£114k fund to promote creativity in Wakefield

13 Sep 2022

Funding totalling £114,051 is being awarded as part of an ongoing grant scheme to support local culture and creativity in Wakefield.

The grant scheme, run by Wakefield Council, is designed to support art, culture and creativity to flourish in the run-up to its Year of Culture in 2024. 

Each artist or organisation will be awarded between £1,000 and £15,000 to work with local communities.

The council has announced details of 16 of the projects to have received funding so far. They include creative activities themed around mental health and tailored to people at risk of homelessness, visually impaired people and pregnant women.

“This investment will enable diverse and high-quality creative projects right across our district,” said Michael Graham, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport.

Applications for Made in Wakefield grants remain open until October 17.

Dear Culture Minister…

07 Sep 2022

Michelle Donelan is the new Secretary of State for DCMS. David Hill has written an open letter on the pressing issues he thinks should be at the top of the Minister’s in-tray.

Grant funding in need of a radical overhaul

Laptop showing access support page
07 Sep 2022

Many funders are changing their strategies around funding for arts organisations, but Michelle Wright thinks those changes inadvertently work against widening reach.

Cost of living enquiry to explore impact on fundraising

a woman visits an art gallery
06 Sep 2022

The enquiry is one of eight scheduled over the next two years that will consider challenges facing arts, culture and heritage fundraising.

Manchester cultural grants programme opens

06 Sep 2022

Arts and culture organisations in Manchester will be able to apply for up to £40,000 a year as part of the latest round of the city council's Cultural Partnership grants programme.

A total of just under £1m is available over a three-year period starting in April 2023 for charitable and not-for-profit organisations with a track record of delivering arts and cultural activity for people who live in or visit the city. 

The fund is designed for organisations that work in artforms such as combined arts, dance, museum, film and broadcast, heritage, literature, visual arts, digital art, music, photography, theatre and performance, and craft.

The council has said it wants to fund organisations that are "inclusive, representative of resident communities and which contribute to Manchester’s zero-carbon ambitions". In the last round, 15 of the city’s small and medium sized arts and cultural charitable organisations were supported.

Luthfur Rahman, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Manchester is world famous for its cultural scene and we have a long tradition in supporting artists and cultural organisations in the city. We want to continue this legacy and ensure all residents can benefit from inclusive and vibrant cultural opportunities."

Applications for the programme are open until 9am on Friday 7 October 2022. 

Unboxed attracts fraction of target audience numbers

01 Sep 2022

Nationwide festival Unboxed: Creativity in the UK has only reached a small portion of its intended audience, according to an investigation by political journal The House.

Official figures revealed in the investigation show four of the creative event’s ten projects have drawn 238,000 visitors so far, a far cry from the 66m people the festival initially set out to engage.

Unboxed's Chief Creative Officer Martin Green told The House that audience numbers had been affected by the festival being nicknamed the “Festival of Brexit” when it was first announced under Theresa May’s leadership.

“It hasn’t left us. And we all must learn from this. Rule one of major events: don’t politicise them. And unfortunately a few chose to politicise it from the beginning,” Green said.

Since Unboxed officially launched in March, its projects have been largely overshadowed by external events including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rising cost of living, according to The House's investigation.

DCMS staff are said to have raised concerns that the £120m event was “a festival of creativity almost devoid of place” and “contrary to the original vision”.

According to one unnamed minister, the fact “hardly anyone even knew it was happening” has been “the only upside”.

ACE refuses to release 'sensitive' race and disability documents

people at a business meeting
31 Aug 2022

A Freedom of Information request to see the minutes of the funder's Race and Disability Advisory Group is denied on the basis disclosure would "prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs".

Creative Scotland reopens touring fund

31 Aug 2022

Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance has opened for a seventh round, inviting applications from companies, producers and venues touring from September 2023 onwards.

The £1m fund supported by the National Lottery is open for applications until the end of October this year.

