Published: 21 Dec 2017
33 Open Project Funding awards of between £1,430 and £99,000 made in November 2017
£700,000 of Creative Scotland Open Project Funding has been awarded to 33 recipients, including individual artists, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries. Over £390,000 has been awarded through National Lottery funding.
These awards provide invaluable support to the successful applicants, demonstrating clearly why creativity matters to the cultural, social, and economic wellbeing of Scotland.- Iain Munro, Deputy Chief Executive
A cross section of projects and individuals receiving funding in November 2017 includes:
Birnam Art Centre have received funding towards its 2018 programme that will include theatre, music, dance, lectures, comedy and an exhibition space for contemporary professional artists.
Aberdeen-based Look Again Festival of Design has received funding for its 2018 programme.
The Best Medicine Comedy Café has received funding to support its free participatory creative project for people living in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow with long-term ill health, mental health problems and addictions. Using comedy and storytelling, comedians Jojo Sutherland and Viv Gee will work with participants to develop their own comedy material based on their personal experiences.
Funding for Glasgow Zine Fest will support its two-day festival of self-publishing due to take place at CCA in April 2018.
The Ullapool Book Festival, 11-13 May 2018, has received funding towards its programme, which includes contemporary writers, poets, and writers of fiction and non-fiction.
Joan Michael, Chair, Ullapool Book Festival said: “Ullapool Book Festival is delighted and grateful to receive the support of Creative Scotland for its 14th festival next May. We have an exciting line-up booked and we look forward to welcoming people to come and join us in a rather fabulous location. Great scenery and great writers – a stunning combination.”
In an award made towards Screen, Comrie Cinema and Events Club has received funding towards the Comrie Film Festival, 8-9 September 2018.
North Glasgow’s Milton Arts Project has received funding towards the Milton Music Festival, 15 September 2018 and funding for the Shetland Folk Festival, 3-6 May 2018, will support a programme featuring local musicians and visiting bands from all over the world at venues the length and breadth of the Island.
On receiving funding Ali Hutton said: “This funding will help the continuation, and growth of a musical partnership over 20 years in the making. Symbiosis 2 is another step forward in the continuation of the unique musical map which we create together.”
Trad band The Poozies, fiddler and composer Aidan O’Rourke and multi-instrumentalists Ali Hutton and Ross Ainslie have all received funding towards the development of new material.
Among the dance awards, dance artist Katie Armstrong has received funding towards HAND//SHAKE, a new short movement duet.
Choreographers Louise Ahl, Emma Snellgrove and producer Nick Anderson have all received funding towards their professional development.
Emergents Creatives Community Interest Company Ltd have received funding to support a new collaborative design project between Scottish designers and makers and their Icelandic counterparts.
Pamela Conacher, Director of Emergents said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Highlands and Islands makers to work with their Icelandic collaborators to develop new ways of working, create new work and share challenges and processes.”
Edinburgh-based theatre makers Tortoise in a Nutshell have received funding to research and develop a new multi-scale puppetry work Ragnarök.
Theatre Objektiv have received funding to produce a new work about the sinking of the SS Arandora Star, 2 July 1940, in which some 700 people lost their lives. Written by Raymond Raszkowski Ross and directed by Donald Smith, the production will cast new light on how and why this tragedy occurred through the stories of those who boarded the fatal ship.
Theatre Objektiv’s Raymond Raszkowski Ross said: "Building on Theatre Objektiv’s Scottish-European ethos and aesthetic, our aim is to produce a vibrant, multi-cultural and challenging full-length drama around the controversial sinking of the SS Arandora Star, July 2 1940, in which some 700 “enemy aliens”, many of them Scottish-Italians, lost their lives while being forcibly transported to Canada. Dramatizing a subject of national and international significance, of historical and political importance and of contemporary cultural relevance we are keen to explore our European inheritance at a time of great European (as well as National) debate."
Dumfries and Galloway-based arts organisation and gallery CAMPLE LINE has received funding to support new projects with visual artists Louise Hopkins and Karen Cunningham for exhibition in 2018, and The Contemporary Arts Society has received funding to present their Public Collections Development Programme in Scotland 2018-2020.
Engage Scotland have received funding to produce Celebrate ART a new, year-long collaborative visual arts programme led by young people aged 16-25.
Engage Scotland said: “Celebrate ART will give young people in three different places in Scotland the opportunity to engage with art and artists and each other whilst developing their skills and creativity through creating artwork together.”
Iain Munro, Deputy CEO at Creative Scotland said:
“We are delighted to be able to support such a range of creative practice in communities across Scotland, increasing access to cultural activity for people of all backgrounds. Open Project Funding, with support from The National Lottery, enables our artists to develop their creative practice, enriching Scotland’s reputation as a distinctive creative nation.
“We are operating in the context of declining income from the National Lottery and we also receive many more strong applications than we have the funds to support. Nevertheless, these latest awards do provide invaluable support to the successful applicants, demonstrating clearly why creativity matters to the cultural, social, and economic wellbeing of Scotland.”
Open Project Funding is available to a wide range of organisations and individuals working across Scotland in the arts, screen and creative industries. It 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).
Details of the Open Project Fund and all other Creative Scotland funding can be found on our website at https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/open-project-funding
Please note the funding awards listed above remain offers of funding until such time as all terms and conditions have been formally accepted and fulfilled by the award recipient. If an award recipient fails to accept any offer, the funding 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
The arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland deliver real benefits and make a real difference to all our lives regardless of who we are or where we live. Film, theatre, literature, dance, music, visual art, video games, craft, and the commercial creative industries all contribute to a flourishing society, to our education and learning and to our skills, jobs and economy.
Public funding for the arts, screen and creative industries, through both the Scottish Government and through the National Lottery, helps make life better in Scotland - better for us all as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
As we say in our 10-year plan Unlocking Potential, Embracing Ambition we want Scotland to be a place where the arts, screen and creative industries are valued and recognised, where artists and creative people can flourish and thrive, and where everyone, everywhere, is interested and curious about creativity.
Find out more about why we think Creativity Matters to Scotland and share your stories using the hashtag #CreativityMatters.
Eilidh Walker, Media Relations & PR Assistant
Creative Scotland
Email: eilidh.walker@creativescotland.com
Tel: +44 (0) 131 523 0019
Switchboard: +44 (0) 330 333 2000
