Many professionals contribute to the work of the Irish Architectural Archive including architects, archivists, conservators, photographers and researchers. The Archive is committed to the principle of fair and equitable remuneration for all professional services. This includes services rendered by artists (which term can include architects).
As stated in the Arts Council policy Paying the Artist, remuneration ‘is fair when it equates to what is asked of an artist in terms of their time, input and expertise. It will account for the status of the artist and reflect the value created by their engagement’. Remuneration is understood to encompass ‘all potential forms of an artist’s earnings. It includes pay, salary, wages, fees, allowances, benefits and non-cash incentives as well as income derived from rights or royalties. Contractual arrangements should mirror, transparently, the expectations or requirements of the engagement and set out the relevant terms’ (see https://www.artscouncil.ie/about/artists-pay-policy/).
The Irish Architectural Archive acknowledges that it has a duty and responsibility to remunerate artists fairly and appropriately for all contributions made to its activities. Such contributions can include (but are not limited to) taking part in exhibitions, providing specifically commissioned pieces of art, participating in lecture series and workshops, or undertaking a residency as part of an artist-in-residence programme.
The Irish Architectural Archive will conform to the principle of fair and equitable remuneration when employing or engaging in collaborations with artists, including architects.
Specifically the Irish Architectural Archive will:
- be open, transparent and upfront in communications with artists regarding remuneration.
- comply with rates, terms, practices and standards recommended by artists’ representative and resource organisations (see for example https://visualartists.ie/visual-artists-payment-guidelines-other-fees/).
- ensure where relevant that engagements with artists are covered by a contract which delineates the full scope of the engagement, specifies required outcomes, and details the rate of remuneration and any other payments (reimbursement of expenses etc).
- ensure that copyright is respected, both in terms of moral and economic rights.
- ensure that any contractual arrangements for artists to benefit from the future exploitation of their work are appropriate and proportional and reflect the value of what the artist has created.
- publish this policy on the Irish Architectural Archive website.
While nothing in this policy prevents the Irish Architectural Archive from accepting voluntary contributions of any kind from artists, it is the default position of the Irish Architectural Archive that artists’ contributions should be properly and fairly remunerated.
In general, the policy of paying artists does not extend to paying for archives. The purchase of archival collections is covered by Section 2.5 of the Irish Architectural Archive Acquisitions Policy which states that the Archive ‘may purchase material as and when the need arises, and as funding permits. However, the funding available for purchase acquisition is extremely small and special fund-raising may need to be undertaken to finance specific purchases’.
This policy will be reviewed by the Irish Architectural Archive Audit Committee every three years.
