Artist-run initiative


An artist-run initiative is any project run by artists, including sound or visual artists, to present their and others' projects. They might approximate a traditional art gallery space in appearance or function, or they may take a markedly different approach, limited only by the artist's understanding of the term. "Artist-run initiatives" is an umbrella name for many types of artist-generated activity.
One such group, the Belfast-based Catalyst Arts, wrote that:
"Artist-run means initiating exchange; emphasizing cross and inter-disciplinary approaches to making art; developing networks; through curation, putting creative ideas and arguments into action"

Important historical artist-run initiatives include the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop in Canada, The Wrong Gallery in New York City in the 2000s, and City Racing in London in the 1990s. Damien Hirst's one-off exhibition Freeze in a London warehouse in the 1990s could also be said to be a temporary, yet important, artist-run initiative. Artist-run initiatives have used cars, briefcases, and other unusual exhibition venues where traditional spaces were too expensive or limited. Cuckoo is a New Zealand-based artist-run initiative where its members use other people's spaces to present their program, like a cuckoo bird does by placing its own eggs discreetly into the nests of other birds.
Artist-run initiatives also play a role in hosting international artists: they may also include guest studios or even international artist in residence programs.