Ravetz, A., Wright, L., 2015.

Validation beyond the gallery: how do artists working outside of the gallery system receive validation of their practice?

This report presents results of research investigating
how artists operating mainly outside of the gallery,
gain traction and visibility within their chosen idiom
and field.
Through interviews with producers, commissioners
and artists, the researchers sought views on current
routes to validation and asked opinions on whether
existing structures enable, or impede, artists'
visibility and externally-affirmed success.
The findings reveal an ad-hoc and informal approach
to validation in the field. The commissioners,
producers and artists interviewed agreed that the
responsibility for seeking and maintaining validation
falls largely to artists. While this was accepted as
the norm, the majority of artists perceive a lack of
support structures to help those operating outside
the gallery system achieve and maintain external
validation.
Artists working outside of galleries are not a
homogenous group. Practices, terminology and
attitudes differ. The majority put high value on selfdirection
and "learning on the job". Whilst there is
fluidity between gallery and non-gallery contexts,
most artists differentiate between their own value
systems and those of galleries. Many believe that
public gallery commissions command higher status
than the majority of "community" commissions;
several experience "second-class citizenship" in
the mainstream art world, finding their practices
side-lined when positioned in gallery and museum
education contexts; most do not view gallery
validation as a good fit for their values and practices.
The report points to specific gaps in the ways these
artists are currently validated, including a lack of
critical writing, art reviews, mentoring, website
exposure, commitment by organizations to artists as
opposed to commitment to fixed term projects, and
lack of funding streams for those working outside
galleries.
The report concludes that the difference in values
and ways of working between this field and gallery
culture, demands a new and different structure of
validation, one based on in-depth consultation with
artists, participants, producers and commissioners.