Restructuring of arts councils: Status report on preparations

The Act on the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency was passed in summer 2025. It includes provisions on a peer review structure that will dismantle the previous national and regional arts councils. The new system will include a Council of Arts and Culture, a pool of experts, and rotating grant assessment panels that will review grant applications. All grant and prize decisions based on peer reviews will be made by the new Council of Arts and Culture in the future. The principles of peer reviews and the autonomy of the arts will be maintained in decision-making. Stakeholders and the arts sector are being consulted extensively in the restructuring work.

The new peer review structure is currently being prepared by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike). Key issues include the composition of the pool of experts and the nature of the grant assessment panels. Henri Terho, Head of the Arts and Culture Funding Unit, will review the purpose and objectives of the peer review reform and observations raised in discussions with stakeholders.

Registration for the event is not required. The Teams link will be published later on this page. The event will be held in Finnish, but questions can also be asked in Swedish and English. A separate English-language event will be held on Tuesday 19 November from 11am to 12noon.

Further information about the restructuring of the arts councils can be found on the Taike website.