Hello Kevin and PAN colleagues,

There are ways for an agency to work with an international artist and get the insurance required for a project.

But why the artist can't get insurance matters. Is it because of student status, international status, the site or project's inherent risk, or the artist designing over budget?

As others mentioned, project insurance might be obtained by a lead project manager, not the artist. To realize a temporary outdoor public work by an internationally known French artist, a Pasadena non-profit had him send me, then an employee, his design. I made measurements for the multi-part, site-dependent work, drew up fabrication specs, and contracted for the required engineering calculation services. With the artist's review and approval, the work was fabricated in the US and installed by local contractors who each maintained GL insurances. The artist designed from beyond US borders and came in for the opening events. Essentially, we treated the situation like a caterer hired for a public event; there is a chef involved, but she is off site. Only on-site staff are required to have food handler cards.

If this artist is in the US on a student visa, the student may be ineligible for contract work.

If eligible for contracting, your international artist may be taxed.

As one of many contract managers for the J Paul Getty Trust, I managed contracts with international artists and scholars presenting in the US.

Income earned in the US must be reported to the IRS with the artist's ITIN (International Taxpayer Identification Number). The agency making payment is required to report payments with the payee's ITIN or SSN. The artist's tax rate will be based on the country of origin. Tax rate changes annually with favored nation status.

These requirements, and many others, arise from the very complex Patriot Act. Failure to comply can lead to audits and, in the worst case, loss of non-profit status. Good luck and let the field know how it turns out!

Helen Lessick

HelenLessick.net

On Wed, 9 Jan 2019 at 09:51, Kevin Vaughan-Brubaker <KevinV@scottsdalearts.org> wrote:

Hello Mighty Public Art Networkers,

We have an international artist who is a student at Arizona State that we are commissioning to do a temporary installation for the period of one year. The artist has been unable to secure liability insurance for himself for the duration of the project. We sent him to Fractured Atlas, but that ended up being too cost prohibitive. Do any of you have other resources for international artists/students to obtain liability coverage for themselves?

Here was Fractured Atlas’ response to the artist: “The admitted markets are declining because of the public art installation. There is just a high exposure for public art general liability policies. The carriers would be covering you for bodily injury to a third party, and there could be a wide range of people walking by or interacting with your piece on a daily basis. So, the secondary markets will pick this up and offer coverage, it is just more expensive.

The cost is really the major downside to a non-admitted policy in this situation. Admitted policies are backed by the state of Arizona and non-admitted policies are not. For admitted policies, the state will step in and pay damages if the carrier goes insolvent or out of business. So, the worst possible situation would be if you had a claim, the carrier went out of business during the process, and you were left with a bill. This could happen, but it is very unlikely to happen in the next year with an ‘A’ rated carrier by A.M. Best.

As I previously mentioned, Fracutred Atlas' assistant informed me that

the price range for non-admitted markets would be $1,500 ~ 2,500.”

Thanks.

Best,

Kevin

Kevin Vaughan-Brubaker

Public Art Manager

Scottsdale Public Art

T: 480.874.4667

C: 602.908.9300

kevinv@scottsdalearts.org

Scottsdale Arts, 7380 East Second Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251

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