Commissioned art: how to ensure fair compensation?

Image: Huub Holthuizen, Kneeling camel
For each column in the rechtReeKs series, the Arts Union chooses an appropriate image created by one of its member artists that has no relation to the issues in the article.

As I cycle through Amsterdam towards work, supermarket or sports - and always by a different route back - I come across so many beautiful things. They can be pearls, points of light in my day. Sometimes they are pontifically in front of my nose and sometimes they are so hidden that the find surprises me even more.

Knowing with how much pain and effort some of the works were created makes it extra special that they are there

And what I love is that there are works among them to which I have had the privilege of contributing. Because that is what I like to do - to help find a solution for what is not going smoothly. Knowing with how much pain and effort some of the works were created makes it extra special that they are here.

Again the other day, I got a call from someone who had been commissioned for a sculpture in a new town hall to be built. As often happens in cases like this, he was dealing with a whole team in the execution of the design. In this case, an architect, contractor, structural engineer and someone from building and housing control.

Everyone turned to the artist for every little detail, one meeting after another was scheduled to discuss progress, and on top of that, all sorts of rules meant that several adjustments had to be made to the design. The artist was flexible about this at first, but when it really started costing him a lot of time, and thus money, and he started talking about compensation for this extra work, he was looked at uncomprehendingly.

The collaboration was becoming increasingly difficult and the desire to complete the project was waning. The artist was in a split between staying true to himself and keeping the collaboration good so that the artwork could be realized.

When it really started costing him a lot of time and thus money and he started talking about compensation for this extra work, he was looked at non-comprehendingly

It wasn't the artist's fault, you might think. It was the client who wanted too much. Yet here you also have your own responsibility. The problem was that it was not clear what the parties could expect from each other, and you can do something about that.

The trick is to set up your bid, budget or agreements so that there is clarity. By properly specifying what work falls under the budget and breaking it down into as many different items as possible, it becomes clear to a client what the work consists of and how much time it takes. They often have no idea.

The trick is to set up your quote, budget or agreements so that there is clarity

If you have calculated a number of hours for consultation and it is exceeded, you have something to fall back on. Compensation for making changes due to additional requirements from the client, or for extra work because the client did not provide the necessary data on time, can be arranged with the right agreements. If this is not arranged, the contractor will often lose out.

After quite a bit of pushing and pulling, during which I kindly but urgently continued to hold the municipality accountable, it turned out there was a pot somewhere from which the artist could be paid fairly.
And rightfully so. For the artist this is an enormous recognition, but the time and energy it took to get this done, and to get the relationship with the municipality back on track, is also worth something. Then again, there are usually no pots for that.