Advocacy, advice and professional practice resources for the Australian visual arts, craft and design sector
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About NAVA
- What is the National Association for the Visual Arts?
- What is NAVA's role?
- Who are the members?
- How is NAVA structured?
- Representation by NAVA
- What work is NAVA currently involved in?
- NAVA's Professional Services
- How is NAVA funded?
- What does NAVA offer its members?
- Who can I speak to at NAVA?
What is the National Association for the Visual Arts?
The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) is the national peak body for the visual and media arts, craft and design sector working through advocacy and service provision, to achieve a flourishing Australian visual arts sector and a more vibrant, distinctive and ethical cultural environment. Since its establishment in 1983, NAVA has been extremely successful in bringing about policy and legislative change to encourage the growth and development of the sector and to increase professionalism within the industry. NAVA undertakes advocacy and lobbying, research, policy and project development, data collection and analysis. It also provides direct service to its members and the sector generally by offering expert advice, referrals, resources, professional representation and development, grant programs and a range of other opportunity brokerage and career development services.
What is NAVA's Role?
NAVA represents the professional interests of the Australian visual and media arts, craft and design sector. NAVA's role includes:
- advocating to governments at all levels to promote the professional interests of artists, other art professionals and art organisations concerning their rights, working conditions and financial sustainability;
- setting best practice standards for the industry including minimum rates of pay and conditions for visual and media art, craft and design professionals;
- publishing professional practice resources and providing expert advice to emerging and established visual and media art, craft and design practitioners and other art professionals;
- offering on-line professional development courses and brokering career opportunities for practitioners
- representing its constituency to policy and other decision-making bodies;
- acting as secretariat for and convenor of industry advocacy groups;
- working with arts sector partners on research, campaigns and projects; organising forums at art festivals and events, delivering training workshops and giving lectures for the education sector and others;
- conducting and contributing to research on issues concerning the Australian visual and media arts, craft and design sector;
- assisting visual and media art, craft and design practitioners through its small grants and awards programs
- providing media commentary on behalf of the sector.
Who are the members?
NAVA's constituency includes visual artists, craftspeople, designers and media artists, other arts professionals including curators, agents, educators, art writers and critics, arts administrators, art librarians, conservators, registrars and installers and a range of organisations including public, artist run and commercial galleries, arts agencies, art service organisations, educational institutions, art publications, manufacturers and retailers as well as people who support the arts.
How is NAVA structured?
NAVA is a company limited by guarantee with about 3,000 individual and organisational members and 1000 student affiliates. NAVA is run by a Board of up to nine directors, five elected by the members representing the interests of visual arts practitioners and organisations and drawn from at least four states/territories, and up to four co-opted members with other specialist skills in the areas of law, business development and fundraising, politics and strategy, marketing and promotion & media.
Current Board Members: NAVA's Chair is Ian Howard, respected artist, academic, and former Dean of the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. The elected members are Frederick Clise (SA), Alexie Glass-Kantor (VIC), Pippa Dickson (TAS), Aaron Seeto (NSW) and Kelli McClusky (WA). The co-opted members are Simeon Beckett (NSW), Joyce Parszos (NSW) and Jenny Yvonne Wong (NSW). Dina Madorsky (NSW) is Treasurer and Company Secretary.
NAVA's patrons are Professor David Throsby, eminent cultural economist and NAVA's Founding Chair; Pat Corrigan AM, businessman and arts patron and Janet Holmes à Court, businesswoman and arts philanthropist.
Representation by NAVA
NAVA represents its members and the Australian visual and media arts, craft and design sector in meetings, discussions, forums and the media.
NAVA is the secretariat and spokesbody for the National Visual & Media Arts, Craft and Design Network, a group of peak bodies which collaborate in advocacy and joint initiatives, and was the initiator and is now an active board member of the Australian Design Alliance.
NAVA is convenor of the Visual Education Roundtable, a coalition of the key stakeholders in school visual education and an active member of the National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE).
NAVA is also the co-convenor of ArtsPeak, the confederation of national arts service organisations and a member of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity.
What work is NAVA currently involved in?
