Creative Scotland withdraws 'sex project' funding

14 Mar 2024

Creative Scotland has withdrawn funding for a project featuring participants engaging in "non-simulated" sex and "hardcore" acts.

The funding body had previously agreed to award £85,000 for the development of the Rein project, a 45-minute film by director Leonie Rae Gasson that was initially presented as “an exploration of dyke sexuality”.

But concerns were raised after the project's website advertised for people to take part in "non-simulated" sex, including "hardcore" acts for a fee of £270 per day.

A statement issued by Creative Scotland today (14 March) said the latest phase of the project "represents a breach of the conditions of funding award, as the nature of the project has changed". 

"The central role that ‘non-simulated’ (i.e real) sex acts now play in the project, marks a significant change to the nature of the work presented in the original application which was assessed for funding," the statement said. 

"Following a review of the application, assessment, and contractual agreement regarding the project Rein, Creative Scotland has made the decision to withdraw support for this project and will be seeking recovery of funding paid in respect of this award to date."

Earlier this week Scotland's Culture Secretary Angus Robertson told the Scottish parliament that Rein should not have received public money and that he “shared the concerns that have been raised”.

Vault Festival closes after funding for new venue falls through

14 Mar 2024

London's Vault Festival of theatre and performance has announced its closure after funding for its new venue fell through.

Shropshire yoga centre gets ACE grant

13 Mar 2024

A yoga centre in Shropshire has been awarded a £22,000 Arts Council England grant for a community project that will combine creativity and wellbeing.

Jenna Blair Yoga in Shrewsbury will deliver a series of workshops aimed at community engagement that will target those who wouldn’t usually have access to the yoga studio’s facilities.

The Creative Awakening project hopes to engage with refugees, people experiencing physical and mental health challenges, young carers and the homeless. 

Blair said she was “blown away” to have been awarded the grant, which follows a recent £10,000 National Lottery award.

She continued: “I am hugely passionate about the power that both creative practices and yoga can have on our lives – the two are so connected and help us to find opportunities for self-expression, relaxation and mindfulness, as well as being invaluable in supporting our wellbeing.”

Blair added that the ACE funding would enable the studio “to offer a breadth of enriching creative experiences that support people’s wellbeing, as well as helping to develop new skills”.

Workshops will also be delivered in partnership with local mental health charity Shropshire Mind and the national brain injuries charity Headway. They will take place in Shrewsbury and be open to people across Shropshire.

Radical intervention required

Panel discussion at Creative UK summit
13 Mar 2024

The cultural sector welcomed last week’s Spring Budget but, as Lara Carmona writes, not being able to leverage public investment at the scale needed is like having your best player benched indefinitely.

Charity challenges legality of Birmingham library closures

12 Mar 2024

The Library Campaign says Birmingham City Council’s plan to close 25 of its local libraries as part of far-reaching budget cuts would breach the Public Libraries and Museums Act.

Frazer interview: Trigger warnings + ACE plans

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer
12 Mar 2024

Culture Secretary doubles down on previous comments around trigger warnings and speaks about forthcoming review of Arts Council England during interview with Arts Professional.

Oldham Coliseum announces pop-up theatre plans

The interior of the Roundabout pop-up theatre
11 Mar 2024

Details of an artistic programme to be staged at mobile venue from next month coincide with push by opposition politicians on Oldham Council for the theatre company to return to its former home.

Wandsworth named London Borough of Culture 2025

Schoolchildren from Wandsworth celebrating the announcement
11 Mar 2024

Borough says the award will help 'supercharge its already vibrant, diverse sector made up of world class institutions and grassroots talent'.

Debbonaire: Labour will make creativity central to curriculum

Thangam Debbonaire speaking at the Big Creative UK Summit
08 Mar 2024

Shadow Culture Secretary says she is working with Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson on plans to "tear down barriers to opportunity" in arts, culture and the creative industries.

Birmingham and Nottingham rubberstamp culture cuts

The exterior of Nottingham Playhouse
07 Mar 2024

Concerns raised over the 'short-sighted' nature of cuts as drastic reductions to funding for cultural organisations in Nottingham and Birmingham are confirmed.

