Fifteen of Scotland’s arts organisations have been awarded funding to develop their education activity, through the Scottish Arts Council’s LEARN Fund. LEARN is a new £300,000 National Lottery fund designed to help arts organisations to plan and deliver high quality education work. The successful projects include research, training for artists and staff, testing of new models of practice and producing new resources for learning.
w: http://www.scottisharts.org.uk
Akademi, South Asian Dance (pictured), is inviting applications for a programme of development for choreographers working with South Asian dance forms. It will support the development of up to three choreographers, and combine individual bursaries with a range of development opportunities, seminars and performance projects. Applicants must be resident in England, have a minimum of two years choreographic experience since completing their formal training and have had their choreography performed in a public context. The deadline for applications is Monday 16 March.
e: lui@akademi.co.uk
The National Campaign for the Arts is to give evidence to the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee on the impact of the new points-based immigration system on artists. The system has now been running for just over two months, and is continuing to cause problems within the arts, particularly when issuing certificates of sponsorship.
e: campaigns@artscampaign.org.uk
Arts Marketing Hampshire is changing its name to Audiences South. The new name is designed to reflect the importance of its regional base, as well as highlighting its role within the wider national network of agencies.
w: http://www.audiencessouth.org
The Government has announced a ‘Real Help for Communities: Volunteers, Charities and Social Enterprises’ package for the voluntary sector, which includes a £42.5m recession fund. The package covers: a Volunteer Brokerage Scheme of up to £10m to help up to 40,000 unemployed people volunteer in local communities; a Community Resilience Fund of £15.5m to provide grant funding to small and medium providers in the most deprived communities; and a Modernisation Fund of £16.5m to help organisations restructure and become more resilient and efficient.
w: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/real_help_for_communities.aspx
7:84 theatre company has ceased trading, due to the changing funding structures in Scottish theatre.
The Independent Theatre Council has launched an interactive Board Bank database for performing arts professionals and organisations, to assist in the recruitment of new board members. Small to mid-sized arts organisations often find it hard to recruit new board members with the appropriate skills, an enthusiasm for their art and some time to spare. People with a keen interest in the performing arts and valuable transferable skills are often not aware of the opportunities that serving on a board provides for their own development. A searchable database will enable both arts organisations and individuals to begin the matching process.
w: http://www.itc-arts.org
The 24 Hour Museum website has been relaunched as Culture24, for a three-month trial period before its official launch in May 2009, timed to coincide with the organisation’s tenth birthday. This test period will also enable Culture24 to work with cultural organisations to ensure their collection, venue, resource and event information is classified for optimum visibility. Culture24 is keen for museums and arts professionals to look at the site and make comments.
w: http://www.culture24.org.uk