NAVA continues its tradition of working to improve conditions for visual and media arts, craft and design practitioners and other art professionals and is engaged in the following:
- Advising all political parties on national cultural and design policies
- Securing the inclusion of the Arts in the national curriculum for schools in partnership with other members of the National Advocates for Arts Education, and through serving on the advisory group to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
- Advocating for the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy funding to be increased and made a permanent commitment
- Strengthening protection of artists' freedom of expression
- Advocating for daily arts coverage in public broadcast news and current affairs
- Advocating for ethical trade practices by those dealing in and purchasing Indigenous art, craft and design
- Seeking amendment to exempt all professional artists from the federal Non-Commercial Losses tax legislation allowing them to claim their art expenses for income tax purposes
- Seeking reform of social security conditions for artists.
NAVAs Professional Services
NAVA's Grant Programs
- Two small grants programs:
- The Australian Artists Grant supported by Mrs Janet Holmes à Court & the VAB, Australia Council
- The NSW Artists Grant supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW
- Awards through:
The Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists
The Windmill Trust Scholarship
Curator Mentorship Initiative supported by the Sidney Myer Fund
Art & Australia/Credit Suisse Private Banking Contemporary Art Award
The Artists Benevolent Trust
Ignition Prize for graduating students
Industry Codes and Professional Resources produced by NAVA
- Visual Arts Net, the website for the Australian visual arts, craft and design sector
- Artscareer, the portal website for access to professional development training and resources for practitioners and educators in all artforms
- The Code of Practice for the Professional Australian Visual Arts, Craft and Design Sector, Edition 3
- Valuing Art, Respecting Culture: Protocols for Working with the Indigenous Australian Visual Arts and Craft Sector
- Getting Art There: an Artists' Marketing Manual
- Money for Visual Artists: NAVA's Guide to Competitions, Awards and Prizes
- Theory in Practice Series (TIPS) of ten professional practice booklets
- The Art Censorship Guide: What you should know about threats to artistic freedom and how to deal with them
- Where There's a Will: Estate Planning for Visual Artists" with the Arts Law Centre of Australia, commissioned by the Australia Council
- National visual arts/craft professional practice module for the tertiary education sector on-line
- Ideas for Policy and Legislation for the Visual Arts and Craft Sector arising out of the Visual Arts Industry Guidelines Research Project
- The Big Picture: A Planning Matrix for the Visual Arts, research report analysing the impact of five major forces shaping the Australian visual arts and craft sector
- Outside the Gumtree Report on the needs of non-English speaking background artists and their contribution to Australian culture
- Report on artists' childcare needs in Australia
How is NAVA funded?
NAVA's core operations are funded by the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, the Federal Government's arts funding and advisory body and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. It also has a triennial grant from Arts NSW and a 3 year project grant from the Copyright Agency. Otherwise it generates income from:
- membership subscriptions
- sales of products and services
- project grants from public and private bodies
- sponsorship (some in kind)
- donations from private trusts and foundations and individual arts benefactors
What does NAVA offer its members?
- The opportunity to give support to their sector. Members’ fees significantly contribute to NAVA’s success in providing powerful advocacy and lobbying to advance the interests of the Australian visual and media arts, craft and design sector.
- The chance to be heard and get support in their disputes.
- Concession price entry to paying exhibitions in major national and state museums and galleries.
- Free online subscription to Money for Visual Artists [mfva.com.au] - a regularly updated listings site with over 750 prizes, awards, residencies, scholarships, fellowships, art fairs and grants.
- Discounts on all NAVA publications as well as discounts from over 200 product and service providers nationwide.
- The latest news and opportunities from around the country through NAVA’s monthly e-bulletin.
- An insight into the issues facing Australian visual and media arts, craft and design practitioners and the sector through NAVA’s journal, the NAVA Quarterly, delivered to the door.
- Members only content in the Member Only Area on visualarts.net.au
- Expert advice & information from our experienced and knowledgeable staff as well as access to professional development workshops and opportunities.
- Recognition as a professional artist, meeting one of the criteria used by the Australia Tax Office in assessing whether artists qualify as an ‘artist in business’.
- International recognition as a professional artist with an International Association of Art card, putting members at the front of the queue and saving them money at many major museums and galleries worldwide*.
- Protection when things go wrong with a Comprehensive Artist Insurance Package. This type of insurance is essential when working and exhibiting in the public domain, and also helps artists to comply with government and local council regulations**.
- A comprehensive Art Workers’ Insurance package for professional art curators, installers, conservators, registrars and administrators***.
* NAVA Certified and Professional Members only.
** NAVA Professional Members only.
*** NAVA CIRCA Members only.
Find out more about becoming a NAVA member.
Who can I speak to at NAVA?
Click here to go to our staff page.
Principal Funders
