Supporting artists

The cultural sector has suffered a 60% drop in economic output over the past 18 months, a University of Sheffield study reveals.

Restrictions led to 55% of sector jobs being furloughed - well above the national average of 16% - and more than 80,000 arts professionals applied to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

This amounts to 68% of eligible freelancers in the UK.

Professor Vanessa Toulmin said the study highlights the "catastrophic effect" of the lockdowns on arts workers' finances, job security and wellbeing.

"People in the sector have been losing sleep and have had much higher levels of anxiety."

Freelands Foundation has awarded £800,000 to two projects addressing racial inequality in the visual arts.

Wysing Arts Centre’s Syllabus artist development programme has received £500,000 to support it over the next decade. 

Every year, the project offers 10 artists from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds mentoring, artistic development and peer networking to create pathways into the sector.

University of the Arts London's (UAL) Decolonising Arts Institute will receive £300,000 towards its three-year 20/20 programme, which places 20 Black and Brown artists in residencies across the UK.

Since 2020, Freelands Foundation has awarded over £2m to organisations boosting opportunities for Black and Brown artists.

“These two new grants are a landmark in terms of our continuing commitment to addressing racial inequality throughout the visual arts,” said Diversity Action Group Chair Sonita Alleyne.

A new two-year training programme will offer a “genuine alternative pathway into theatre” for people from underrepresented backgrounds.

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre has announced details of the free programme for aspiring West London performers, Springboard.

Applicants must be aged 18-25, have little-to-no formal drama training, and come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds or groups underrepresented in theatre.

The programme will start in January, offering 10 chosen trainees a blend of on-and-off-stage learning, including shadowing days across the theatre's departments.

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Emmanuel Kaye Foundation have agreed to co-fund the programme for the next three years, supporting the first cohort of students.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council have extended their partnership to 2024.

Now in their tenth year of working together, the two bodies aim to develop Northern Ireland’s arts sector internationally.

The partnership does this by supporting international showcases and running an annual £50,000 Artist Development Fund.

British Council Arts Director, Skinder Hundal, says the two organisations have mapped out a clear framework for continued international cultural dialogue and exchange.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership. Together over the past nine years, we have increased the number of cultural connections between Northern Ireland and the rest of the world, developing vital long-term partnerships.”

The Theatre Artists Fund has distributed grants of £500 to 1,003 theatre freelance workers in its latest wave of funding aimed at those working in the performing arts and facing financial hardship.

It says the £500,000 total grant, its sixth round of funding, was made possible after a donation from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Since July 2020, the Fund has raised £7.8m in donations from over 3,000 individuals, foundations and businesses. 

To date, 8,294 grants have been delivered to freelancers across 38 performing arts professions.

“Although theatres around the UK can now open to full audiences, uncertainty and financial instability remain a significant issue for the thousands of freelance theatre workers in the UK, and there is still a high demand for Theatre Artists Fund support,” the fund says.

Brighton's Malborough Productions has opened applications to the fourth year of its New Queers on the Block development programme.

The programme will award three LGBTIQ+ performing artists £12,500 each, funding full-time residencies from January to June next year without the expectation of delivering a show or fixed outcome at the end.

Project alumni have worked across live art, theatre, dance, cabaret, film, spoken word and visual art.

Malborough Productions Creative Director Tarik Elmoutawakil and Executive Director David Sheppeard say the programme focuses on community engagement to "sow the seeds of a cultural and community-centred revolution".

Applications are open until November 4, with more information available on the programme website.

The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) has distributed £5.6m in payback royalties to 86,000 visual artists this year.

The Payback scheme pays photographers, illustrators and artists annual when their artworks are published in UK books and magazines or on TV.

DACS said the scheme gave artists a "reliable source of income" during the tumult of the pandemic. 

It has paid out over £65m through Payback since its inception in 1999.

Visual artists interested in joining the scheme can register at DACS' website to be notified when it reopens in January.