Published: 10 Jun 2015
Winners announced at evening ceremony: Falkirk Town Hall, Falkirk
£125,000 Award Winner: STORNOWAY AND THE ISLANDS OF LEWIS AND HARRIS
£100,000 Award Winner: FORRES AREA
£50,000 Award Winner: MONIAIVE/GLENCAIRN PARISH
The communities of Stornoway and the islands of Lewis and Harris, Forres Area and Moniaive/Glencairn Parish, have each won a Creative Place Award.
The Awards were announced to a packed audience at an evening awards ceremony, which took place at Falkirk Town Hall, Falkirk, in the presence of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop. The event was arranged by Creative Scotland in partnership with EventScotland and Falkirk Community Trust.
Since their launch in 2012, the Creative Place Awards demonstrate an ongoing commitment to ensuring that communities across Scotland are supported to create and participate, so that all the hard work and imagination that contribute to the cultural life of Scotland’s communities is recognised and rewarded
It is the aim of the Creative Place Awards to provide inspiration for people and visitors by encouraging and celebrating the exceptional creative programmes that are taking place in towns, villages and communities across the country and supporting the development of projects that might not otherwise get recognition.
As well as attracting tourists and inward investment, creative and cultural activity helps to support and shape our communities and places – fostering and reinforcing people’s sense of identity and community cohesion.
Creative and cultural projects can deliver real benefits to communities across Scotland. These rewards can be maximised through partnership working, particularly across sectors such as business, planning and culture.
WINNERS:
STORNOWAY AND THE ISLANDS OF LEWIS AND HARRIS awarded £125,000
Stornoway and the surrounding villages will use the award for a programme to present and profile a route of artistic and cultural experiences into, throughout and beyond the town, so that Stornoway becomes a recognised gateway to the creative community of the Outer Hebrides. Key activities include innovative and creative residencies in Stornoway Port Authority, the new Lews Castle Museum and Archive and other key local businesses and venues; traditional and contemporary Gaelic music and performing arts events in intriguing and unusual places; commissioning works to create an arts trail and route through the town; curated exhibitions in pop up venues; walking and Segway tours incorporating digital storytelling; specialist creative business support and a programme of staff development for all partners to raise the quality of the visitor experience.
Elly Fletcher, Chief Executive of An Lanntair, said: “We are overjoyed with this result. What a wonderful opportunity this is to celebrate the incredible, creative Gaelic community of Stornoway and the outlying islands of Lewis and Harris. We are delighted and cannot wait to get our project - ‘Bealach’ - off the ground, which will see a dynamic partnership from across our community come together to create a route and gateway to Gaelic arts experiences into, throughout and beyond the town of Stornoway. There will be innovative residencies, Gaelic music compositions, productions and performances, trails, exhibitions, tours, bilingual digital storytelling, mentoring for emerging artists, and much more. We would like to thank Creative Scotland and the judges for this fantastic opportunity, which will bring wide reaching recognition to the distinctive, world class Gaelic culture and heritage of our creative island community.”
FORRES AREA awarded £100,000
The Forres area community will use the award to support and promote local arts participation in Culture Day 2015; Findhorn Bay Arts Festival 2016; Project ARTS; and Culture Café events. Culture Day is an open doors carnivalesque cultural extravaganza that has previously showcased over 100 arts and cultural organisations in Moray. Findhorn Bay Arts Festival is a spectacular celebration of arts and culture, showcasing artists of national and international renown. This project would build on previous work, offering an enhanced programme and providing a funding pot to assist local artists to develop work and take part. Project ARTS aims to support the creation of a wide range of public art and creative work, which connects with local businesses and community in Forres area. Culture Café would be a regular event held at different locations, focusing on network and development functions in Forres area.
Kresanna Aigner, Director at Findhorn Bay
Arts, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Forres Area has won a 2015 Creative Place Award! This award celebrates and acknowledges the creative energy and assets of the Forres area and sets us at the top of our game on a National level.
“The Forres Area
Creative Places programme builds on the capacity of the area’s vibrant creative sector by seizing the momentum and energy generated by recent projects and events – now is the time and Forres Area is the place!
“Our Creative Place programme will showcase high quality,
professional visual and performing arts, from small to large scale, and will widen and strengthen partnerships across communities and business. The resulting projects will delight, enthuse and engage a wide range of new and existing audiences, whilst raising awareness of the cultural, social and
economic benefits to the area.”
MONIAIVE/GLENCAIRN PARISH awarded £50,000
The award will be used to connect existing cultural activities under three programme strands: visual arts, music and literature. This would support the work of creative professionals based in Moniaive; expand opportunities for people living in Moniaive to be involved in creative activities and promote creative work to attract visitors and support local businesses.
Peter Roberts, said: "The organisers of Moniaive Festival Village are elated to win this award. Arts and culture are really important in supporting the social and economic wellbeing of Moniaive, and this award will enable us to do even more to build a sustainable future for this buzzing little community. We will use it to connect creative professionals with the wider community in a programme combining artist-led community-based arts activities with new works by practising artists. This work will focus on three 'big ideas' in visual arts, literature and music. It will also provide a platform for longer term regeneration projects."
Responding to this evening’s announcement, Janet Archer, Chief Executive at Creative Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Moniave/Glencairn Parish, Forres Area and Stornoway and the islands of Lewis and Harris on winning this year’s Creative Place Award. It is such a privilege to be able to share the passion and depth of commitment these communities are making through arts, creativity and culture.
“The written entries, the inspiring films and the audio pieces we received from all nine finalists made this an extremely enjoyable, but difficult judging process. They all acted as powerful testimonies to the difference creativity is making to people everywhere and all the finalists should be fiercely proud of their achievements.
