Freelancing in the South West – a freelancer’s perspective

This blog is written by Vicky Dawson. It’s a shorter version of the presentation she gave at ‘Collaborating with and working for the museum and heritage sector: an online event for the freelance community’, hosted by South West Museum Development on 4th February 2021.

I have been working as a freelance curator and consultant since 1984, mainly in the South West, but with a couple of forays further afield.

The landscape for freelancers at that time would seem like a foreign country to many of you now.  Two of the main drivers for freelance work – Accreditation and Lottery funding – did not exist and the logistical, work and social context were different too: computers were only just coming into the workplace let alone the home (who could afford the kit?), so certainly no emails, social media or other connectivity we take for granted now. 

For me freelancing was a conscious choice, though happened upon by chance, to be able to combine childrearing and work. The reasons people freelance now are much more varied as are the specialisms they offer, as the lack of paid established posts unfortunately becomes increasingly prominent.

Freelancing has given me the privilege of working at a great number of sites with a wonderful range of people and collections.  I have also undertaken a wide variety of roles, across several fields.

I will not bore you with my CV, instead highlight some of the key features that I think have made my experience so rewarding and long-running.  I don’t underestimate the challenges as well as the opportunities faced by some of you starting out today particularly in the current economic climate and the changed landscape being wrought by Covid-19.

Networking has played an important part in my success as a freelancer.  I was involved with the South Western Federation of Museums and Art Galleries (SWFed) for a long time, in particular at the time it was a partner in establishing the Museum Development Programme in the South West in its current iteration.  The Fed, SSNs and county museum groups continue to feature. These activities give me an understanding of the wider context of museums, of national and regional policy and of working strategically.   They also raise my profile and introduce me to useful contacts – all helpful when pitching for a contract. 

Preparing this presentation, I also reflected on whether  my geographical position has played a role in the variety of work I have enjoyed.  I live in Taunton – an undistinguished town bang in the centre of the SW, with good road and rail connections to the North and South, and bearable ones to the East.  It was also the home of the SW Area Museum Council and its successor the SW Museums Libraries and Archives Council.  I did work for both these bodies, which gave me an entry into and understanding of sector support organisation work.

Of course, with the advent of digital and now the overwhelming presence of Zoom, this geography will not matter nearly as much.  Looking at my accounts for 2019/2020, my work-related train expenses were £998; for the 10 months from April 2020 to now, I incurred £9.30.

Being creative with my CPD has also been essential.  Involvement in the networking groups mentioned earlier is valuable CPD.  I took on the role of Curatorial Adviser (aka Accreditation mentor) to broaden my experience.  I accounted for the time and cost of many of these activities as CPD and marketing. It is important to account for this time: include the cost when working out your day rate. Hands on experience is often more valuable than classroom learning or an entry in a yearbook.

I found it important to be creative as well, to fit in with my current life circumstances: my first foray into museum education was as a young mum when I approached my local museum to ask whether I could organise under 5s sessions for the local childbirth support group. 

Like many of us I suspect,  I  consciously stretch myself with the contracts I apply for, so that I am broadening my experience at the same time as earning a living.  The role of exhibition developer and project manager for the touring exhibition 2000 years of Christianity in Wessex in 1999/2001 led to taking on three more touring exhibition projects.  Never underestimate the skills you have and how they can be applied in areas that you may not have thought about. 

In my current contract as Accreditation Technical Adviser with SW Museum Development, changes to Charity Law and to the Accreditation Standard, combined latterly with the challenges of the pandemic, have meant that over the past six years or so, my understanding of charity constitutions has mushroomed and so has my competence to advise in this area.  It is interesting work and has even made me wonder whether I should have gone into the law – the £275/hour + VAT fees charged by one solicitor I worked with certainly sounded attractive.

Some things remain a challenge, even after 36 years working freelance: notably coping with the peak and troughs of work (particularly seeing a nice juicy contract just after you’ve taken on a bread and butter one!) and getting a quote right.

South West Museum Development and its predecessors feature strongly in my portfolio, either as clients or as colleagues to work alongside.  If you are hired by a museum in the region, you will find the insights available from Museum Development Officers, the thematic officers and central team a real boon.  They know their museums intimately and are always keen to help them get the best out of a contract. 

I welcome the agency’s current initiative to support freelancers in a range of ways, as outlined at the symposium they hosted  for the sector on 4th February 2021. They and organisations such as the SWFed are part of the ecosystem of the museum world in the South West, a region which often leads in that strong mutual help ethos that typifies our sector.

Overall I have enjoyed my career enormously.  I love the creativity of museums.  I have to admit that I miss (as I am sure we all do) current face to face contact with colleagues and collections.  How much of our work will continue online even once we are allowed to meet again no one knows.

One thing is certain though, and that is that as a freelancer you need to stay alert, to look ahead and explore the opportunities offered.  One new development that is piquing my interest at the moment is the opening up of ACE project grants to freelancers working in the museum sector.   Another issue is how can museums and their natural science collections play  a more prominent role in their communities  in raising awareness of and tackling the climate crisis.

Watch this space….

Thanks to Vicky for writing this piece for Museum Freelance. You can follow her on Twitter or on LinkedIn. And if you’d like to write something for the blog please get in touch with Marge by emailing [email protected].