Published: 30 Nov 2017
32 Open Project Funding awards of between £1,409 and £60,000 made in October 2017
£600,000 National Lottery funding through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund has been awarded to 32 recipients, including individual artists, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries.
This funding, with support from The National Lottery, will help nurture emerging talent, support established artists and provide more opportunities for people of all backgrounds to discover the transformative power of creativity.- Iain Munro, Deputy Chief Executive
A cross section of projects and individuals receiving funding in October 2017 includes:
Writer Victoria MacKenzie has received funding to complete Brantwood, an historical novel based on four years in the life of Victorian art critic and social reformer John Ruskin.
Glasgow-based publisher BHP Comics has received funding towards Full Colour, a year-long mentoring and development project to support new work and promote emerging comic writers and artists from diverse backgrounds, living in Scotland.
In the multi-artform awards, Musselburgh based The Brunton Theatre has received funding towards its 2017-18 artistic programme, which will include classical music, drama, dance and youth arts.
Makers Keeryong Choi and Mella Shaw have received funding to produce new works to be shown as part of Craft Scotland’s Scottish showcase during Collect, the craft sector’s premier showcase, in London during February 2018.
Glasgow-based dance music label Soma Records has received funding to present Soma Skool, a one-day event for young people interested in a career in the electronic music industry. The event will include talks, demonstrations and internship opportunities from leading figures in Scottish electronic music journalism, events, sound engineering, live streaming, production and performance.
In awards made towards new material, electronic Celtic fusion band Niteworks and Edinburgh-based funk sextet, James Brown Is Annie have received funding towards the recording of new albums. Scottish jazz quartet Square One have received funding towards a tour, a series of workshops for young musicians and the recording of an album, with American saxophonist Andy Middleton.
In an award made towards Design, non-profit organisation Make Works Scotland has received funding to support its open access platform for local manufacturing, including artists, designers, architects, makers and members of the public to access material suppliers, workshop spaces, fabricators and factories nearby - matchmaking creatives with the practical means to make work.
Funding for theatre company Tricky Hat Productions will help in the development of mature theatre initiative The Flames.
Artist Greg Sinclair and dancer and choreographer Hannah Venet have received funding towards Animals, a co-production with Perth Theatre, which will tour across Scotland throughout Spring 2018. Devised for children aged 6+, Animals will feature live music, movement and film in a celebration of the relationships and bonds between humans and animals.
Fiona Miller, Artistic Director, Tricky Hat Productions said: “We are delighted that we can continue The Flames in collaboration with the CCA in Glasgow next year and that we can spark new Flames events with the Catstrand in Dumfries & Galloway and with Dunoon Burgh Halls. Flames from different places will also come together for a residency at Cove Park later in 2018. We have uncovered a growing movement of people over 50 who want to rediscover themselves creatively and to put their voices out into the world.”
Screen dance artist Katrina McPherson has received funding to research and develop new work Paysages Mixtes/Mixed Landscapes in collaboration with Quebec choreographer Harold Rheaume.The project will also include a residency at The Work Room, working with screen dance artists Simon Ellis and Natalia Barua, and dance writer/critic Alastair Macaulay. There will also be a one-day symposium on writing dance, co-presented by Alastair Macaulay and McPherson, at The Work Room in March 2018.
Dance company mysteryskin will tour Brocade, a new contemporary dance work and film choreographed and directed by Roberta Jean Brocade and featuring five female musician/dancers.
All female performance company Stasis has received funding to develop and present a new dance work for outdoor spaces across Glasgow.
Aniela Piasecka, Joint Artistic Director, Stasis said: “We are excited to begin our programme of collaborative research and development activity exploring female-centred communication and participation in Glasgow and we thank Creative Scotland wholeheartedly for supporting this project.”
Glasgow-based Market Gallery has received funding towards its 2017-18 Programme, including six core projects utilising the formats of exhibitions, residencies, performances, events and talks (Studio Projects, Collective Show, Festival, Solo Artist, Graduate Exhibition, and Night School), as well as a supplementary programme of public engagement activities, educational events, and the publication of printed and online content.
Funding for curatorial group Love Unlimited will be used in the production of five exhibitions featuring 30 artists, across three UK cities. Promoting the work of women identifying, queer and minority artists, the exhibitions will take place at Manchester Contemporary (27-29 Oct), Suede Gallery, Edinburgh, (13-20 Dec) with an additional series of three exhibitions across Glasgow (June 2018).
Music and film collective Transgressive North has received funding to present the Folk Film Gathering in April/May 2018. The festival hosts a selection of rare, celebrated folk films from world cinema at Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Scottish Storytelling Centre, alongside live music, discussion, and audience participation events.
Iain Munro, Deputy CEO at Creative Scotland said:
“These projects cover a broad range of practice, engaging with diverse audiences and communities across Scotland. Open Project funding, with support from The National Lottery, will help nurture emerging talent, support established artists and provide more opportunities for people of all backgrounds to discover the transformative power of creativity.
“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, demonstrate 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).
See details of the Open Project Fund and all other Creative Scotland 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 online 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
