The Arts Resource Hub (ARH) was set up by NAC in August 2019 to provide arts freelancers in Singapore with the necessary resources to sustainably continue their practice, unlock new opportunities and grow meaningful careers. Freelancers are essential to the vibrancy of our arts eco-system as their varied skills and capacity contribute to a range of roles across the industry. Extensive consultations were held with over 370 members of the arts community in 2018 to better tailor the ARH’s offerings to suit their needs. Key concerns raised were challenges in finding job opportunities, a lack of legal knowledge and insurance coverage, fairness in hiring practices and easy digital access to resources. For more details on the genesis of the ARH, click here.
To provide arts Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) with an open channel to ask questions on existing COVID-19 support measures available, ARH organised a series of one-on-one call chats from 24 March – 3 April 2020, for arts SEPs to speak with NAC staff over Zoom. These consultation sessions were extended with the roll-out of the Arts and Culture Resilience Package where a series of Ask NAC! sessions were organised for artists to dial in through a group setting, and a total of 72 SEPs were engaged. Ask NAC! group sessions were re-launched in April 2021 and details of the schedule and points discussed can be found here.
NAC also met with Centre 42 and some arts SEPs on 8 September 2020 and 16 April 2021 to provide updates and get feedback on the renovation plans for 42 Waterloo Street. The key points from their discussion can be found here.
On 3 February 2023, NAC held an engagement session, hosted by Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ms Low Yen Ling, with arts practitioners, including SEPs, SEP advocates and representatives from arts organisations that work closely with arts SEPs, to discuss ideas on how the Arts Resource Hub (ARH) could better support arts SEPs. The key points from their discussion can be found here.