Organisation
The Arts Council of Finland has grown and evolved throughout its over 40-year history. It currently has 28 different bodies in which decisions are made by almost 250 members. The Arts Council of Finland refers to all of these bodies and their administration, as well as to the decision-making body designated by the Government.
As a decision-making body, the Arts Council of Finland operates as a link between the Ministry of Education and Culture on the one hand and the regional and national arts councils on the other. It consists of nine chairmanships of national arts councils and six additional Government-appointed members, two of whom must represent regional arts councils.
Bodies
There are nine national arts councils, each with nine members:
National Council for Architecture
National Council for Literature
National Council for Photographic Art
National Council for Visual Arts
There are thirteen regional arts councils, each with nine to ten members:
Arts Council of Central Finland
Arts Council of Southeast Finland
Arts Council of Varsinais-Suomi
The Arts Council of Finland has three subcommittees:
Subcommittee for Grants to Illustrators and Comics Artists
Subcommittee for Multiculturalism
Subcommittee for Public Lending Right Grants for Music
There are two boards for grants:
Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators
Board for Public Display Grants to Visual Artists
Nominations
The members of the Arts Council of Finland and national arts councils are appointed by the Finnish Government for three-year terms. The members are selected from among the persons proposed by cultural and arts organisations and art institutes in different fields of the arts. The selection process takes into account each nominee's expertise in a specific field of art and regional representation. Members can hold their positions of trust for no more than two consecutive three-year terms.
The members of regional arts councils are appointed by the corresponding regional councils for three-year terms. The members are selected from among the persons proposed by regional cultural and arts organisations and institutes.
The members of the Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators and the Board for Public Display Grants to Visual Artists are appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture for three-year terms.
Staff
The Arts Council of Finland employs 55 administrative personnel, including 23 in the head office at 7 Maneesikatu in Helsinki and 31 in regional offices. The chairman of the Arts Council of Finland also serves as its director.
To promote regional art, the regional arts councils employ 49 provincial artists.
The Arts Council of Finland nominates fixed-term artist professors for five-year terms. At the moment there are five artist professors. These positions will be replaced gradually by grants.
Operating expenditure
Decisions about grants and subsidies are made in the meetings held by the bodies of the Arts Council of Finland. Each year 180 such meetings are convened. The members of the councils devote their time and effort to evaluate the applications. Income lost as a result of serving on the councils is not reimbursed. The travel expenses of members are reimbursed, and a small fee is paid for attending the meetings. The annual administrative appropriations amount to approximately five million euros. This organisation awards approximately 30 million euros in grants and subsidies each year, representing approximately 8 percent of the state budget for arts and culture.