Artistic signage and mural… eligible for the artistic 1%

Ask for advice and a file at our art workshop Métamorphoze. We guide you.

In the meantime, we take this opportunity to send you information on this obligation, which is so necessary in the art world.

What is it for?

• support for contemporary creation;
• enrichment of heritage;
• raising public awareness of art;
• Putting a work in dialogue with a place.

1% DEDICATED TO ART, A LEGAL OBLIGATION!

The sponsors and the sites concerned The implementation of the 1% is a legal obligation. The buildings covered by the “obligation to decorate public buildings” can be located on national territory (including the overseas departments) or abroad, for example an embassy of France. For the State, its public establishments and agents, real estate operations for the construction and extension of public buildings or the carrying out of rehabilitation work with a change of use, use or destination, give rise to the purchase or commission of one or more artistic achievements intended to be displayed in the structure or in its surroundings. For local authorities, their groups and representatives, construction operations entail the purchase or commission of one or more artistic achievements intended to be integrated into the structure or its surroundings. The contracting authorities required to systematically apply the 1% scheme are: — the State or its public establishments, other than those of an industrial and commercial nature (EPIC) and those of a health nature. This applies to State buildings (administrative buildings, courthouses, police stations, etc.), national public establishments of an administrative, scientific, cultural and professional nature (EPSCP, higher education establishments, universities and grandes écoles in particular), scientific and cultural institutions (EPSC), scientific and technological institutions (EPST). Public interest groupings (GIPs) and other sui generis structures, such as local authorities, their groupings for areas of competence transferred to them by the State from 1983 onwards, and public establishments for cultural cooperation (EPCC) are excluded from the scheme unless they voluntarily submit to it. This concerns, for example, media libraries for municipalities; colleges, libraries or archives for the departments; lycées for the regions, — any agent or person acting on their behalf, in particular in the case provided for in Article L.211-7 of the Education Code. Project owners who are not required to apply the 1% scheme may nevertheless voluntarily submit to it. For the sake of legal certainty, it is recommended to scrupulously respect the procedure, including when it is optional.

The 1% artistic procedure is governed by Decree No. 2002-677 of 29 April 2002, as amended, relating to the “obligation to decorate public buildings”, which sets out the principles of application, and by the new Public Procurement Code, which details the procedure (Articles L.2172-2 and R.2172-7 to -19). Article 79 of the Law of 7 July 2016 amended Article L.1616-1 of the General Code of Local Authorities, and provides that “the municipality, department or region shall immediately select the author of the work of art that is the subject of an insertion in the said construction”. Similarly, the law stipulates that local authorities shall ensure the diversity of the works and artists selected. The operations or categories of operations exempted from the obligation of the 1% artistic fee are defined in the decrees of 30 September 2003 for the Ministry of the Interior and of 22 March 2005 for the Ministry of Defence.

The budget devoted to the artistic 1%

The 1% all-inclusive budget (TTC) is calculated on the estimated amount of the work, excluding tax, as established by the architect when the final preliminary design (APD) is submitted. It may not exceed 2 million euros. Expenditure on roads and networks, and on movable equipment, is excluded from the calculation basis. The price does not include the cost of the project management studies that allow the artistic intervention to be integrated into the final work. This budget includes the services necessary for the design, production, transport and installation of the work, as well as the allowances given to artists who have presented an unsuccessful project. When real estate transactions carried out by several public entities are carried out simultaneously on the same site, the amount allocated to the 1% may be calculated as a whole. If the real estate operations are the responsibility of several project owners, they mandate one of them to place a single order.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1% ARTISTIC

The formation of the artistic committee As soon as the preliminary project (APS) is approved, the client must form an artistic committee and then ensure its organisation and secretariat (art. R.2172-18 and R.2172-19 of the Public Procurement Code). If the real estate operation is located on national territory, the artistic committee brings together:

• the client (project owner) or his representative, who is the chairman,
• the architect (project manager),
• a representative of the building’s users (e.g. a secondary school principal),
• the Regional Director of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) or his representative,
• a qualified person in the field of visual arts chosen by the client,
• two qualified personalities in the field of visual arts appointed by the Regional Director of Cultural Affairs, one of whom is selected from a list drawn up by professional artists’ organizations. The client may invite a representative of the municipality of the construction site to attend the work of the committee in an advisory capacity (without participation in the vote). If the real estate transaction is located outside the national territory, the artistic committee brings together:
• the project owner or his representative, who chairs the project and has the casting vote in the event of a tie vote,
• the France ambassador to the country concerned or his representative,
• the architect,
• the Director General of Artistic Creation (DGCA) or his representative,
• two qualified personalities in the field of visual arts, one of whom is appointed by the project owner and the other by the Ambassador of France.

The expectations of the order

Depending on the budget of the operation, the artistic committee draws up the programme and the expectations of the artistic commission and then submits it to the project owner (art. R.2172-10). It shall specify: — the nature of the work, — the proposed location of the work if it is defined,

• the challenges and expectations,
• the number of artists admitted to propose a project,
• the amount of the allowance paid to candidates whose project has not been selected. The total allowances awarded to unsuccessful candidates may not exceed 20% of the total budget allocated to the artistic 1%. In view of the substantial work involved in the submission of a complete and detailed study by the artist-authors, a significant amount of money should be devoted to it.