MEMBER SERVICES

The Finnish Union of Fine Arts Associations acts as a national link and support network for its member communities. The association's member services focus on advisory and support services aimed at visual arts communities.

The association's board, consisting of representatives of member organizations, with positions of trust, and the union's representations offer the opportunity to influence both the union's operations and decision-making in the field of fine arts more broadly.

Training

The union collaborates educationally with expert organizations in the field of visual arts and the Citizens' Forum study center.

In cooperation with the Citizens' Forum, the association offers 1-4 training courses per year, especially on current themes of association activities and, for example, communications. Representatives of member organizations can also participate in open training courses organized by the Citizens' Forum free of charge or at a reduced membership price.

In cooperation with visual arts expert organizations, the union covers sector-specific themes in its training courses, such as areas related to copyright or technical contractual issues.

You can find out about the Citizens' Forum's current open training offerings on the Citizens' Forum's website or by subscribing to the newsletter for members.

The union only communicates about training courses aimed at its member communities on its website, in its newsletter and in its press releases.

Member training

Courses and study groups to be introduced on October 7, 2025 at 5–6:30 PM

Guidance on and applying for Citizens' Forum course support, as well as information on course and study group activities. The training will cover the basics of course and study group activities implemented in collaboration with the Citizens' Forum.

Registration no later than5.10.2025. Read more.

Viestintä

The union publishes a newsletter that collects not only the association's own news, but also other current news in the industry, focusing on the perspective of community actors. The newsletter complements the association's other communication channels: websites and social media platforms.

The newsletter can be subscribed to by anyone, whether a member or not. In addition, the newsletter is distributed to the contact persons of our membership association, whose contact information is updated in the association's contact information register in connection with the annual request to update member information. We hope that the contact persons will distribute the newsletter to all members of the membership association. Changes in contact information can be reported throughout the year to koordinaattori@skjl.fi.

Following the association's Facebook bulletin board is a good way to stay up to date with grants, exhibitions, projects and residencies in the visual arts. The bulletin board is updated on weekdays and can be read even if you are not a member of Facebook. Note. Exhibition advertising is not published on the bulletin board due to its large volume.

Follow the union's other social media channels:

Newsletter and database for visual artists

The union collaborates with the Finnish Artists' Association on communication. In terms of division of labor, the Finnish Artists' Association focuses on communicating with professional visual artists. The newsletter for artists can be subscribed to on the association's website. The website also features a notice board and the How to Live with Visual Arts information bank.

Taide magazine represents all member associations of the Finnish Artists' Association, including the Finnish Association of Visual Arts Organizations.

Counseling

The union advises its member organizations on specific issues in the field and in problematic situations related to association activities. The cooperation with the Finnish Artists' Association for legal advice has ended for the time being.

For advice, contact the organization coordinator.: koordinaattori@skjl.fi

Networking and peer meetings

The union organizes peer and networking meetings between its member organizations. The meetings are organized using electronic meeting platforms to make participation possible regardless of location.

The association organizes monthly coffee mornings for the executive directors, coordinators and similar employees of its member organizations, where it is possible to network, exchange news and ideas, and receive peer support with colleagues in similar positions. The coffee mornings are held remotely online. Inquiries about coffee mornings koordinaattori@skjl.fi.

Please contact us if your community would like a one-on-one member meeting or a presentation of the union's activities to, for example, members of your board.

Course support

The Citizens' Forum offers the association's member communities planning assistance and financial support for the costs of course activities (for example, visual arts courses for amateurs or professionals). Course support can be granted according to the number of study hours and costs. Higher course support can be applied for for training aimed at pensioners and the unemployed.eläkeläisille ja työttömille kohdistettavaan koulutukseen.

Association-specific course hour quotas are available for application annually in November.

Development of the intermediary activities of art lending agencies

As a member benefit, the union offers its member organizations' art lending institutions the opportunity to join the enterprise resource planning system designed by the union together with Gruppo Software and a network of art lending institutions.

The operations management system is a back-end software built and tailored to the needs of art lending institutions, which includes, among other things, a unified online store browser view among lending institutions and a tool for managing work selections, artist and customer registers, contracts and reports.

To further develop the art lending network, the union regularly applies for project grants.

Other benefits for members of member organizations

  • Members of member communities receive Taide magazine at the membership price as joint subscriptions for the communities.
  • The Aspa Atelier artist residency in Karjalohja is also intended for use by all members of the member communities. Rental prices are lower for members than for others. The residency application is open annually in October.

Membership card

The union distributes approximately 7,000 membership cards to members of member organizations annually. Membership cards can be obtained either in paper or electronic form. Each year's membership card is valid until a new one is issued. Membership cards will be delivered to member organizations in January-February according to the card order placed at the end of the previous year. Read more about ordering membership cards for 2025 here.

For paper cards, a card template is provided to member organizations as a file. The member organization is responsible for printing and distributing membership cards to its artist members.

The electronic membership card works in an application that can be downloaded to a mobile phone. Electronic membership cards are registered based on the membership list submitted to the association and the email addresses of the artist members. Instructions for using the electronic membership card can be found here.

By showing your membership card, you can enter art museums for free or at a reduced price and receive discounts on products from art supply stores around the country. The known entities granting discounts are listed below. Please note that the benefit or discount can only be obtained by showing the card, and the representative of the entity granting the benefit has the right to demand that the card be shown.

Art museums

By presenting your union membership card, you can get free or discounted admission to some art museums. The policy varies by museum and location; you can inquire about the policies of the art museums in your area directly from the museums.

For example, in the Helsinki metropolitan area:

  • National Gallery art museums in Helsinki (Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Ateneum Art Museum, Sinebrychoff Art Museum): free admission with a membership card of the Finnish Association of Fine Arts Organizations
  • HAM - Helsinki Art Museum: Free admission with a membership card of the Finnish Association of Fine Arts Organizations
  • Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki: Free admission with a membership card of the Finnish Association of Fine Arts Organizations
  • EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art: With a membership card of the Finnish Association of Fine Arts Organizations, you are entitled to a reduced admission fee of €10.
  • Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki: With a membership card from the Finnish Association of Fine Arts Organizations, you can get a discount ticket to the Didrichsen Art Museum for €14.

 

Art supplies

By presenting your union membership card, you can get a discount on products from at least the art supply and picture frame stores listed below. The benefits are generally valid in stores, not in the stores' online stores.

See the full listing here (pdf).

Is there a company offering a discount missing from our list? Tell us about an art supply store by sending an email to koordinaattori@skjl.fi.