Published: 29 Aug 2023
£902,216 of National Lottery funding is strengthening Scotland’s local communities from care homes to creative centres in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards.
Image credit: Courtesy of The Scottish Crannog Centre.
Spanning the length and breadth of Scotland, projects include a musician and artist duo in Orkney are bringing creative activity to care home residents; a museum and community hub in Aberfeldy is rebuilding with the help of a variety of artists contribution; and the social centre of Gaelic music in Glasgow is presenting a new collaborative programme of events.
Emma Ainsley, artist, and John Phillips, musician, will be exploring the Physicality of Creativity with people living in care homes and in the community of Orkney, thanks to £18,871 of National Lottery funding. With over 20-years' experience working in front line roles in care environments and nine years of collaborative arts and music practice, they’re delivering 30 sessions into care homes and 18 sessions into community spaces over 18 months.
Image credit: Joyce jamming with John, courtesy of AinsleyPhillips Project.
These sessions will focus on improvisatory audio-visual laid-back ‘jamming’, as well as a drawing-focused element from guest artist Diana Leslie, creating a unique shared creative experience. They’ll be working alongside service users, staff and two disabled consultants to support them in developing the tools and approaches used.
Emma said: “This way of working offers rich opportunities for us to develop our practice and for folk who often don’t get opportunities to be involved in professional creative activity, to have agency and meaningful involvement in the exploration and creation of working together.”
The Scottish Crannog Centre is currently building a new sustainable museum and bringing artists to work with the build team to investigate new ways of using natural resources and collaborative creating. Their work will produce a new permanent piece at the museum heralded by a public performance on the grand reopening on 31 March.
With £14,580 of National Lottery funding for their project called Creating Together – Now and Forever, artists, musicians, the Maryhill Integration Network choir, singers, storytellers and composers will explore themes of home, togetherness, safety, community and connecting to the landscape with sustainability. This opportunity will allow connection and skill sharing between art forms and specialisms to develop their personal practice while providing a key local cultural moment for the area.
Talking about what this means for the Scottish Crannog Centre, Rachel Backshall, Assistant Director, said: “This funding offers us a fantastic opportunity to develop relationships with existing partners and to create new networks and hone new and existing skills. ‘Home’ is so important to us all, and as we begin to build our new home at the Scottish Crannog Centre, this is a unique opportunity to explore this with our communities.”
The central hub for the Gaelic music community, Ceòl is Craic, secured £86,019 of National Lottery funding to boost the profile of Gaelic arts and culture by launching a new programme of seven Gaelic-language-based music events featuring an eclectic mix of genres and diverse mix of established and emerging artists.
“Creative Scotland Open Funding enables Ceòl is Craic to develop, extend and present the Gaelic language as a valid medium of expression in a wide range of musical genres while maintaining respect for the wellspring of Gaelic culture and tradition,” Laura Cuffe, Ceòl is Craic’s Coordinator, said.
“It allows us to provide a platform for a diverse range of artists and to promote a positive image of Gaelic arts and culture in the contemporary Scottish community.”
In collaboration with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, Ando Glaso, The Gaelic Books Council, Celtic Connections and The Bothy Society, the programme will explore various themes around Gaelic culture, reinforcing that Gaelic is a relevant medium of expression in all areas of arts and culture.
On the impact of creative activity in local communities, Paul Burns, Interim Director of Arts at Creative Scotland, said: “The whole community benefits when people have access to arts and creativity and it’s more important than ever that there are accessible creative endeavours to people across Scotland.
“Thanks to National Lottery funding, these highlighted projects reach out to people who otherwise might not have opportunities to engage with creativity, improving their wellbeing and belonging. This local-level investment is exactly the type of engagement that the Open Fund supports throughout the year.”
Some more highlights from the recent Creative Scotland Open Fund awards:
The National Lottery has raised more than £41 billion for more than 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. Thanks to The National Lottery players, up to £600 million has been made available to support people, projects and communities throughout the UK during the Coronavirus crisis.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
Jacqueline Munro, Media Relations & PR Coordinator
Jacqueline.Munro@creativescotland.com+44 (0) 7967 822 266
