Stuttgart wants to pay artists a basic fee for doing exhibitions

The project provides for a flat rate to be paid directly to them, irrespective of other funding, in order to strengthen the local cultural sector

Yesterday, city authorities in Stuttgart, Germany, announced a new funding programme for artists that will see the city pay out a flat fee for holding exhibitions. Authorities have dubbed this initiative the Model for Stuttgart (Modell für Stuttgart) and want to use it to stimulate the arts sector in the city, while alleviating financial barriers to creating exhibitions.

The programme will kick in at the start of 2023 and will last for an initial for four years, according to an official statement by the city. At the same time, the municipal council has delegated a budget of 210,000 euros to fund the Model for Stuttgart.

Paying artists to do art

As part of the Model for Stuttgart, artists and institutions will receive flat rates for holding exhibitions. For a solo artist exhibition, the rate is set at 1,500 euros, for a small group of two to three artists, the rate is set at 500 euros per artist and for a medium-sized group of four to nine artists – 250 euros. For a larger group of more than nine artists, the rate is set at 100 euros per artist.

Moreover, city officials chose the term ‘basic exhibition fee’ (Ausstellungsgrundvergütung) to send a clear message that it means a catch-all policy for contributing to the local art scene. These flat rates are understood as a minimum payment, that can be increased by additional contributions from local cultural institutions, at their own discretion.

Applications for the basic exhibition fee will be available to both artists and institutions of all types. Through this, the local administration hopes to allow cultural projects the chance to accumulate financial resources from multiple sides and programmes.

At the same time, the project has been dubbed a test run and is subject to iterations as authorities gather data on how it interacts with the local cultural sector.