Not Just Makers: Why Artists Are Also Businesses

We recently advertised for a freelancer to deliver our in-person talks on creative industry careers to college and university students. A lot of people responded. We were a bit overwhelmed. But it sparked some interesting conversations here at AA2A about the highly competitive nature of gaining freelance arts work in the UK in 2025.

What really shone through, however, was how graphically people described their struggles with gaining a foothold in the creative industries. Applicant after applicant spoke of their steep learning curves, and the need to navigate the industry through trial and error, ‘picking it up as they went along’. There were examples highlighting pivotal moments with a particular mentor, while many people wished that the kind of employability resources provided by AA2A had been available at the start of their careers. Not surprisingly, artists from underrepresented communities had even more challenges to overcome.

Numerous applicants expressed a sincere desire to support emerging artists, saying this was a key reason they were drawn to the role. It prompted a question: how much should arts courses address the practical business of being an artist?

Arts education in the UK has taken a significant hit in recent years, with colleagues working in HE reporting understaffing, excessive workloads and a lack of job security. Two of the four recommendations from a 2025 report about strengthening the visual arts ecosystem, commissioned by a coalition of UK arts organisations, emphasise the critical need to reinstate and safeguard arts courses. While arts education traditionally focuses on studio-based practice plus critical and contextual studies, colleges and universities are now leaning into preparing students for life as creative practitioners, but integrating career development initiatives into an already strained and administration-heavy academic environment can be a challenge.

A talk being delivered to students at The University of Lancashire - image credit: AA2A Artist Thom Isom

To a certain extent, the well-worn cliche of life as a starving artist persists. The myth of the isolated genius may be appealing, but in reality, it’s outdated and unhelpful, suggesting that artists are not business-minded or engaged with practical concerns.

In fact, artists manage marketing, networking, sales, finance, contracts, legal issues, copyright law, tax, insurance, project management and much more - pretty much the definition of running a small business. All this alongside paid work which may or may not be related to the arts, and only after all of that carving out time for the creative work itself: making the jewellery, paintings, illustrations, films etc.

Outside of formal education, emerging artists have access to a growing range of valuable online resources to help navigate a career in the arts. The recent announcement by DCMS regarding the appointment of a creative freelance champion hopefully signals a positive shift, recognising the vital contribution of artists culturally and economically, and aligning with a more contemporary view of artists as multi-skilled professionals operating across both creative and commercial worlds.

The response from the applicants to our job ad clearly shows that a real knowledge gap exists for artists across all disciplines, and that the business skills needed for successfully making a living in the arts are hard-won.

Artists will go on making work as they always have, but there is a wider recognition that success requires abilities beyond artistic practice alone, and that artists are increasingly acknowledged as professional, entrepreneurial and creative small business managers equipped with a wide range of transferable skills.

Mags McLeary

AA2A National Coordinator