“We were bowled over by the quality of the submissions received this year - 32 entries from communities in Scotland, across 21 different Local Authority Areas. This is the highest number of entries we have received since these awards began four years ago, I’m not exaggerating when I say that the standard has never been higher.”
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, who presented the award to winners, Stornoway commented: “The Creative Place Awards celebrate all that is best about our communities in Scotland and recognise the hard work and imagination driving the cultural life of communities all over the country. There are exceptional creative programmes taking place in towns, villages and communities across the country and these awards demonstrate an ongoing commitment to supporting the development of projects that might not otherwise get recognition, and tonight’s awards are a celebration of that. Creative and cultural activity helps to support and shape our communities and places – fostering and reinforcing people’s sense of identity and community cohesion and I’m looking forward to hearing more about the exciting work this year’s three prize winners have planned.”
Representatives from the three communities received the awards at tonight’s ceremony hosted by broadcaster Janice Forsyth. The winners of each category received cash awards to enable them to enhance and promote their creative activity throughout 2015/16.
The Creative Place Awards winners were chosen by a Jury panel made up of: Janet Archer, CEO at Creative Scotland, (Chair of Jury panel); Jim Tough, Executive Director at the Saltire Society; Iain Caimbeul, CEO at Bòrd na Gàidhlig; Vic Galloway, Presenter; and Julie Fowlis, Musician.
Falkirk was selected as the host of this year’s awards after winning a Creative Place Award in 2014. Falkirk community are using their Award to support a project called Acts of Discovery, offering audiences a fresh look at the area and its cultural offering. Based on the themes of people, routes and pathways, Acts of Discovery builds on and complements Falkirk’s cultural offering.
Councillor Adrian Mahoney, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Leisure and Tourism for Falkirk, said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. We are delighted to pass the baton on and hope that this award enables each winner to truly celebrate the creative talent of the people living and working in their area.
Ian Scott, Chairman of Falkirk Community Trust, said: “We would like to congratulate all of this year’s Creative Place award winners. I remember that wonderful moment a year ago when Falkirk was announced as a winner and the excitement we all felt when we realised the cultural journey that we had ahead of us. We have created a wonderful legacy for Falkirk through Creative place and we wish tonight’s winners every success.
EventScotland has been a partner of the Creative Place Awards since 2012.
Mike Cantlay OBE, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “The Creative Place Awards are a fantastic way of promoting and celebrating Scotland’s wealth of creative talent. I would like to congratulate Moniaive, Forres and Stornoway on their outstanding achievements, and hope it leads to more visitors coming to see what these ‘Creative Places’ have to offer. Creative industries are a core part of Scotland’s tourism offering, and each of the shortlisted places can be proud of their contribution to our global reputation.”
Rhona Corscadden, Senior Events Manager at EventScotland, said: “Applications for the awards this year were particularly strong, with the final shortlist representing the breadth and depth of creative talent Scotland is home to. These awards recognise the role our communities play in our cultural sector, and the associated grants will allow them to continue to develop and realise their ambitions in the arts.”
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Helen Sim
Media Relations & PR Assistant
Creative Scotland
E: Helen.Sim@creativescotland.com
T: 0131 523 0019
M: 07801 226605
S: 0330 333 2000
The purpose of the Creative Place Awards is to enhance and promote the creative activities and programmes of smaller, specific communities in Scotland. They aim to recognise achievements and ambitions in using these activities, both for the benefit of local communities, and to attract visitors.
Information on the winners:
The Shortlist was selected for their track record in delivering a high quality programme of work, the quality of their plans to enhance their programme and for the involvement of the wider community. Category winners receive funding to enable them to enhance their activity further. The Awards were not open to the nation’s cities.
£50,000 Award
MONIAIVE/GLENCAIRN PARISH - WINNER
The award would be used to connect existing cultural activities under three programme strands: visual arts, music and literature. This would support the work of creative professionals based in Moniaive; expand opportunities for people living in Moniaive to be involved in creative activities and promote creative work to attract visitors and support local businesses.
£100,000 Award
FORRES - WINNER
The Forres area community would like to use the award to support and promote local arts participation in Culture Day 2015; Findhorn Bay Arts Festival 2016; Project ARTS; and Culture Café events. Culture Day is an open doors carnivalesque cultural extravaganza that has previously showcased over 100 arts and cultural organisations in Moray. Findhorn Bay Arts Festival is a spectacular celebration of arts and culture, showcasing artists of national and international renown. This project would build on previous work, offering an enhanced programme and providing a funding pot to assist local artists to develop work and take part. Project ARTS aims to support the creation of a wide range of public art and creative work, which connects with local businesses and community in Forres area. Culture Café would be a regular event held at different locations, focusing on network and development functions in Forres area.
£125,000 Award
STORNOWAY AND THE ISLANDS OF LEWIS AND HARRIS - WINNER
Stornoway and the surrounding villages would use the award for a programme to present and profile a route of artistic and cultural experiences into, throughout and beyond the town, so that Stornoway becomes a recognised gateway to the creative community of the Outer Hebrides. Key activities include innovative and creative residencies in Stornoway Port Authority, the new Lews Castle Museum and Archive and other key local businesses and venues; traditional and contemporary Gaelic music and performing arts events in intriguing and unusual places; commissioning works to create an arts trail and route through the town; curated exhibitions in pop up venues; walking and Segway tours incorporating digital storytelling; specialist creative business support and a programme of staff development for all partners to raise the quality of the visitor experience.
Jury biographies
More info
More information on previous Creative Place Award winners can be found here.
EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews. EventScotland is part of VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland.
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 on Twitter @creativescots, Facebook www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland and Instagram www.instagram.com/creativescots.
