The Ministry of Education and Culture supports the Finnish Painters project
The Ministry of Education and Culture has granted a special grant of 70,000 euros to the Finnish Painters’ Union to develop the Finnish Painters project and evaluate its effectiveness. The period of use of the grant is 1 October 2023–31 December 2024.
The grant makes it possible to increase the Finnish Painters project’s staff resources as well as marketing, information, and networking activities, consulting purchases, curatorial meetings of the project’s artists and the organisation of an exhibition, as well as instructions and operating models related to the visual artist’s international activities.
The Finnish Painters project’s piloting season effects will be evaluated at the end of 2024, and decisions on future actions will be made. If the project continues, plans will be made for the following years using the results of the project. If the project is not continued, the results will support the other activities of the Finnish Painters’ Union. Regardless of the further decision, the work done in the project benefits all members of the Finnish Painters’ Union. Operating models and support services developed with the artists of the project will be scaled to services for the entire membership of the Union.
Emma Luukkala, Smiley, oil on linen, 106 x 93 x 4 cm, 2023. Photo: Emma Luukkala
The Finnish Painters project develops Finnish painters’ international activity and visibility, openness of access to activities, support services for artists, and new contacts and operating models between artists and the rest of the art field. The project cooperates with both Finnish and foreign actors in the field of visual arts. As part of the Finnish Painters project, the Finnish Painters’ Union maintains the finnishpainters.fi website, which highlights Finnish painters and the diversity of painting and acts as a channel between international art professionals and Finnish contemporary painters. Its operation is non-commercial, and the service is free for all participants. The website represents more than eighty artists curated using peer review methods from among the members of the Association of Painters. It is the first English-language website that presents Finnish painters in a broad but curated manner. The website was launched in October 2021, which started the three-year pilot period of the Finnish Painters project. The Finnish Painters project has received funding from the Saastamoinen Foundation (2021, 2022, 2023) and the Finnish Cultural Foundation (2023).
The Finnish Painters’ Union is a national organisation of professional painters. It works to improve visual artists’ professional and social interests and promote visual arts’ visibility and appreciation. One of the goals of the Finnish Painters’ Union’s activities is the growth of international recognition and demand for Finnish contemporary visual art and painting.
The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for the development of education, science, culture, sport, and youth policies and for international cooperation in these fields.
The grant awarded to the Finnish Painters’ Union is part of special grants for development projects in the visual arts, architecture, and design. The grants promote the objectives of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s cultural policy strategy for 2025 in the fields of visual art, architecture, and design. The goal is to strengthen the structures of visual art, architecture, and design by supporting cooperation between actors and disseminating good practices, thereby contributing to expanding the earning potential of artists in the field.
More information:
Producer Saija Koponen
Finnish Painters project
Finnish Painters’ Union
saija.koponen(a)painters.fi
+358 (0)44 722 0734
