Newsreel

The Underground Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (pictured) has been named on the shortlist for the £100,000 Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries. The £2.75m gallery, which was completed in December 2004, will compete with Lincolns new art and archaeology museum, The Collection; the recently refurbished SS Great Britain in Bristol; and the Hunterian Museum of medical history in London. The winner of the award, billed as the largest arts prize in Britain, will be announced on 25 May.

A new scheme is being piloted by the Scottish Arts Council, offering bursaries to two creative producers to enable them to develop their skills under the guidance of creative producer and theatre director Andrew McKinnon. He will work with the selected individuals to create a professional development programme through additional training, networking, or UK or international placements.
e: [email protected]; w: http://www.scottisharts.org.uk

A new single point of access to Lottery funding has opened with the launch of a website giving information on all current opportunities for funding through the open schemes operated by the 14 lottery funding distributors. Potential applicants will have access to information on what to do if they have a project idea and do not know what to do next, and the funding search facility will give guidance on the most suitable funding programme.
w: http://www.lotteryfunding.org.uk

Six communities across the UK will be working with curators to select artists and commission unique artworks specific to their own locations as part of Channel 4s Big Art Project, a series for which £2m has been earmarked. The series, which is supported by Creative Partnerships, will explore the value of art in everyday lives and its purpose is to empower people to create art for their communities by explaining the practical and creative process, including planning applications, raising money and briefing artists.

The largest piece of free theatre ever staged in London will be taking place from 4 to 7 May, when The Sultans Elephant takes to the streets. The work of French company Royal de Luxe, features a moving, wooden elephant weighing 42 tons and the height of a three-storey house, and streets will be closed to traffic as it moves through the city. It is produced by events company Artichoke, led by Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb, and co-produced by LIFT, the London International Festival of Theatre, which has created a series of related events. These include a one-day forum on 8 May at the South Bank Centre, exploring how the cultural sector and city infrastructures can work creatively together to change the way we experience the city.
w: http://www.liftfest.org.uk; www.thesultanselephant.com

In partnership with law firm Collyer Bristow, London Calling Arts is launching a series of special briefing papers about Intellectual Property Rights in relation to the arts. The papers aim to dispel some of the complexities in this area, and improve levels of understanding. An Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights and Briefing 1: Copyright, Confidentiality and Databases are available to download from the Resources Section of the London Calling website.
w: http://www.londoncalling.com

Tate Liverpool has welcomed its ten millionth visitor. The Gallery opened in May 1988 and has consistently welcomed around 600,000 visitors a year  making it the most visited modern art gallery in the UK, outside London.

Huddersfield Literature Festival has reported that 20% of its ticket sales have been made online this year, since it joined Digtickets, an online sales portal run by Audiences Yorkshire. The service aims to make it possible for smaller organisations that would find it too expensive to set up their own online ticketing systems.
w: http://www.digyorkshire.com