Artist in river gets attire to reduce risk of getting soaked (8)
I believe the answer is:
rainwear
'attire to reduce risk of getting soaked' is the definition.
(rainwear protects you from the rain)
'artist in river' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'river' becomes 'wear' (river in the north east of England).
'ra'+'in'+'wear'='RAINWEAR'
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for rainwear that I've seen before include "Gear for wet weather" , "Waterproof clothing" , "Coats" , "This should keep him dry" , "Waterproof clothes" .)