As an artist, you may need the services of a professional arts writer or critic to review an exhibition, help you create an artists' profile, undertake research or promotion, or write an essay for a catalogue. Finding the right person involves research. Start by getting familiar with the communication style and area of expertise of various writers by reading newspaper art sections, art reviews and catalogues, art magazines, arts websites etc. If you find someone you like, the most direct route may be to contact the publisher and request contact information, or for them to pass a message onto the writer.
Once you have found a writer, introduce yourself through email, phone or letter with your CV and, if appropriate, visual support material. Be sure to clarify right from the start the nature of your request, what the writer is to be paid, and by whom - the artist, the artist's representative gallery, the organising gallery/event, the art magazine where the writing appears, or another source. Be aware that critics employed by newspapers are generally overwhelmed with requests to review exhibitions, so be polite and to the point.
Recommended pay rates for freelance journalists, and a standard contract, are available on Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance website under 'My Work'.
Be sure employment agreements are stated clearly in a letter or a contract. The Arts Law Centre of Australia sells two sample employment agreements: Employment for a Specific Project and Writer and Commissioner.
NAVA Resources: Fees and Wages. Chapter 5 of the
NAVA Code of Practice, 2nd edition, 2004.
ISBN 0 9751929 0 6.
Read the Chapter. Buy the full publication. Artists’ Scales of Fees and Wages. Published by NAVA, 16 pages, 2004 edition. Note: this information replicates Chapter 5 of the NAVA Code of Practice.
Buy the publication. 
