Published: 31 Aug 2015
Open Project Funding provides 111 awards of between £1,500 and £100,000 to individual artists and organisations in June & July 2015.
Creative Scotland has made over £2.4million of Open Project Funding awards to 111 individual artists and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries. The awards have been made during the period June and July 2015 and range from between £1,500 and £100,000.
Over 50 percent of the funding has been awarded to individual artists and collectives to enable them to research, develop, create and tour work. Artists receiving funding in this round include authors Nicola White and Ewan Morrison; visual artists Gair Dunlop, Adrian Wiszniewski and Rachel Maclean; crafts maker/designer Laura Spring; musicians PAWS, Matthew Whiteside and Breabach; and dancers/choreographers Caroline Bowditch and Marc Brew.
Iain Munro, Deputy Chief Executive, Creative Scotland, said:
“The arts, screen and creative industries make a significant contribution to the health and well-being of our lives, regardless of who we are or where we live.
“Through this funding, artists and creative organisations are able to explore, develop and realise their creative potential, widen access to their work, and enrich Scotland’s reputation as a distinctive creative nation connected to the world.
“We are particularly pleased to see such a high number of emerging and established individual artists and creative practitioners who demonstrate quality, imagination and ambition in their work, being supported through these awards.”
Commenting on receiving £77,500 funding to raise the profile of his company’s work in Scotland and internationally, Marc Brew said: “I am delighted to have Creative Scotland’s support to allow me to take For Now, I am… and (i)land out to audiences around Scotland and excited to take it to more remote areas, such as the Western Isles and Moray.
“I created For Now, I am... to make it adaptable to fit into smaller venues, without compromising the quality of the work and to bring in an audio describer for some of the shows. Creative Scotland’s support will also allow my producer and I time to develop links with venues both here and internationally, as well as to build our education programme. Already, we have received more 4 & 5 star reviews at the Fringe, so hope that brings in more audiences to the work.”
On receiving £10,000 funding towards the creation of a new novel, Nicola White, winner of the 2013 Dundee International Book Prize, said: "The support of Creative Scotland for this new work is not only welcome, but crucial. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a lifeline, allowing me to develop my writing in a new direction over a concentrated period of time.”
Funding has also been awarded to a number of organisations to enable them to deliver artistic programmes across Scotland including Stills, Talbot Rice Gallery and Scots Music Group in Edinburgh; David Dale Gallery & Studios, Tricky Hat Productions and The Glad Café in Glasgow; Art Angel in Dundee; Spring Fling and Glenkens Community Arts Trust in Dumfries and Galloway, and Eastgate Theatre in the Borders.
Rachel Smillie, Director of The Glad Café, said: “The funding from Creative Scotland is hugely significant in the development of the Glad Foundation. It will give us a chance to get a number of initiatives underway, enabling members of the local community to participate in building and developing musical skills.”
Awards have been made to support creative practitioners working across design and fashion to connect and develop their practice. These include funding to Make Works, an independent design organisation making it easier for artists, designers and makers to access practical processes for making work; and funding towards Fashion Foundry, an impartial central office of information & co-ordination for Scottish fashion, delivered by the Cultural Enterprise Office.
Commenting on their award Fi Scott, Founder of Make Works, said: "We are delighted to be able to continue our work, so that even more creatives across Scotland can find the so often, hidden away people and places that can physically fabricate work. We really value the continued support from Creative Scotland in making this happen."
A range of festivals have received support including the Inverurie Jazz Festival, Scotland Loves Anime, Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival, Beyond Borders International Festival of Literature and Thought and Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.
Scotland's music will be showcased on various international stages with performances by mercury prize-winning Young Fathers at Malawi’s award winning Lake of Stars Festival in September; Breabach, Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson received funding to tour Canada; Brian Molley Quartet and Tom Bancroft’s Trio Red representing Scottish jazz as part of the Made in the UK programme at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in June; and Shooglenifty who received funding towards their UK-wide 25th anniversary The Untied Knot Tour.
Download the full list of awards for June/July 2015 (Excel)
Read more about the Open Project Fund and all other Creative Scotland funding.
Open Project Funding commenced on 1 October, 2014 and sits alongside Regular and Targeted Funding as one of Creative Scotland’s three funding routes.
There are no deadlines attached to Open Project Funding. Applications are reviewed on a weekly basis and decisions provided within 8 weeks for applications less than £15,000 and 12 weeks for applications more than £15,000. This means that individuals and organisations can apply at a time that suits their needs and their practice.
Over £2.3m of these awards have been allocated from National Lottery funds. Alongside funding from the Scottish Government, The National Lottery forms a vital part of funding support for the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland and it is important to recognise this.
Open Project Funding is available to a wide range of organisations and individuals working across Scotland in the arts, screen and creative industries. Open Project Funding replaces most of the project based funding programmes previously operated by Creative Scotland. Open Project Funding supports a broad spectrum of activity including: creative and professional development; research and development, production; small capital requirements, touring and collaborations, festivals, arts programming, audience development, etc. A full list of activities supported through this route is set out in the Open Project Funding application guidance. Support is available for projects of different scale and duration with the maximum period of award being set at 2 years. Awards are made in the range £1,000 to £100,000 (or up to £150,000 by exception).
Open Project Funding is one strand of Creative Scotland’s funding model which was announced on 9 April 2014 and reflects Creative Scotland’s commitment to introduce a clear and simple funding approach that provides access to both long-term and project funding for individuals and organisations, as set out in our Action Plan for Change, published in March 2013.
*Please note the funding awards listed remain offers until such time as all terms and conditions have been formally accepted and fulfilled by the Awardees. In the event of failure to accept any offer the value of the Award will be withdrawn and credited to future Open Project Funding Panels.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Sophie Bambrough
Media Relations & PR Officer
Creative Scotland
E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 131 523 0015
M: +44 (0) 774 760 6146
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