Arts funding

A co-commissioning and touring programme run by PRS Foundation is open for applications from organisations, music groups and composers.

The initiative, called Beyond Borders, is in partnership with the UK’s four arts councils and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

Since 2010, Beyond Borders has supported co-commissions and collaboration between musicians and music organisations across the four UK nations and since 2014, has included the Republic of Ireland.

Grants of up to £15,000 for 8 to 10 projects are available.

Applications are open until 6pm on 18 September.

Art Fund is investing in programmes designed to support museums and galleries through touring and partnership working on exhibitions.

The Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund will continue for another three years following a £1m grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation, taking the partnership to its 10th anniversary in 2027. 

The scheme enables smaller museums to borrow significant works from major collections.

Meanwhile, a new UK-wide programme that will engage and involve underrepresented audiences with museum collections through touring exhibitions, Going Places, is launching its first phase this month.

The scheme will establish five networks of three to five small to mid-sized museums, with each network developing bespoke touring exhibitions.

The initiative will sit alongside other Art Fund-supported initiatives such as ARTIST ROOMS, which presents the work of high-profile international artists in solo exhibitions drawn from a national touring collection jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland.

“Through our growing range of support for collaborative initiatives, Art Fund recognises the value of touring and sharing collections as one of the most inclusive and sustainable ways of bringing art to new audiences,” Director Jenny Waldman said.

ANGUSalive Museums have been awarded £52,646 in funding from Museums Galleries Scotland for their upcoming World Cultures Project. 

The two-year project aims to appropriately catalogue, research and safely store Angus Council’s large and historic ethnography collection. 

It will culminate in a co-curated exhibition, scheduled to take place in autumn 2025, and educational resource for schools produced in collaboration with local minority and advocacy groups.

The funding will cover conservation and exhibition costs as well as facilitating the appointment of a Curatorial Assistant who will work on the project four days a week.

As part of the project there will be discussions relating to colonialism and the British Empire in museum collections and the potential repatriation of objects.

“We are delighted to have been awarded this funding as not only will it allow us to research an under-documented area of our collection, but we will also be able to join global museum conversations about repatriation and identify ethical issues relating to the provenance of these objects,” said Emma Gilliland, Museums & Galleries Collections Lead.
 
“We’re looking forward to developing a number of community partnerships to explore this work further. Montrose Museum was one of the first purpose-built museums in Scotland and began collecting this type of material from the 1830s, so it is appropriate that it will host our World Cultures Exhibition.”
 

The Jewish Museum in London has closed its current site in Camden as part of plans to sell the building and reopen in a new location.

Trustees of the museum, which receives £224,000 a year from Arts Council England (ACE) as part of the National Portfolio for 2023-26 announced the plans in early June. 

It hopes to reopen in a larger new home within the next five years.

Nick Viner, chair of trustees, told the BBC: "It's been an incredibly tough decision, but the museum has always found it difficult to be financially sustainable even though it's had some huge success with exhibitions.

"We are planning to do several temporary displays in London and beyond all whilst we think about how we can engage communities online with our collections."

Jerwood Charity operations will become part of Jerwood Foundation and the boards are set to merge, the foundation has announced.

The foundation endowed Jerwood Charity with a fund of £25m in 1999. Following a period of review, the new merger will see Rupert Tyler appointed as Chairman, while Lara Wardle, Executive Director of Jerwood Foundation, will lead and manage the organisation. 

Kate Danielson, a consultant for both Jerwood Foundation and Jerwood Charity, is leading a strategic review to make the merger as seamless as possible and to ensure the charity is best prepared to continue its public offering.

 “Our vision is for a streamlined Jerwood organisation, which is relevant and receptive to the contemporary funding landscape,” Wardle said.

“We will continue to support, nurture and reward excellence and dedication in the arts in the UK and maintain our commitment to early-career artists, ensuring John Jerwood’s original philanthropic vision is honoured.”

Sam Jackson, Controller of BBC Radio 3, has insisted disbanding the BBC Singers is not on the broadcaster’s agenda.

In his first interview since becoming Controller in April, Jackson told The Times that the BBC does not intend to renege on its u-turn on plans to close down the professional choir.

“We are exploring some really exciting plans for the BBC Singers. We’re working on on-air plans for them right into next year. The BBC Singers have a long-term future,” Jackson said.

His comments follow claims from the Musician’s Union late last month that alternative funding models were being considered for the choir.

Speaking to the Times, Jackson confirmed discussions are confidential, but “happening at pace”.

“They are very meaningful, and I wouldn’t simply be sitting here saying that to you now if there wasn’t a lot of substance,” he added.

When asked if a new funding model could mean BBC Singers does more commercial work, Jackson replied: “there could be elements of that, but it can’t be anything that reduces the distinctiveness of who they are and what they do.”

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) is investing £2.25m of National Lottery funding in a series of arts projects across the country.

Funded projects will support the development and creation of year round arts activities and events through literature, drama, visual arts, music and community programming.

In total, 72 arts organisations have been offered funding of between £7,789 and £67,559, with eight organisations receiving over £50,000, including Open House Festival, which lost its regular funding from the arts council earlier this year.

This round of National Lottery Project Funding sees five organisations receive awards for the first time.

New grantees include Amandan Ensemble, which makes devised theatre specialising in Clown and Bouffon practice, and An tSnáthaid Mhór, an island-wide arts organisation producing original Irish language children's content through print, Braille, broadcast, digital and performance.

“Thanks to money raised for good causes, over the last three decades the National Lottery has made an important contribution to the social, economic and cultural growth of Northern Ireland,” ACNI Chief Executive Roisin McDonough said.

“This vital source of funding allows the Arts Council to support our core infrastructure of artists and organisations, as we strive forwards in our ambition to make the arts accessible to all.”