A commission is an agreement to make a specific work for a specific place, usually for a public or institutional client, and usually selected through a formal procurement process rather than a juried call. The vocabulary comes from procurement rather than from art, which is why it is unfamiliar and why misreading it is expensive.
RFQ and RFP
A Request for Qualifications asks who you are and what you have made. It can request work samples, a résumé, references and a statement of interest. A later shortlisted stage may invite a paid design proposal.
A Request for Proposals asks what you would make. It can require a concept, cost estimate or developed response at the application stage.
The practical distinction is the deliverable and the cost of preparing it. Read the actual request, payment terms and selection stages; the abbreviation alone does not guarantee a paid design process.
Why the budget is not the fee
A commission budget is a project budget. Before the artist is paid, it may have to carry design development, structural or electrical engineering, fabrication, materials, transport, site preparation, installation labour, permits, public liability insurance, taxes and a contingency.
Look for a separate artist fee or an explanation of how compensation fits within the total. Where only one number is published, treat it as the project cost and ask what proportion is compensation before you begin.
The honorarium question
A shortlisted design stage should explain the requested work and the payment for producing it. Ask about the honorarium before agreeing to a developed concept, and compare the amount with preparation, presentation, travel and revisions.
Also establish what rights the commissioner seeks in unsuccessful proposals. An absent honorarium does not prove fraud, but it makes the unpaid commitment an explicit part of your decision.
Compare the selection process before you design
A commission brief should make the amount of work requested at each selection stage clear. Read the deliverables rather than relying on the abbreviation: a document labelled RFQ can still ask for substantial unpaid design.
| Stage | What you provide | What to establish first |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifications | Existing projects, experience and an interest statement | Eligibility, sample limits and whether a team may apply |
| Shortlisted concept | A proposed direction, outline costs and site response | Honorarium, deliverables, presentation date and use of rejected designs |
| Commission contract | Detailed design, fabrication and installation | Artist fee, payment milestones, responsibilities and acceptance criteria |
A qualification submission should show why you can solve the site's problem. A sculptor proposing an outdoor work needs to demonstrate materials, scale and delivery experience. A community project may need evidence of facilitation as well as finished objects. If you are applying as a team, identify who supplies each capability and whether the commissioner contracts with one lead artist or the whole team.
Work through a commission budget and payment plan
A commission budget needs to show the fee you retain after the work is delivered. Consider a hypothetical £30,000 total, not a suggested rate: £14,000 fabrication, £4,000 installation, £2,000 transport, £2,000 engineering and insurance, £3,000 contingency, and £5,000 artist fee. Those lines already consume the total. Site preparation, tax or maintenance cannot be added later without changing another line or increasing the contract.
Separate the cash timetable from that total. If a fabricator needs a £7,000 deposit before the commissioner releases a first instalment, the project has a cash-flow gap even when its final budget balances. Ask whether payments are triggered by signing, design approval, delivery or final acceptance, and how long each payment takes to arrive.
Write down who can approve the concept and who can request changes. A change after fabrication starts can affect materials, engineering, delivery and your time at once. Agree how extra work is priced and authorised. The point is to make a deliverable project, not to quietly absorb every uncertainty inside your own fee.
Before accepting, obtain the proposed contract, a site brief, the payment schedule and the required insurance wording. Use the project proposal and budget guide to connect every delivery promise to a cost and a date.
What does a commission actually require?
Beyond the work itself: insurance the commissioner will specify and you must be able to obtain, often a fabricator or engineer you have to appoint, a maintenance plan for anything permanent, and frequently a community-engagement component with its own time cost. Each is a real obligation with a price, and each belongs in the fee you quote.
Can emerging artists apply for public art?
Yes, where the programme accepts their experience and applicant type. Some calls have specific emerging or mentorship routes. Check delivery, insurance and any bonding requirements as well as selection criteria, because you must be able to meet the contract if selected.
What is a prequalified pool or roster?
A roster is a list of artists a commissioner has assessed for potential future projects. Check its duration, how project invitations are made and whether any work is guaranteed. Joining can reduce repeated qualification work, but its value depends on actual opportunities and your fit.
Who owns the work afterwards?
Usually the commissioner owns the physical work while the artist retains copyright, but this is negotiated and varies. Moral rights — the right to be named, and to object to destructive alteration — are treated very differently between jurisdictions, and are worth understanding before signing. See rights and reproduction clauses.
How long do commissions take?
The duration depends on the work, site and approvals. Ask for dates covering selection, design development, permissions, fabrication, installation and acceptance. Align the payment schedule with these milestones and allow for dependencies such as engineering approval.
When a commission is not worth pursuing
An unpaid developed proposal, an unclear budget and an unworkable deadline can make a commission unsuitable for your current resources. Obtain clarification before committing substantial design time. Compare the request with a roster or RFQ that uses existing work samples, and choose a process whose costs and obligations you can carry.