News

Dorset Council is offering up to £25,000 for cultural redevelopment projects benefitting the local community.

The Capital Leverage Fund aims to "support community and cultural organisations to deliver capital projects which provide new and improved facilities for our communities and residents".

It specifies that arts organisations, museums and public artworks are eligible for funding.

Projects must contribute to one of four priorities in Dorset's Cultural Strategy: community, environment, economy and a cultural county.

The fund is open to not-for-profit organisations with an annual turnover of less than £1m.

Two men have been arrested for attacking a controversial sculpture by paedophile artist Eric Gill.

One spent hours bashing the artwork outside BBC Broadcasting House in central London with a hammer while the other filmed him. No charges have yet been brought, Metropolitan Police say.

Campaigners have called for the statue, which features a naked child, to be removed but the BBC reportedly plans to keep it.

The incident follows a not guilty verdict for the Colston Four, who argued toppling the infamous statue in Bristol was justified because its continued presence constituted a hate crime or act of abuse.

Ash Sarkar, a contributing editor for Novara Media, wrote on Twitter that Gill's statue "has less in common with Colston than it does the ongoing veneration of abusers in the art world".

Glasgow event space SWG3 is building a £1.5m artist studio on its premises.

The new Yard Works premises will house artists, youth organisations and community groups. It marks the latest stage of a £7.1m development project, aiming to reshape the venue into a "world-class cultural destination".

The project’s first phase of public access works is due to be completed this month.

Founder and Managing Director Andrew Fleming-Brown says the new studio space will help SWG3 to grow its Yard Works programming.

“It will not just benefit the area culturally, but also have wider social and economic impact through the community.”

The theatre sector has welcomed a cut to the self-isolation period required following positive Covid tests.

From Monday (17 January), people in England will be able to leave isolation after negative lateral flow tests on day five and six.

It is hoped the reduction may alleviate ongoing pressure on productions, following a string of cancellations.

A spokeswoman from the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre said the decision will have a positive impact on theatres and productions.

“This announcement is welcome news for the theatre industry, which – like many sectors – has been struggling amid high rates of absence among its workforce.”

A new initiative aimed at increasing disabled representation in the music industry has launched in Bristol.

Founded by artist management company Harbourside, The Disability Empowerment Programme is looking to recruit a young music manager with a disability, long-term health condition or neurodiversity into a paid internship.

The programme follows research by Harbourside indicating half of disabled music workers don’t disclose their conditions.

Owner Ben Price hopes the new initiative will help change perceptions the music industry is an inaccessible place for disabled people to work.

"It won’t be a short journey, but the Disability Empowerment Programme will hopefully help to improve the number of disabled people working in the industry both on stage and behind the scenes."

A bid for an injunction to prevent Dudley Hippodrome's demolition has failed.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove decided against intervening in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council's £25m plan to redevelop it into a campus for health education.

The Theatres Trust says it is appealing to Historic England to save the 1930s variety theatre, which once hosted the likes of Bing Croshy and Laurel Hardy.

"This is a wasted opportunity to provide the type of live performance space that Dudley is lacking, which could be a catalyst for growth in the town."

But Councillor Simon Phipps said demolishing the mothballed venue was the next step towards creating jobs and boosting the local economy.

"This has been a long, drawn-out process but we owe it to the people of Dudley and students of the future to get this done."