Creative Learning and young people - Regular Funding 2018-21

Creative Scotland is fully committed to supporting, developing and expanding creative learning and supporting access to creativity for young people, across the organisations we support throughout Scotland.

The Regular Funding 2018-21 network of organisations is strong in its experience of, and ambition for, developing all aspects of creativity for young people and creative learning. Through their plans, the organisations in the network have demonstrated how they will contribute to the creative lives and ambitions of young people in Scotland.

Youth arts and creative learning programmes for, and involving, young people extend across the network of Regularly Funded organisations, with more than 80% including work with or for children and young people as a key part of their future plans, including as decision makers.

The Scottish Government has designated 2018 as Year of Young People, with culture as a major theme. This network and the artists and organisations involved in other Creative Scotland targeted programmes, such as Time to Shine, the Youth Music Initiative and CashBack for Creativity, will make a significant contribution to the cultural and creative success of the Year of Young People, and beyond.

For example, organisations such as the Fruitmarket Gallery, YDance, Curious Seed and Scottish Book Trust all include a focus on young people in their work. Tinderbox Collective, with their skill in delivering high quality, engaging, youth-led activity, and Starcatchers, bringing expertise in developing all aspects of arts for early years, are also welcome additions to the Regular Funding network, as are Lyra and Toonspeak, both working with young people as their focus.

Imaginate continues to develop strong festival programmes for young audiences, while the work of National Youth Orchestras of Scotland provides training and performance opportunities for talented young musicians and Youth Theatre Arts Scotland connects, supports and trains the youth theatre professionals that deliver activity to over 28,000 young people annually.

Alongside this, many of the most established and vital building based organisations in the network across Scotland also have extensive youth arts programmes, including the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Eden Court in Inverness, the Dundee Rep, as well as the Centre for the Moving Image and Glasgow Film who also deliver programmes for young people and film.

Organisations in the Regular Funding Network 2018-21 with a specific focus on children and young people as the main part of their work include:

• Barrowland Ballet are internationally renowned for the quality of their work and their process of creating intergenerational work as a collaboration between professional artists and communities.
• Drake Music Scotland work across Scotland and focus on developing ground-breaking new music featuring skilled musicians and composers with disabilities.
• Feis Rois offers year-round opportunities for performance and tuition for young people, celebrating the music and song culture connected with the Gaelic language.
• Feisean nan Gaidheal supports the development of community- based Gaelic arts tuition festivals throughout Scotland.
• Imaginate is the national organisation in Scotland, which promotes, develops and celebrates theatre and dance for children and young people.
• Catherine Wheels produces award winning theatre for children that tours throughout Scotland and internationally.
• Visible Fictions create innovative and dynamic theatrical productions for young people and tour their work nationally and internationally.
• Lyra is based in the Craigmillar community. With close links to local schools, Lyra's core purpose is to create the highest quality artworks with, for and by children and young people.
• National Youth Choir of Scotland provides opportunities for young people, teachers and choir directors to support and develop choral singing across Scotland.
• National Youth Orchestras of Scotland provides orchestral experience for its students aged between 8 and 25, through its comprehensive pathway of orchestras, jazz bands, training ensembles and an ever-expanding outreach programme.
• Scottish Book Trust work nationally to inspire a love of reading and creative writing through a number of programmes for young people including delivering the Bookbug programme for early years.
• Scottish National Jazz Orchestra provides opportunities for young people to practice and perform jazz national and internationally.
• Scottish Youth Dance (YDance) is the national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland. Through key partnerships in education, culture, health and sport, they provide high-quality dance experiences.
• Solar Bear create theatre with, by and for D/deaf performers, D/deaf theatre makers and young D/deaf people.
• Starcatchers work nationally to develop high quality opportunities for arts and early years with schools, young people, carers and learning professionals.
• Tinderbox Collective provide music making opportunities by, with and for young people, supporting young people to build their confidence, skills, self-esteem, and professional experience.
• Toonspeak provide high quality drama and theatre activities for young people aged 11-25 living in Glasgow.
• Youth Theatre Arts Scotland inspire participatory opportunities for young people in Scotland and by connecting, supporting and training the professionals who work with them.
• Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) provides a wide range of high quality creative learning opportunities that encourage families and young people to ‘see, think, make, do’ across their exhibitions, print and cinema programmes.
• Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop works in partnership with schools and teachers to provide innovative approaches to visual arts education through long term engagement
• The Pier Arts Centre works with young people and schools across Orkney to support learning and increase engagement, provides specific focused programmes working with young people aged 16-25 and supports development opportunities for younger artists.
• The Stove Network supports creative learning opportunities for young people through their Blueprint 100 group, which is led, developed and delivered by the young people involved.
• Travelling Gallery provides a strong creative learning programme with a significant part of their programme focusing on providing access to exhibitions of contemporary art within school premises for pupils across all levels of formal education, including nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
• Collective has a developed long term partnerships with 3 local primary schools which brings bring staff and pupils together with artists.
• Taigh Chearsabhagh provides year-round cultural workshop opportunities for children and young people.
• Fruitmarket Gallery provides an ongoing and wide ranging programme for young people to work together and with artists to explore new ideas and make and share art.
• Glasgow Sculpture Studios provides a unique environment offering many creative learning opportunities for children, young people, families, adults, schools and community groups to take part in tailored artist-led programmes.

This network, alongside the support we provide through our Targeted and Open Project Funding routes, recognises how integral children and young people are to the current health and future development of culture and creativity in Scotland.

Find out more about the Regular Funding Network 2018-21.

Image: Lyra - Pigeon / Photo: Phile Deprez