Works of all sizes are eligible to apply for funding but to offset gaps in provision from previous rounds of funding, priority will be given to works that will tour to mid-scale venues with an audience capacity of 150 to 350 and/or large-scale venues with a capacity of over 350. 

“This funding will provide vital employment opportunities for artists, producers, companies, venues and all the talented people who work hard behind the scenes to make the theatre a magical experience for audiences, after what has been an incredibly challenging and disrupted period,” said Laura Mackenzie Stuart, Head of Theatre at Creative Scotland.

The fund will support artists and producers to tour “innovative, quality work” and “encourage more audiences to re-engage with their local venues”, she added. 

“Supporting work through this fund allows more artists to share their work and gives audiences greater choice."

Next Prime Minister urged to reform ACE

The door of Number 10 Downing Street
22 Aug 2022

Equity calls on Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to reform the system of arts councils across the UK and adopt regional structures, whichever of them becomes Prime Minister.

HOME Slough opens applications for arts grants

10 Aug 2022

HOME Slough has launched the On Your Doorstep programme, an arts grant funding scheme that aims to bring communities together through new arts and cultural experiences.

The overall funding total is £15,000. Grants of between £500 and £1,000 will be awarded to individuals, groups and organisations to fund an arts event or activity.

“On Your Doorstep is an opportunity for people to bring new arts and cultural activities to their local communities,” Jake Orr, creative producer at HOME Slough, told Slough Express. 

“We want to commission anything – knitting, dance, film, puppetry or craft – that is arts-based, high-quality and will attract new audiences to get involved. We are looking for great ideas and for people to have some fun.”

Events can offer any type of cultural activity but in order to be considered for a grant they must be free and allow as many people as possible to participate. 

Submissions are reviewed by HOME Slough’s Community Programming Board, a group of local Slough residents, and successful applicants will be offered guidance and support to help develop the initial idea.

The first commissioned work is expected in September and activities will continue into next year.

Croydon criticised for insensitive name of arts fund

09 Aug 2022

Croydon Council and Executive Mayor of Croydon Jason Perry have come in for criticism for the name of their new Ignite Fund announced on the weekend marking the 11th anniversary of the Croydon Riots.

The first stage of the Ignite Fund, part of the London Borough of Culture 2023, will provide grants of between £25,000 and £50,000 to ten individual artists and cultural organisations.

A further round of applications later in the year will fund 100 smaller projects for up to £1,000 each and 15 medium projects  up to £10,000 each.

But the name of the fund, which was not discussed with the local community according to a report from Inside Croydon, has sparked controversy.

Bushra Ahmed, whose family business and home were both torched by arsonists during the riots in August 2022, told the publication that the new fund’s name was “both misguided and insensitive”.

During the riots, police cars were fire-bombed, shops were looted and dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed by arson.

The council has not responsed to the criticisms about the name of the fund.

“Croydon’s year as London Borough of Culture is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our culture and our communities and to kickstart our regeneration and restore pride,” said Perry.

“Croydon’s programme is truly community-led, with local residents, artists and cultural groups at the heart of all our plans, and we also want them to be the first to benefit from every opportunity that it brings.”

New funding round for British music exports

09 Aug 2022

DCMS and the Department of International Trade have committed £500,000 in new funding for the Museum Export Growth Scheme (MEGS).

The scheme, launched in 2014, aims to boost British music exports, helping artists to grow their profile in overseas markets by funding small to medium sized music companies. 

To date it has dispersed over £4.5m and generated £55.5m in export revenue. 

This latest round of funding comes on the heels of data from BPI which showed that British music exports reached a record high in 2021 of £590.8m.

Goldman Sachs analysis predicts that the global recorded music industry will more than double in the next decade, from $25.9bn in 2021 to $53.2bn by 2030. Should the UK match this growth rate, BPI said that British music exports revenue could reach £1.2bn by 2030.

“MEGS continues to be a crucial resource for independent artists and labels to help them breakthrough in overseas markets,” said Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize. 

