FURTHER INFORMATION RELATING TO OPEN STUDIOS...

Open Studios Network Conference Report: Caroline Jackman
                  a comparison of organisational structures and event profiles

Open Studios Network Conference Report: Helen Voce
                  the development of Dumfries & Galloway Council's Spring Fling event;
                  audience development, marketing and PR

ACCESSIBILITY:
Extract from a news bulletin sent by Joanna Brendon to participants in London West Artists At Home:
There may not be any legal obligation to make your home fully accessible to disabled people. However, it is certainly in the spirit of AAH that “reasonable adjustment” should be made at every studio. This is as much to do with attitude as overcoming practical restrictions.

If your work is not on the ground floor, there is nothing much you can do about that, but if there are just a few steps at the front door, you might be able to provide help to lift a wheelchair. Describing your work to a blind person, allowing them to handle works, being prepared to communicate with a deaf visitor through written messages – these are just a few of the ways you can make the experience as inclusive as possible.

Open Studios Network Newsletter
                 Spring 2008

Open studios: best practice
                   Article by Helen Mayer;
                   Arts Professional magazine Issue 147

        reproduced by kind permission of Arts Professional magazine

AIR members' public and products liability insurance scheme

Thanks to a research grant from Arts Council England's Artists' Insights, visual and applied artists get £5m public and products insurance cover as an integral part of an a-n Artist subscription with AIR membership.

This visual arts specific scheme has been developed through the AIR Artists' Advisory Group and negotiated with brokers Hencilla Canworth by a-n The Artists Information Company on behalf AIR.

Launched in 2006, AIR - Artists' Interaction & Representation - membership from practising visual and applied artists has already risen to over 8,000 with new members joining daily from across the UK and internationally.

The AIR insurance scheme has been warmly welcomed by curators and arts employers who can now be assured that the artists they commission or contract through a-n+AIR will automatically have the necessary professional insurance cover. For a summary of the insurance scheme, go to
http://www.a-n.co.uk/AIR_insurance

Artist subscription + AIR benefits include:
*         £5m Public and products liability insurance - UK-based artists only

*         Free What's on listings + image throughout the year on
http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface

*         Open dialogues - meet like-minded artists at AIR events
AIR e-bulletin - for invites, information and consultation

*         Prizes and discounts - books, supplies, services and events

*         AIR Advisory Group - leading research and campaigns,
representing artists' views and needs to others

*         Password to http://www.a-n.co.uk/
with 24/7 access to all online resources

*         All a-n printed publications including a-n Magazine, a-n
Collections and Research papers.

For subscription information for artists, individuals and organisations
go to http://www.a-n.co.uk/subscribe

info@openstudiosnetwork.co.uk