The Scottish Artists Union is the representative voice for visual and applied artists in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, one of the largest arts membership organisations in the country.

History

The SAU was constituted in 2001 with a meeting of Scottish artists at the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh ...

headquarters in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The union claim to be the first new trade union of the 21st century. Scottish artists involved in the initiative from the outset included

Guyan Porter Guyan Porter (born 1971, Aberdeen, Scotland) is a visual artist living in Sussex, England, and working internationally. His work encompasses installation, sculpture, painting, architectural and public interventions and studio-based work that expl ...

, Ann McCluskey, painter Gerry Morris and photographer Ken Palmer. The new trade union was set up with three main aims, protection and extension of artists' rights, to lobby on behalf of artists and to provide financial benefits, such as cheaper insurance. One of the recurring priorities for the SAU has been fair rates of pay for visual artists doing workshops and other such activities. The SAU produced a statement on Recommended Rates of Pay in 2002 and this was endorsed by the Scottish Arts Council. The SAU continues to campaign for appropriate contracts across all areas of visual artists practice including for workshops, as well as with galleries exhibiting work, and commissioners. In 2006-07 the SAU was able to secure a deal for Public

Liability Insurance Liability insurance (also called third-party insurance) is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the "insured") from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the in ...

for the membership, following 2–3 years research by Chris Biddlecombe, a founding member of the Executive. This was a priority because increasingly members were describing Public Liability Insurance being a requirement for working for Local Authorities, Open Studio Events and other aspects of trading as a visual artist in Scotland. Later, a studio contents insurance package was added. The SAU has attempted to establish as wide a remit as possible from the very beginning. There is virtually no discipline within

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

and

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

that does not qualify for membership. The criteria on which membership is predicated are designed simply to ensure that the membership is made up of professionals. By 2012 the SAU had almost 1000 members, making it one of the largest arts membership organisations in Scotland.

List of presidents

(founding President) 2001-2004 *Su Grierson 2004-2006 *Terry Anderson 2006-2009 *Chris Biddlecombe 2009-2011 *Rowena Comrie 2011-2014 *Janie Nicoll] 2014-2017 *Sinead Dunn 2017-2019 *Lynda Graham 2019 - 2022 *BD Owens 2022 -

References

External links

Scottish Artists Union
{{Scottish art Scottish art Trade unions in Scotland Trade unions established in 2001