Altogether there are 28 decision-making bodies, all of which possess a wide range of expertise in the field of the arts. The members of these bodies are art professionals and other experts.

The decision-making bodies / National Arts Councils for nine

different art form (9) / Central Arts Council (chairpersons

of the national arts councils) / Subcommittee for multiculturalism / Subcommittee for library grants within music / Subcommittee for library grants to

illustrators and comics artists / Regional Arts Councils (13) / Board for Grants and Subsidies

to Writers and Translators / Board for Public Display Grants to Visual Artists

In the above mentioned bodies there are in total 249 members as peer reviewers and they hold 180 meetings annually. The members only receive a small fee for participating in the meetings and the chairpersons receive a small monthly fee.

Central Arts Council and national arts councils

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96 members

regional arts councils

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118 members

boards

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18 members

subcommittees

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17 members

Members of the decision-making bodies

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The criteria for decisionsThe decisions on grants and subsidies are based on an evaluation of the artistic quality of the applications in peer reviews. A regular turnover of members and regional representation helps ensure the reliability of the decision-making process.

For more details on criteria, please consult our website.

Criteria for artist grants *Criteria for project grants *

Criteria for project subsidy for communities *Criteria for operational subsidy for communities *

Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo 12 / 16

In May 2012, the Government submitted a draft bill for the establishment of the Centre for the Promotion of the Arts. If approved, the new centre will operate as an agency under the Ministry of Education and Culture and have regional offices. The centre will also have independent decision-making bodies, including a central arts council, national arts councils, regional arts councils, and separate boards. The aim of the reorganisation is to clarify the activities of arts councils by separating official promotional activities from the assessment tasks of representative bodies. The arts council activities will then be more functional and the administration more integrated. The transparency of the decision-

making processes will also be enhanced. The reform will provide legal processes for appealing and rectifying decisions on grants and subsidies. In addition to promoting the arts, the new Centre will also be responsible for certain cultural promotion activities. The centre will also play an active role in other tasks. The centre will be headed by a director appointed for a fixed term. The reform will retain the representative bodies at both the national and regional levels. The national and regional councils will make decisions on grants and awards to individual artists and groups of artists. In addition, they will serve as

advisory bodies. The national and regional councils will be appointed by the Central Arts Council and serve two-year terms. The Central Arts Council will serve as the Ministry’s advisory body in policymaking regarding the arts. It will decide on the number of national arts councils and their roles. It will also appoint members to the national and regional arts councils. In addition, the Central Arts Council will submit proposals for granting the title of Art Academic. The Central Arts Council will be nominated by the Ministry of Education and Culture for a three-year term of office.

New organization as of 2013

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www.artscouncil.fi

© Arts Council of Finland / June 2012 Text: Eija Ristimäki Layout: Hahmo Photo: Antti Luostarinen / Hahmo