“We are pleased that the Government is committed to continuing to work in partnership with the music industry to maximise the UK’s music exports potential. 

“MEGS not only delivers for the UK economy but has had supported some of our best loved independent artists to achieve global success.”

Applications for MEGS funding will be open until 2 September. 

Is ACE’s diversity strategy - and reporting - fit for purpose?

graphic design
07 Aug 2022

Reading ACE’s latest Equality, Diversity and Inclusion data report, it appears diversity is primarily seen as the number of people who work for or visit arts institutions like the Royal Opera House, says Kevin Osborne.

What will the next Prime Minister mean for the arts?

28 Jul 2022

With two of Boris Johnson’s most senior cabinet ministers left in the running to replace him, what might the arts sector expect to change under new leadership?

Unlimited announces £584k disability arts programme

28 Jul 2022

Disabled arts commissioning body Unlimited is partnering with 17 UK organisations to deliver a funding programme for disabled artists worth over half a million pounds.

Funding has come from Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales, Creative Scotland and Unlimited's 17 partners and will be split across 20 awards, offering grants between £15k and £60k.

The pot includes £280k from the British Council, which will go towards international awards.

Unlimited says the programme will give disabled artists the chance to develop work across rural and city locations, either digitally or in person, sharing either collective or individual experiences.

Senior Producer Cat Sheridan said the programme reflects Unlimited's mission as a newly independent organisation to “challenge the cultural sector, change perceptions of disability and back disabled artists”.

“We cannot do that without working in partnership, and this year’s round of awards demonstrates not only national but international ambition and appetite for that change to happen.”

Applications will open 4 October and close 31 October.

Historic England funds working class history projects

27 Jul 2022

Historic England has awarded 57 projects a total of £774,000 from its Everyday Heritage Grants: Celebrating Working Class Histories fund.

Selected via an open call that attracted more than 500 applications, awards range from £6,000 to £25,000 for each project. 

The successful projects include ones looking at the working-class histories of boxing clubs around Halifax, an exploration of 50 years of nightclubbing in Leicester focusing on Black, African and Caribbean culture, and research into Deptford's 19th century 'slaughterhouse girls' who worked in the area's cattle markets.

Historic England described the projects as "community-led and people-focused, with a focus on heritage that links people to overlooked local historic places and celebrating working-class histories". 

Chief Executive Duncan Wilson said the awardees "demonstrate that heritage is all around us and accessible to everyone".

"They will highlight that wherever people live they are surrounded by historic buildings, landscapes and streets, industrial and coastal heritage that can help bring communities together."

The grants form part of Historic England’s Strategy for Inclusion, Diversity and Equality, published in November 2020 which aims to ensure a diverse range of people in England is able to "connect with, enjoy and benefit from the historic environment".

McKellen reopens funding programme for producers

26 Jul 2022

Actor Ian McKellen has announced a second round of his funding programme designed to help theatre producers pay actors a living wage.

The scheme was set up to support theatre producers staging new plays and revivals that feature casts including recently graduated actors. 

Grants of up to £25,000 are available to cover actors’ fees in rehearsal or performance in situations where the work would not be possible without the funding. The first round of grants were awarded to six productions, which received varying amounts. 

“Starting out in the professional theatre, ambition and good intentions are rarely enough. Even the most successful production, in a small theatre, cannot hope to raise sufficient funds to cover costs,” McKellen said.

“Too many emerging producers and newly trained actors live on the breadline, discouraged as well as hungry. Hence this scheme to support work that would otherwise be done on the cheap or not done at all. Our grants provide the dignity of work for a living wage.”

The deadline to submit an application for the fund is August 31.

Arts Council NI funding streams target individual artists

26 Jul 2022

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has opened a range of funding programmes to support the work of individual artists as part of its Support for Individual Artists Programme (SIAP).

The programme provides funding to artists at all career stages, working across all artforms both domestically and internationally.

