Arts funding

The Arts Council of Wales (ACW) has announced the reopening of its lottery-backed Arts, Health and Wellbeing Fund.

From the autumn, the fund will have a new focus. It will prioritise projects which aim to improve people’s health and wellbeing by connecting them with nature.

Partnerships between arts, health and nature organisations are encouraged to apply through the Creative Nature Programme, a collaboration between ACW and Nature Resources Wales.

“I am particularly happy to see this opportunity for the environment, health and cultural sectors to collaborate on projects that improve people’s wellbeing,” said Joe Roberts, a Lead Specialist Advisor at Natural Resources Wales.

“This truly embodies Wales’s unique approach to partnership working and we will learn a lot from the projects that come forward.”

Partnership bids from across the arts, health, social care, nature, environmental and third sectors are invited, as long as the proposed project includes a focus on nature and wellbeing, physical wellbeing, staff wellbeing in the health and arts workforces or tackling mental health and health inequalities.

Grants are for between £500 and £50,000, depending on the stage of the project. Applications are open until 20 September.

The future of the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) in Belfast is in doubt over concerns that Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ANCI) might cut its funding.

ANCI is the centre’s main funder, granting it more than £1m annually for the past three years. But an ongoing review risks jeopardising this funding in future, BBC News NI reported.

During the review period, which was scheduled to finish at the end of July, the MAC has been funded by ACNI on a quarterly basis.

Two external audits of financial management at the centre have also been conducted.

In the most recent accounts for the MAC, filed on 1 January 2023, an independent auditor said there was “a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group and the parent charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern”, the BBC found.

The accounts also said the MAC board was forecasting a deficit of £150,028 for the year ending 31 March 2023.

The MAC said it was “engaged in ongoing discussions with funders” about “the most efficient way to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the MAC”.

“We are confident of a positive outcome in the very near future,” a spokesperson said. “In the meantime our shows, exhibitions and events all continue as usual.” 

SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite said Belfast City Council wants to ensure the MAC’s long-term future, adding that it is “worth saving”.

He said sustained budget cuts in the arts risk a “devastating impact” that will “take years to rebuild”.

“We have a lot of concerns about making sure we protect Belfast's cultural and arts spaces and the MAC is one of those,” he said.

“We want to make sure it has long-term viability to keep the doors open. I think it's really, really important that we don't lose any of those types of spaces.”

He added that the centre has a positive impact on the local economy in terms of returns on spending and job creation.

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.