Affiliations

Affiliations is SCAN’s new learning and development programme of workshops, talks and events tailored for artist-run initiatives (ARIs) in Scotland. The programme aims to support ARIs with the practicalities of running a small organisation or collective, creating a lasting impact for this vital part of the arts ecology. Affiliations is aimed at those already involved in artist-run initiatives, as well as independent artists, producers and curators who are in the process of setting up their own artist-run projects, or who are thinking of doing so in the future.

Recent years have seen a significant rise in artist-led activity that extends far beyond established committee-run gallery models. This rise is charted in two recent research projects: One Shared Owner from Creative Scotland and Scottish Artists Union, led by Chris Biddlecombe, and British Art Network’s Artist-Run Initiatives in Britain, co-led by SCAN Trustee Dr Nikki Kane. This research identified a growing demographic of artist-led collectives, companies, small charities, and informal groups. These are often fragile in structure, but offer new and exciting models of self-organisation, alternative economic models, and innovative attitudes to equalities, care, and collaboration.

For Affiliations, SCAN took these projects as a starting point from which to develop our own research. The programme has emerged from research sessions with 16 members of the artist-run community, followed by a wider-reaching digital survey. It responds to the community’s collectively identified need to develop practical skills and capacity building, particularly through access to ethos-led training and expertise from beyond the immediate cultural sector. We are interested in how we can support these spaces to thrive, enabling them to better provide career opportunities for artists and curators, and help drive crucial equity-focused change in the sector.

AFFILIATIONS PROGRAMME ONE: ONLINE SESSIONS
November 2025–February 2026

Our initial series of five online sessions included practical advice, activities and discussion around five topics: Collective Working, Ethical Fundraising, Commercial Property, Charitable Finance and Reserves Policies.

AFFILIATIONS PROGRAMME TWO: AFFILIATIONS COHORT
April–August 2026

Following the online sessions, Affiliations participants had the opportunity to apply to be part of Affiliations Cohort, a focused incubator programme running between April to August 2026. Affiliations Cohort offers bespoke training, in-person events and field trips to partner organisations. In addition to this skills training, participants form a peer network, helping to build resilience within this crucial yet vulnerable area of the sector.

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