Knowing how to work with artists and arts workers is a key component of nurturing healthy working relationships between creative freelancers and the people who seek to hire them. This is one of the main reasons why we created Sixty Collective. As part of our advocacy for a healthy arts ecosystem, we’ve gathered a starter pack of tips and tools to help guide you through the process of hiring an artist for your project. These can also be useful refreshers for those with a depth of experience working with freelancers.
This is not meant to be comprehensive, but only a starting point. These tools and tips are also meant to be considered in collaboration with our Community Agreements and Knowledge Share database.
Tools & Resources
- A Resource Guide for New Freelancers
- A WAGE reading list
- Contract 101 for Artists
- Contracts for Artists: What They Are, When to Use Them, How They Can Protect You
- Freelance isn’t Free
- Gig Work is Work, Artists are Workers
- WAGE Fee Calculator
- WAGE’s Precedent (or a brief history of artists labor advocacy)
Tips for hiring freelancers
- Create your own freelancer policy. Before working with any freelancer, you should have your own standards for the type of working relationship you want to create, no matter the project. This will influence every aspect of the collaboration–from how you describe their role in the project to how you work together throughout and how the project reaches the finish line.
- Respect the rate. Freelancer rates are not arbitrary. They are a complex calculation of skills, experience, and costs of doing business. If their rate doesn’t fit in your budget, ask if they are willing to negotiate, but be considerate. Asking freelancers to take a considerable cut in their rates directly impacts their personal and professional livelihood.
- Clarity is key. Be sure that the details of the project are clear and in writing. It is essential to reach a shared understanding of pay, timeline, deadlines, important benchmarks, tasks, and goals–and include these in everything from position descriptions to contracts, when possible.
- Prioritize open and direct communication. Working relationships sometimes collapse when collaborative environments aren’t welcoming to questions, feedback, hard conversations, and asking for what you need. If something isn’t working (and if something is), try to create a welcoming environment to say so from the start. Also create consistent spaces for these discussions throughout the project.
- Set creative parameters and expectations. Are you giving a high level of creative freedom to the freelancer or do you already have a vision that they simply need to lend their skills to realize an existing idea? Decide on how much creative license is involved before engaging a freelancer.
- Be flexible and adaptable to change. Sometimes the goals and expectations are reflections of our best intentions and need to be adjusted along the way. Try to set realistic goals, but also be ready to adjust as needed.
- Integrity and transparency are essential. We know that circumstances often change for projects, and sometimes your freelancers are the last to know. Treat your freelancers with the same respect and professional courtesy as you would your other collaborators or employees–especially when changes might impact the pay or other terms of the relationship.