The funds now open for applications include the General Arts Award, which funds “specific projects, specialised research, personal artistic development and certain materials and equipment”; the Artists Career Enhancement Scheme, which offers training and mentoring to support the professional development of career artists; and the Artists International Development Fund, an annual programme that supports overseas opportunities for individual, freelance and self-employed artists and organisations.

Artists can apply to more than one scheme but will not be awarded more than one grant per funding round. The deadline for funding applications is August 30.

The SIAP Major Individual Awards is also open for applications until August 15. The scheme supports established artists with national or international recognition to develop “extended or ambitious work”, covering specific projects, specialised research, personal artistic development and materials and equipment.

The SIAP Minority Ethnic Residency and Mentoring Programme is accepting applications until August 22. The scheme is designed to create opportunities for “specialised training, research, cultural exchanges, networking and learning for individual artists, creative practitioners and arts administrators from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds”.

The SIAP Travel Awards, a rolling programme, is accepting applications for individual artists and music groups of up to four members to visit a host organisation outside Northern Ireland to develop skills and expertise.

PRS offers grants for performance of contemporary orchestral works

25 Jul 2022

PRS Foundation has announced the re-opening of its Resonate initiative, inviting UK orchestras to programme and perform the best British orchestral works of the last 25 years.

The initiative is a partnership between PRS Foundation, the Association of British Orchestras and broadcast partner BBC Radio 3.

Grants of up to £10,000 are on offer to orchestras that want to rehearse, programme, tour or promote a piece of music from the Resonate database, which includes works commissioned by UK orchestras in the past 25 years.

“Having repeat performances of new orchestral works is an important part of creating and establishing the classics of the future,” said Joe Frankland, CEO of PRS Foundation. 

“Orchestras can apply to programme, perform and promote fantastic contemporary orchestral pieces - many of which have not received the exposure they deserve.”

Mark Pemberton, Chief Executive at the Association of British Orchestras, said that the Resonate initiative has “helped forge a step-change in our members’ commitment to performing previously commissioned works. It has also helped the many composers whose works have been heard once again by the public”.

Support will be given to “orchestras who can demonstrate a commitment to presenting high quality contemporary UK repertoire which they will promote with the Resonate brand as part of a season, tour and longer-term audience development programme”.

The deadline to submit an application is October 3. 

Freelands Foundation funds Black-led visual arts organisations

25 Jul 2022

Freelands Foundation has awarded £608,000 in the form of seven new grants to small and medium-sized Black-led visual arts organisations in Bristol, Leicester and London.

The Space to Dream fund will allow the selected organisations to work with artists, curators and local communities as part of the foundation’s £3m commitment to address racial inequality in the visual arts.

The seven organisations were selected by the foundation’s Diversity Action Group.

They are 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning in Brixton, the Arab British Centre in Central London, Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, Cubitt Artists in Islington, June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive in Peckham, Rising Arts in Bristol and Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage in Leicester. 

Each organisation will use the fund to invest in a different aspect of programming or outreach,

Rising Arts plans to use the grant to expand its youth-led programme, using mentoring, young trustees, networks and collaborative commissions to embed diverse voices into the cultural sector.

“This funding will allow us to put resources into the recommendations that came directly from people of colour in our community,” said Euella Jackson and Jess Bunyan, Co-Directors.

“We will celebrate the legacy of the work that has come before and build on this towards a future sector where young people of colour can truly thrive.” 

The Bernie Grant Arts Centre will use the grant to develop a visual arts programme shaped by international guest curators, bringing world-class programming to local community groups.

Hannah-Azieb Pool, Artistic Director and CEO, said the grant “will make it possible for us to commission ground-breaking new work by Black artists and allow us to create a bold, ambitious new home for Black visual arts”.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage will use the award to explore African diasporic identities across the Midlands through a documentary photography project marking the 60th anniversary of independence for many African and Caribbean nations.

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