Published: 28 Sep 2018
£837,000 of National Lottery Funding has been awarded through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund to 47 recipients, including individual artists, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations working across the arts, screen and creative industries. A cross section of projects and individuals received funding in August 2018 includes the following:
Fiddle player Lauren MacColl has received funding to perform a Scottish tour of The Seer, a musical performance with stunning visual backdrop, based on the life and prophecies of renowned 17th Century Highland Prophet - The Brahan Seer.
23rd Precinct Music has received funding towards Resonate Music Industry Conference at the Barrowlands Art and Design (BAaD) Centre and surrounding local areas on the 15th November 2018. Resonate is a music industry conference focusing on industry training, business development, inclusion and collaboration.
Fiddle/piano duo Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach have received funding to record a new album. Accompanied by videographer Hamish McLeod, the duo will travel to five now uninhabited islands on Scotland’s west coast to create their new work.
Open Book have received funding towards the Open Book Community Project - a large-scale shared reading programme. Open Book will work with existing and new partners to create new year-round programmes designed to improve access to literature and develop a sense of community through shared reading and creative writing.
Publishers Polygon have received funding to expand their poetry programme. The programme will include the publication classic, modern and contemporary poetry anthologies of Scotland. The programme will also include the publication and promotion of new writers and to bring lost classics back into print.
From Open Book’s Community Project, increasing access to literature, to the Cromarty Community Cinema and the Craignish Village Hall bringing new creative experiences to audiences in rural Argyll, we are incredibly proud of the difference these projects will make to people’s lives in communities across Scotland- Iain Munro, Creative Scotland
NessBookFest 2018, 4-7 October, will use their funding to support this year’s programme which includes showcasing the home-grown talent of Inverness alongside well-established writers from further afield.
Ness Book Fest said: “We're very excited to be holding our third NessBookFest in Inverness next week (4-7 Oct). Support from our funders has enabled an even bigger and better free programme than before. We're delighted to be showcasing local emerging talent alongside writers such as Ali Smith and Stuart MacBride. We also have a great schools and family programme, as well as poetry, history, workshops, literary walking and cycling tours and much more.”
In Craft, ceramic artist Kevin Andrew Morris has received an award to undertake a residency/symposium opportunity at the International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark. The project supports international exchange and investigations for the future development of the ceramic arts.
Ceramicist and jeweller Rebecca Wilson will use her funding to create new works for the Sieraad Art Jewellery Fair in Amsterdam in November 2018, a high-end, art jewellery event.
Funding has been awarded towards the development of a short work of The Box, by emerging choreographer Julia James-Griffiths. The Box is a full-length contemporary dance theatre piece that explores the impact depression can have on an individual, and how society responds to it.
Dance company Shaper Caper have received funding towards the final stage of creation of a brand-new dance-theatre production, The Unwanted by multi award-winning choreographer Thomas Small. The Unwanted explores failure through comedy using dance-theatre as the artistic medium.
Dancers Emma Jayne Park, Adam Ali Hussain and dance artist Sarah Hopfinger have all received awards to fund professional development opportunities.
Theatremaker Magdalena Schamberger has received funding to enable a full tour of Curious Shoes to arts venues and care homes across Scotland and beyond, between May and July 2019. Curious Shoes, directed by Magdalena Schamberger, is a bespoke, intimate performance designed specifically for people living with dementia, their families and carers.
Noisemaker, the Glasgow-based writing partnership of Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie have received funding towards an international collaboration. HI, MY NAME IS BEN will be the first Scottish musical developed transatlantically, with the prestigious Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut partnering with Dundee Rep Theatre and Noisemaker to mount a full production in the US in Spring 2019.
Noisemaker Productions said: “We began writing HI, MY NAME IS BEN in Connecticut at Goodspeed Musicals in early 2017, and now to see the work realised for the first time in a rehearsal room back in Scotland is a hugely exciting and moving experience for us as a partnership. Creative Scotland’s commitment to emerging artists and their work has made it possible for BEN to become a unique, transatlantic partnership between two leading theatres in Scotland and the US. It marks the first time a musical of this scale has been developed using the skills and resources of both countries, and we are delighted to share some of it in a concert format alongside the phenomenal Scottish Ensemble."
Scottish maker Mark Norris will collaborate with teachers on The Nifty Harp Project to develop and create an inexpensive but well-designed Scottish harp. The project will include the creation of 40 harps which will be made available for inexpensive hire in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. The Nifty Harp Project will help to make Scottish harp playing more accessible and inclusive.
Craignish Village Hall has received funding towards their 2018-19 Arts Programme, bringing a diverse range of arts experiences to audiences and creative individuals in a rural part of Argyll where access to live theatre, dance and music is limited.
Arts organisation Art Angel will use their funding to deliver a two-year programme of intergenerational creative and learning activities. The use of playwriting, drama and filmmaking will harness the knowledge, skills and experience of younger and older people to the best effect, igniting a creative spark.
The Cromarty Community Cinema have received funding to purchase new equipment and fittings to ensure the best quality screen experience in their new space.
Among the Visual Arts awards, Upland Arts Development CIC has received funding to support two artist residencies that will investigate the history and legacy of the Galloway hydro-electric scheme.
Highlife Highland have received funding towards Trace Ingredient - a project in which two well-established collaborative artists, Thomson & Craighead, will mentor two emerging artists, Cat Meighan and Clive Brandon - to produce new work on the subject of food and mapping in the Highlands. The artists will be tracking the shifting demographic of the Highlands through the medium of food, revealing unexplored narratives to illustrate the interweaving, international cultures of the place.
Filmmaker and artist Ross Hogg, visual artist Lucy Skaer and sculptors Littlewhitehead have received funding towards new works.
Iain Munro, Acting Chief Executive at Creative Scotland said: “It’s great to see such a high number of emerging and established individual artists and creative practitioners being supported to develop their practice through these National Lottery awards.
“From Open Book’s Community Project, increasing access to literature, to the Cromarty Community Cinema and the Craignish Village Hall bringing new creative experiences to audiences in rural Argyll, we are incredibly proud of the difference these projects will make to people’s lives in communities across Scotland.
“Open Project Funding supports individual artists and organisations to explore, realise and develop their creative potential and widen access to their work through the research, development, production and presentation of work across all art forms.”
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 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.
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.
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.
Eilidh Walker, Media Relations & PR Assistant
Creative Scotland
E: Eilidh.Walker@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 131 523 0019
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