Spring Budget: Higher culture tax reliefs made permanent in ‘game-changing’ move

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
06 Mar 2024

Jeremy Hunt's Spring Budget 2024 has unveiled a range of tax relief support and project funding for the cultural sector.

Six theatres share £510,000 of eco-project funds

Storyhouse, Chester
06 Mar 2024

Funds to improve environmental sustainability have been awarded as part of the Theatre Improvement Scheme.

National Alliance for Cultural Services launches

04 Mar 2024

A new organisation, made up of a range of local government bodies, is calling for a fresh approach to sustain culture services in light of ongoing funding pressures.

Welsh National Opera criticises 'reckless' ACE cuts

Performance of In Parenthesis by Welsh National Opera
04 Mar 2024

Open letter from the company's Music Director says cuts have left it with a budget that is "not even sufficient for a small regional theatre".

‘Complete turnaround’: Sector reacts to ACE guidance changes

29 Feb 2024

Revamped risk guidance from Arts Council England (ACE) marks "a complete turnaround" in its position on political or activist statements, according to artists' union.

Welsh Government pushes ahead with arts cuts

28 Feb 2024

The Welsh Government has finalised its budget for 2024/25, confirming a 10.5% cut for Arts Council of Wales and the National Library.

Museum workers from the National Museum of Wales, the National Library of Wales, and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales protested outside the Senedd on Tuesday (27 February) as the budget was published.

Proposals to cut financing for National Museums of Wales by £3m and reduce support for local culture and sport by £1.9m have been maintained in the final budget.

The draft budget explained that because of “protections” afforded to employability and skills, the government had to “take the difficult decision” to reprioritise £16m of funding away from culture, sport and tourism, as well as £2m from Cadw, which works to protect historic buildings, landscapes and heritage sites in Wales.

Cadw and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales will benefit from an amendment to the final budget, with an additional £1.16m going to the former and £243,000 going to the latter.

Plaid Cymru Senedd Member Sioned Williams joined the protest along with her colleagues, writing on X: "The cuts to Wales’ museums and National Library will affect so many people – jobs will be put at risk, and the protection of our historical and cultural legacy will be threatened. I, and my [Plaid Cymru] colleagues stand with unions protesting these cuts."

Revised ACE guidance urges 'personal views clarity'

A hand on a glowing laptop
28 Feb 2024

Arts Council England updates its reputational risk guidance for National Portfolio Organisations following concerns that original guidance could curtail freedom of expression.

Scores of Scottish arts organisations miss out on multi-year funding

28 Feb 2024

More than 70 arts and culture organisations in Scotland have failed in their bids to gain multi-year funding from Creative Scotland.

Announcing the results of the first of a two-stage application process, the funding body said that of the 361 applications received, 10 were not eligible for assessment, with a further 66 found to not meet the criteria, meaning their applications will not proceed to stage two. 

Iain Munro, Creative Scotland’s Chief Executive said the range and breadth of applications received were "testament to the ambition and potential that exists across Scotland's culture and creative sector". 

"Today's announcement represents the outcome from Stage One of the process, with successful applicants now progressing to stage two," he said. 

"This remains a live and extremely competitive process, and not every stage two application is likely to be successful.” 

Stage two of the application process for multi-year funding opens on Wednesday 6 March, with the deadline for applications set at 2pm on Wednesday 24 April. 

The final outcome from the application process will be announced by the end of October, with funding in place for successful organisations from 1 April 2025. 

'In Wales we need to be creative like never before'

Graeme Farrow in front of Wales Millennium Centre
28 Feb 2024

Recent Welsh government budget cuts have created new fears across the creative sector about the impact on our communities, writes Graeme Farrow.

Third of councils 'need to make arts cuts'

The exterior of Birmingham Rep Theatre
28 Feb 2024

Calls made for reform of local government funding system to avoid 'cherished services' being 'drastically scaled back or lost altogether'.

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