Resources
YVAN Opportunities
Documents, toolkits, resources and guides for artists and the visual arts sector.
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Some general summaries and average reading time estimates were produced with AI assistance.
All Accessibility Artist Development Care Climate Justice Data & Evaluation EDI Financial F&E Toolkits Sector Yorkshire & Humber
UNLIMITED: Managing unpaid request for your time
Practical advice on how artists and cultural workers can respond to frequent unpaid requests for their time, using boundaries, scheduling, and clear communication to reduce exploitation and protect working capacity.
Approx. reading time: 6–8 mins.
New Contemporaries Artists’ Mentoring Programme
New Contemporaries’ annual mentoring scheme; where emerging artists receive one-to-one feedback, career guidance, and introductions to opportunities within the contemporary art sector through experienced artists and curators.
Approx. reading time: 3–5 mins.
Artist Exploitation: Barriers and Ethnic Representation by Sofia Barton
The article discusses structural barriers facing ethnic minority artists, including underrepresentation, unpaid labour, and exclusion from arts institutions.
Approx. reading time: 6–8 mins.
Extraordinary Creatives Podcast with CVAN director
Podcast hosted by creative coach and curator Ceri Hand and features long-form conversations with artists, cultural leaders, and creatives about building sustainable, meaningful creative careers.
Approx. reading time: 2–4 mins (overview page).
How to write ACE funding bids (July 2023)
The article explains how Arts Council England funding works, including the main grant types (Project Grants and DYCP), how applications are assessed, and why the process is competitive and often difficult to navigate.
Approx. reading time: 6–10 mins.
Outdoor Arts Guide - Bradford Producing Hub
A practical introduction to making work for outdoor spaces, covering creative approaches, production considerations, fundraising, touring, audiences, and essential legal and safety requirements for outdoor performance.
Approx. reading time: 10–15 mins.
A Publication from the Aberdeen Summit: Artists' Exploitation 2023
The PDF is a publication from an Aberdeen-based summit exploring contemporary art practice and cultural production in relation to place, collaboration, and wider social and environmental contexts.
Approx. reading time: 10–15 mins.
Research digest: The role of the artist in society 2023
The research digest explores evidence on socially engaged artists, examining how their roles, funding conditions, and working practices intersect with social impact, inequality, and cultural policy, and how these dynamics shape their position in society and public funding systems.
Approx. reading time: 12–18 mins.
Artist support, bid writing and funding consultant - Working With
Freelance consultancy, which supports artists and creative practitioners with funding applications, bid writing, and strategic development, with a focus on improving access to arts funding and supporting underrepresented or neurodivergent creatives.
Approx. reading time: 2–4 mins (of homepage)
The Creative Health Quality Framework
The framework sets out principles for delivering high-quality creative health work, focusing on person-centred, equitable, safe, and sustainable practice across arts and wellbeing projects.
Approx. reading time: 12–18 mins.
Accessible in person meetings
Our YVAN accessible in person meetings guide.
Approx. reading time: 8–15 mins.
Accessible online meetings template
Our YVAN accessible online meetings template guide.
Approx. reading time: 4-8 mins.
Report on significance of the Artist’s Resale Right (Nov 2024)
The report examines how artists use collective licensing schemes and secondary income streams to support their practice, and highlights the importance of fair remuneration systems like Payback and licensing in sustaining visual artists’ livelihoods in the UK.
Approx. reading time: 6–10 mins.
Arts-based engagement: a guide for community groups, artists and researchers
Inc Arts Anti-racist toolkit
An accountability toolkit for arts and cultural organisations that helps them take measurable anti-racist action by selecting and tracking over 100 practical commitments across hiring, leadership, and workplace culture.
Approx. reading time: 2–4 mins (homepage).
Queer Youth Art Collective Online Workshops
Workshops run by the Queer Youth Art Collective, offering free, weekly creative sessions for LGBTQ+ young people aged 18–28, led by queer artists to build skills, community, and peer support through accessible online art practice.
Approx. reading time: 2–3 mins.
Digital Rights Toolkit
This toolkit explains how artists and cultural organisations can manage copyright and permissions when sharing or distributing creative work online, covering contracts, terminology, and practical steps for clearing rights in digital contexts.
Approx. reading time: 10–15 mins.
Artist Network Log
An interactive mapping and research tool that documents artists, networks, organisations, and relationships across the Yorkshire and Humber visual arts ecosystem, helping make connections visible and support collaboration across the region.
Approx. reading time: 3–10 mins.
Beam: Building a More Diverse and Inclusive Public Art Sector
A research report on public art commissioning, focusing on why opportunities in the sector often fail to attract a diverse range of artists.
Approx. reading time: 20-30 minutes
CVAN Toolkit Four: Artists and Art Workers (
A practical resource that helps artists from marginalised communities assess how committed commissioning organisations are to equity, inclusion, and fair working practices, using structured prompts and reflection tools.
Approx. reading time: 6–10 mins.