Media Release: £880,737 funding boosts cultural activity across Edinburgh & the Lothians

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CREATIVE Scotland has awarded over £880,700 through its Open Project Fund to support festivals, research and development, production and attendance at international conferences to individuals and organisations based in the Edinburgh area.

Artlink Edinburgh & the Lothians, Beyond Borders Film Festival, Black & White Publishing Ltd, Cyan Clayworks, Dogstar Theatre Company, Edinburgh Quartet Trust, French Film Festival, Jazz Scotland, LeithLate, Live Music Now, Magnetic North Theatre, New Media Scotland, Really Interesting Objects, Rhubaba Gallery and Studios, Saltire Society, Scottish Saxophone Ensemble, Starcatchers Productions, Take One Action Films and Wee Stories Theatre for Children are amongst the organisations based in Edinburgh and receiving funding through the latest round of funding awards.

Fifteen individual artists and collectives are also receiving support across the Edinburgh area including Book Group who are receiving funding to record, produce and promote their debut album; Anthony Schrag who has received funding to document ‘Lure of The Lost: a contemporary pilgrimage’, commissioned by Deveron Arts, Schrag will walk from Huntly, Scotland to Venice, Italy this summer.

The funding is going towards a documentation of the journey in collaboration with a Scottish filmmaker; Ryan Van Winkle has received funding to enable three diverse Scottish poets to showcase work and present workshops at two of Australia’s premier literary festivals – Melbourne Writers and Queensland Poetry Festival, in August 2015  – A full list of awards can be found below.

Janet Archer, chief executive of Creative Scotland, said:

“These awards will enable nearly 100 artists, creative companies and community groups to reach into theatres, galleries, arts centres, care homes, hospitals and schools. Collectively these projects will have a major impact on the quality of people’s lives across Scotland in many different ways, stimulating people’s imagination and confidence through coming together to enjoy artistic and creative experiences.

“Open Project Funding supports organisations and individuals to explore, realise and develop their creative potential, widen access to their work, and enrich Scotland’s reputation as a distinctive creative nation.

“I am delighted that nearly half of the awards made in April and May were awarded to individual artists and artists collectives, a real testimony to the wide range of talented people that live and work here.”

A full list of awards is available here.

Open Project Funding awards made across Edinburgh for the period April-May, 2015:

  • Artlink Edinburgh & the Lothians - £130,000 funding towards ‘PROSPECT’ – a year-long programme of collaborative interventions, exchanges and learning that will be led and informed by individuals with mental health problems and individuals with complex learning disabilities.
  • Live Music Now – £98,590 funding towards Live Music Now Scotland’s annual programme of work.  Live Music Now Scotland provides training and performing experience for talented musicians at the outset of their professional careers while at the same time bringing live music to members of society whose disadvantage or disability would normally restrict their access to its transforming benefits.
  • Jazz Scotland – £80,000 funding towards Jazz Scotland – Promoting the Fife International Carnival, Islay Jazz Festival, Lockerbie Jazz Festival, Dundee Jazz Festival and Fife Jazz Festival
  • Starcatchers Productions Ltd – £80,000 funding towards ‘Expecting Something’ – a programme of artist-led creative engagement initiatives for young parents aged under 25 years, and their babies and toddlers. These activities will take place across Wester Hailes, Edinburgh and Lochgelly, Fife.
  • Magnetic North Theatre Productions – £70,000 funding towards the creative development and commissioning programme for Magnetic North Theatre Productions.
  • Take One Action Films – £68,698 funding towards Take One Action (16-27 Sept, 2015), Scotland’s international-leading social change film festival.
  • New Media Scotland – £50,000 support towards ‘Cycle 11′ of the Alt-W Fund which supports Scottish based practitioners to make and develop new artworks, devices and creative applications that challenge the notions of what new media creativity can be. This cycle will focus on architecture with five site specific installations at locations across Scotland and a national touring exhibition in collaboration with the Travelling Gallery.
  • Edinburgh Quartet Trust – £50,000 funding towards The Edinburgh Quartet’s 2015-16 Concert Series and associated development work, comprising three themed Performance Projects (Intimate Voices; Storm & Stress; New Horizons); a tour of the South of Scotland; the Edinburgh Quartet Apprentice Competition and Digital Development.
  • Really Interesting Objects (RIO) ltd – £31,237 funding to undertake a feasibility study for a new national event, Craft Biennale Scotland 2018 – comprising exhibitions, installations and participatory experiences, showcasing ambitious and inspirational new work by leading and emerging Scottish and International craft artists and curators.
  • Saltire Society – £25,000 funding towards the Saltire Society Literary Awards celebration of literary excellence. It encompasses the breadth of the literary ecology to the benefit of authors, the reading public, academics and publishers.
  • Su-a Lee – £18,000 professional development funding for musician Su-a Lee to undertake a programme of intensive sessions with a diverse range of practitioners to develop her creative practice.
  • Rhubaba Gallery and Studios – £14,987 funding towards Rhubaba Gallery and Studio’s forthcoming year of public exhibitions and events.
  • Elaine Thomson diRollo – £14,014 funding to write the first draft of new novel, ‘ANGEL MEADOW’.  Set in a private asylum in the mid nineteenth century, ANGEL MEADOW is the second in the Jem Flockhart Quartet, a new series of literary crime fiction, and will be published by Constable and Robinson.
  • Wee Stories Theatre for Children – £13,900 funding towards the development of a new script by Iain Johnstone, ‘The Man who followed his Legs’, with the aims of developing the piece and of engaging co-producing partners.
  • Cyan Clayworks – £13,210 funding towards the purchase of new equipment, a pilot scheme for the hosting of international artists, and new graduate support, at Cyan Clayworks.
  • Black & White Publishing Ltd – £12,000 funding towards publishing a range of new titles.
  • Garvald Edinburgh – £10,535 funding towards a Jewellery Design Workshop for adults with learning difficulties in Scotland.
  • French Film Festival – £10,000 funding towards the 23rd French Film Festival (4 Nov-3 Dec, 2015) – a festival of new and classic Francophone Films to be screened in venues across Scotland.  The programme also includes masterclasses, debates and cine-concerts.
  • Dogstar Theatre Company – £9,000 funding towards a development project that will establish a new producing and management relationship with Dingwall-based Firefly Productions and the development of new theatre projects with Scottish and Scandinavian partners.
  • Ryan Van Winkle – £9,000 funding to enable three diverse Scottish poets to showcase work, present workshops and partake in panels and other multi-media events at two of Australia’s premier literary festivals – Melbourne Writers and Queensland Poetry Festival, in August 2015.
  • Dallahan - £9,000 funding towards the recording, production and promotion costs of Dallahan’s second album.
  • Anthony Schrag – £7,430 funding towards the documentation of Anthony Schrag’s ‘Lure of The Lost: a contemporary pilgrimage’.  In his newest work commissioned by Deveron Arts, Schrag will walk from Huntly, Scotland to Venice, Italy this summer. The walk will take three months to reach the modern-day sacred site of many artists across the world – the Venice Biennale. The funding is going towards a documentation of the journey in collaboration with a Scottish filmmaker.
  • LeithLate – £6,940 funding towards the artistic programming of LeithLate15 (May–Sept, 2015) to include public art initiatives, art openings, live music showcases, visual art tours and an artist exchange with Copenhagen; all taking place across Leith-based sites and venues.
  • Skye Reynolds - £5,506 professional development funding to enable working with accomplished choreographer and performer, Jo Fong, to investigate the artistic relationships between text, movement, truth, humour and audiences. This will be the first phase of an exploration towards creating a new solo work.
  • Linda Williamson – £5,000 funding towards the research, development and delivery of ‘Spirit of the Broonie: The Storyteller’s Art’ – a manuscript looking at Scottish traditional storytelling with a focus on the published and unpublished lore of Duncan Williamson.
  • Dunbar Festival of Words – 5,000 funding towards CoastWord Festival (22-24 May, 2015) – a celebration of written, spoken word and song-writing in Dunbar, East Lothian.
  • Juli Bolaños-Durman – £5,000 funding to research and develop a new body of work inspired by precious heritage objects from historical civilizations, focussing on their craftsmanship and cultural legacy.
  • Beyond Borders Scotland – £5,000 funding towards The Beyond Borders Film Festival (22-23 Aug), exhibiting documentary-style films giving audiences the opportunity to speak with filmmakers and discuss what they have seen and experienced.
  • The Hispanic Studies Dept at The University of Edinburgh – £5,000 funding towards the Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival with a series of screenings, workshops, talks and Q&As by researchers, filmmakers and Lecturers.
  • Jessica Harrison – £4,537 professional development funding to undertake a three month artist residency at the European Ceramic Workshop in the Netherlands, learning how to work with ceramics at one of the foremost ceramics studios in Europe.
  • Francisca Morton – £3,870 funding to support the travel of Francisca Morton’s Torn to tour to TREFF in Talinn, Estonia
  • Sophie Ferguson – £3,228 professional development funding to work with internationally renowned theatre designer and installation artist, Fred Pommerehn in Berlin.
  • Scottish Saxophone Ensemble – £2,600 funding to perform works for saxophone quartet including Ross Ainslie and Eddie McGuire, at the 17th World Saxophone Congress, Strasbourg 9-14 July
  • Ross Cooper – £2,371 professional development funding to participate in dance workshops delivered by Merce Cunningham Dance Trust in New York.
  • Stephanie Green – £1,084 funding towards the research and development of a site-specific collaboration between Stephanie Green as poet and Sonja Heyer, as musician/artist and her trio Die Grossepause responding to British/German themes arising from the present and past history of Berlin. The finished multi-media work will be performed (and filmed for video) at a later date in Berlin.
  • BOOK GROUP – £1,000 funding towards the recording, production and promotion costs of Book Group’s debut album.

The Edinburgh-based awards are being made as part of Open Project Funding announcements across Scotland of nearly £2million for the period April and May 2015.

Over £1.8m of these awards have been allocated from National Lottery funds. Alongside funding from the Scottish Government, The National Lottery forms a vital part of funding support for the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland.

For interviews and photos please contact:

Sophie Bambrough
Media Relations & PR Officer
Creative Scotland
E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 131 523 0015
M: +44 (0) 774 760 6146
Switch Board: +44 (0) 330 333 2000 

Notes to Editors:

For full details please visit: www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2015/02/1.3m-open-project-funding-awards-boost-cultural-activity-across-scotland

Open Project Funding is available to a wide range of organisations and individuals working across Scotland in the arts, screen and creative industries.

Open Project Funding replaces most of the project based funding programmes previously operated by Creative Scotland.

Open Project Funding 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 two years. Awards are made in the range £1,000 to £100,000 (or up to £150,000 by exception).

Open Project Funding is one strand of Creative Scotland’s funding model which was announced on 9 April 2014: (http://www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2014/04/new-10-year-plan-and-funding-approach-announced) and reflects Creative Scotland’s commitment to introduce a clear and simple funding approach that provides access to both long-term and project funding for individuals and organisations, as set out in our Action Plan for Change, published in March 2013 (http://www.creativescotland.com/resources/our-publications/board-papers/action-plan-for-change).

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

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