The Artists’ Association of Finland promotes public art and best practices for buying art together with several other industry organisations. We offer guidance and information about executing public art projects for both commissioners and artists.
We offer artists interested in public art project diverse materials for support in the public art projects.
The guide for artists participating in art competitions (PDF) by the Artists’ Association of Finland is intended to support artists participating in art competitions and submitting works to calls for public art.
The Handbook of the Percent for Art Principle provides an up-to-date overview of the models for commissioning, funding and carrying out public art projects in Finland. It is a practical guide to support art projects carried out in built environments, such as residential areas, schools and public places.
The Handbook of the Percent for Art Principle for Artists is a practical guide for visual artists and designers who want to make public art. The handbook explains the whole process, step by step, from incorporating art to construction, drawing up a contract for an art project to working on a construction site and, finally, to maintaining a work of art throughout its life cycle.
Visual artist interesting in creating public art works should also join the Artists' Association of Finland database of visual artists working in Finland: Kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi.
The Competition Ombudsman of the Artists’ Association of Finland offers guidance to member artists in public art projects, for example in contracts and competition processes. Contact information can be found at the bottom of the page and on the Contact page.
The popularity of public art is on the rise in Finland, which translates into more commissions and art competitions through which artworks are purchased. Art improves the quality and atmosphere of built environments, and public art in cities and municipalities is important for residents. Art projects offer artists valuable job opportunities.
In Finland, the five commonly used methods to purchase public art are open competitions, invitation-only competitions, ordering drafts from multiple artists, making a call for portfolios and purchasing directly from artists. Purchasing directly from artists includes both new and existing works of art.
We provide commissioners with rules for open and invitation-only competitions, which provide the basis for different art contests no matter the size. The rules can be found on this page.
The Artists’ Association of Finland promotes the Percent for Art programme in public construction projects. Under the Percent for Art programme, roughly one per cent of the total costs of a construction project is used to fund art.
The website julkinentaide.fi offers more information about public art and best practices for commissioning and aqcuiring public art in Finland.
We provide commissioners with rules for open and invitation-only competitions, which provide the basis for different art contests no matter the size. The competition rules have been fine-tuned over a century to meet the interest and needs of both commissioners and artists. We have also drawn up guidelines for both commissioners and artists on the process of ordering drafts from multiple artists and calling for portfolios.
The Competition Ombudsman of the Artists’ Association of Finland offers guidance to those interested in commissioning public artworks, from choosing the right competition or order format to selecting an artist and communicating the results. We also appoint artist members to the juries and awards committees of art contests.
Using the competition rules of the Artists’ Association of Finland assures that an art project is professional, the artworks are of high quality and the artists are treated fairly in the selection process. The Artists’ Association of Finland only endorses via its communication channels competitions and calls that observe its rules and guidelines.