Artist Basic Income PROJECT

October 2022 - July 2023

Take Me Somewhere is offering a regular basic income to two currently practising contemporary performance artists in the form of £213* per week (c£915 per month) for a 9 month period, as a contribution towards living costs. The artists were selected in September 2022 and will undertake this project until July 2023.

We believe that major, structural, financial interventions are essential in order to sustain and secure people’s 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 are 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.

Applications are now closed and evaluation of the scheme will be made public in 2023.

You can read the previous call out for applications, including FAQs about the project via the link below.