Information about arts councils
What is the appointment process?
- In February, Taike requested nominations for candidates to its national and regional arts councils for the 2025–2026 term from significant actors in the arts sector. The deadline for nominations was 31 May 2024.
- Taike will contact all nominees by e-mail at the beginning of June.
- The Central Arts Council decided on the names and number of arts councils at its meeting on 16 May 2024. The names and artforms of the national arts councils will remain the same in the upcoming term as in the current term. Find out more about the current arts councils:
- Taike’s special advisors will review all the nominations and form their opinion for the Central Arts Council, which will decide on the composition of the arts councils at its meeting in October.
Arts councils provide peer reviews
The national and regional arts councils serve as Taike’s expert bodies. The most important task of their members is to act as experts and peer reviewers within their own field of the arts and region. Art councils decide on the awarding of grants and prizes.
The arts councils convene approximately 5–8 times a year. The number of meetings varies by arts council depending on the number of issues to be discussed. In addition to attending these meetings, members are responsible for independently reviewing applications. This is done at home from their own computers. Most applications are in Finnish.
Number of applications varies by arts council
Among Taike’s regional arts councils, the Arts Council of Uusimaa processes approximately 1500 applications a year, while the Arts Council of Pirkanmaa and the Arts Council of Varsinais-Suomi process approximately 350 applications each. The number of applications processed by the smaller regional arts councils varies between 100 and 250.
Among Taike’s national arts council, the National Council for the Visual Arts processes approximately 2500 applications a year, the National Council for Music 2000 applications and the National Council for the Performing Arts 1200 applications. The number of applications processed by the other national arts councils varies between 400 and 900.
Compensation
Fees confirmed by the Ministry of Education and Culture are paid for attending council meetings and reviewing applications:
- Meeting fee for chairperson: €160/meeting
- Meeting fee for members: €120/meeting
- Fee for reviewing applications: €1.50/application (max. 400 applications)
In addition, travel costs are reimbursed in accordance with the State Travel Regulations.
Expertise of members
The expertise of Taike’s arts councils is based on the expertise of their members and their knowledge of the arts sector, so all nominees must be experts in their field. The pool of nominees should ideally represent different ages and genders. It is also desirable that some of the nominees for the regional arts councils live elsewhere than in the provincial centres.
Members of arts councils cannot apply for a personal grant from their own art council.
Members must commit to their arts council work. This work requires an open and conversational attitude. Since applications are reviewed electronically, members should also be familiar with using a computer and have sufficient knowledge of Finnish or Swedish and English.
We hope to receive a broad range of nominees who represent different genres within their artforms and the diversity within the fields of the arts and culture.
Members of arts councils may also be called on to review the applications of other arts councils with their consent.
The same person may be appointed to an arts council (as chairperson or member) for no more than two consecutive terms, after which he or she may be reappointed after no less than two years. Click on the links above to see the members of the previous arts councils.
Disqualification
Taike's operations comply with the Administrative Procedure Act and the principles of good governance. Members of arts councils are equated with public officials in their role as decision-makers. Their decision-making must not be influenced by their own interests or those of their close relatives, political interests or other unrelated matters. Their activities must be impartial, even in the eyes of an outsider.
Examples of situations in which a member is disqualified:
- The member is part of a working group that is applying for a grant.
- The member or his/her child, parent or (current or former) spouse is applying for a grant (from the arts council of which he/she is a member).
A close friendship or hostile relationship also constitutes grounds for disqualification if the relationship undermines the impartiality of the decision-maker.
If a member is disqualified, he/she may not participate in the preparation, processing or decision-making of the matter in question. A member cannot disqualify himself/herself only for one application but is disqualified for the entire grant or subsidy in question.
For the duration of the term, members of the arts councils should give up such affiliations – such as elected positions – that may cause grounds for disqualification in the work of the arts council. If a member is constantly prevented from participating in the processing of grant or subsidy applications, the work of the arts council will lack precisely his/her expertise. A disqualified member may be the only representative of his/her field on the arts council. Members do not have deputy members.
