< BUDGETING A COMMISSION
FIXED BUDGET & FIXED FEE COMMISSIONS
One final point on commission financing is a brief explanation of the difference between FIXED BUDGET and FIXED FEE commissions.
A fixed budget commission is when a commissioning body sets aside a fixed sum of money for the execution of a project. This sum usually includes the artist’s fee, foundry costs, transportation and installation of the sculpture and probably any other relevant items. When the artist is awarded a fixed budget commission they are usually given overall control of the budgetary spend. This arrangement leaves the artist free to negotiate their own terms with foundries and other services/suppliers.
When working with a fixed budget commission, the commissioned artist usually has a finite sum available to execute the sculpture, therefore under most circumstances the sum of cash remaining after all costs have been met will effectively be considered the artist’s fee. The advantage of the fixed budget is that the artist has a great deal of spending control and can therefore capitalise on any savings and deals made with foundries and other suppliers. The disadvantage is that cost overruns can rapidly eat into commission reserves; so if the commission and budget spend is not carefully planned and controlled, the artist may not receive the income they anticipated. Most sculpture commissions are of a fixed budget type.
The other type of commission budget, the ‘fixed fee’, rewards the artist with an agreed fee. Normally this fee is payable for the design and execution of a MASTER PATTERN alone, although some oversight of the work’s progress in the foundry and during installation is usual. The fixed fee commission is usually offered by commissioning bodies who wish to make their own administrative and financial arrangements with foundries and other suppliers. The artist is not normally involved in negotiating manufacturing costs, though they may be in a position to express a personal preference for using one foundry over another.
The advantage of a fixed fee is that the artist knows in advance exactly how much they will earn for their work. Although the artist looses the opportunity to capitalise on carefully planned production costing and deal making, any overrun in manufacturing costs is the ultimately responsibility of the funding body alone, so an overrun should not impact in any way on the artist’s fee.
It is important to be aware that there are elements of fixed budget and fixed fee commissions that can overlap and be interchangeable according to each individual commission’s circumstances. With this in mind it is very important for an artist to look very carefully at the detail set out in the commission brief and any contract.
CONTRACTS >
|
