Creative Scotland CEO announces £500k boost for Highland arts programme
Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive Designate of Creative Scotland, has today announced that music, dance, literature and drama are among six creative disciplines to benefit from £500,000 funding this year for their development in the Highlands. Crafts and visual arts are also in line for a share of the support recommended by the Highland Cultural Strategic Board.
Supporting this recommendation, Creative Scotland, which will be the new national development body for the arts, culture and creative industries will invest £300,000 from its £5m Innovation Fund, with an additional £100,000 coming each from The Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
Andrew Dixon, CEO Designate of Creative Scotland, made the announcement while attending the 6th Ullapool Book Festival in the Highlands, “I am delighted to announce this investment in the Highlands and our partnership with The Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Highland Arts Programme is geared towards partnership working among creative organisations throughout the region to support and invest in the creativity of artists in the Highlands.”
Culture Minister, Fiona Hyslop, welcomed the initiative, saying: “This investment for the Highlands is an excellent example of how Creative Scotland can bring support to the sector through working collaboratively with partners and through an innovative and inclusive approach. The Highland Arts Programme will support a range of art forms and the overall programme will contribute to promoting the Highlands’ vibrant cultural talent both at home and abroad.”
The Highland Council’s Convenor and Chair of the Highland Culture Strategic Board, Sandy Park, said: “Building on previous successful partnerships between local and national agencies, the work of the Highland Culture Strategic Board seeks to maximise on its collective investment into cultural activity in the Highlands. I am delighted that by working with Creative Scotland and HIE, this new fund will enable targeted investment in our shared cultural priorities for the region.”
A strong creative industries sector is fundamentally important to a successful economy according to Charlotte Wright, HIE's regional director for the Highland area: "The Highlands' wealth of creative talent plays an important part in supporting numerous threads of its economy. HIE is looking forward to working with its partners to further support and promote the work of those involved in the sector through this programme."
The seven strand programme, which includes a marketing and evaluation element, will be known as the Highland Arts Programme – Prògram Ealain na Gàidhealtachd.
Specifically the Highland Arts Programme will support:
Theatre: Eden Court in partnership with Scottish Theatre Consortium will commission a touring theatre production that originates in the Highlands (£85,000).
Literature: Will give opportunities for Highland based writers, readers, publishers and promoters to create new initiatives that contribute to an exciting programme of Literature and Literacy development that builds upon the existing work of HI-Arts and the Highland Council Library Service (£50,000).
Visual Arts: Alongside the creation of a Highland public arts strategy, The Highland Council Exhibitions Unit, in partnership with Inverness Old Town Art, will offer six new commissions presenting art in new locations and developing new audiences (£75,000).
Crafts: HI-Arts will devise a mentoring programme for craft makers, establish relationships with craft retailers throughout the UK and develop a unified brand for the industry in the Highlands (£50,000).
Music: Fèisean nan Gàidheal, HIE and Go Events will offer bursaries to showcase Highland bands and individual musicians nationally and internationally. The partnership will strive to attract audiences and promoters to the Highlands through showcasing the successful traditional and contemporary music scenes of the region (£75,000).
Dance: Building on the existing BodyCurrents project, Eden Court Theatre and The Highland Council will finalise and present a dance strategy for the Highlands (£85,000).
Marketing and Evaluation: the Highland Culture Project Team will co-ordinate a marketing and communications strategy to support the work undertaken throughout the cultural sector in the Highlands (£80,000).
For more information on the Highland Arts Programme contact: Fiona Hampton, The Highland Council, 01463 702046 or email fiona.hampton@highland.gov.uk
For more information about each theme contact:
Music – Arthur Cormack, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, 01478 613355 or e-mail arthur@feisean.org.
Visual Arts: Cathy Shankland, The Highland Council, 01463 710978 or email cathy.shankland@highland.gov.uk.
Crafts: Pamela Conacher, HI-Arts, 01463 717091 or email Pamela@hi-arts.co.uk.
Literature: Fiona Hampton, The Highland Council, 01463 702046 or email fiona.hampton@highland.gov.uk
Theatre and Dance: Colin Marr, Eden Court Theatre, 01463 239841 or email cmarr@eden-court.co.uk.
For more information about Creative Scotland contact:
Amy Fairbairn, Communications Manager, Scottish Screen, 0141 302 1749 or email amy.fairbairn@ scottishscreen.com.
Ends.
1. Creative Scotland, the new national development body for the arts, culture and creative industries in Scotland, is on track to be formally established in the summer 2010.
2. Creative Scotland’s £5 million ‘Innovation Fund’ was developed to invest in new partnerships that cross traditional boundaries and will support and sustain the country’s artistic community during the economic downturn. It’s aims are to:
Support and sustain Scotland’s artistic community and economy now, at this time of recession, by offering new ways of getting funds into the hands of artists and creative practitioners across a wide range of disciplines
3. The Creative Scotland Innovation fund will be invested during 2009/10 and 2010/2011.
4. Other Innovation Fund projects include:
Own Art: investment in galleries to improve and increase their digital capacity and online marketing capacity. (£250,000)
Vital Spark: awards of between £20,000 and £100,000 to encourage work that goes beyond the boundaries of creative disciplines and supports collaboration between artists, film-makers, practitioners and producers across disciplines. The Vital Sparks awards will reward experimentation, radical new work and innovative approaches to engaging with audiences. (£1 million)
Digital Media IP Fund: designed to maximize the creative, cultural and commercial opportunities presented by new and emerging technologies. Created in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, who have invested £1.5million, alongside £1.5million from the Creative Scotland Innovation fund.
Starter 4 Six: a pioneering programme to support creative entrepreneurs, managed by Cultural Enterprise Office (£1million)
PARTners: £500,000 for the Creative Scotland Partners artists' residency fund - to provide additional innovative residencies for artists to work with communities in education, health and the environment. The Innovation Fund doubles the funding currently available from the Scottish Arts Council.
5. Creative Scotland has already committed £240,000 investment in two new projects to encourage and support literature, theatre and dance touring in the Highlands and Islands.
£200,000 support has been awarded to Highlands and Islands Theatre Network (HITN) who will operate, in partnership with Promoters Arts Network (PAN), North East Arts Touring (NEAT) and HI~Arts, a two year Northern Scotland Rural Touring Fund for theatre and dance companies in Scotland.
Creative Scotland has also invested £40,000 in the Island Writers Network, allowing HI~Arts, the arts and cultural development agency for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the chance to develop the network over two years.
6. The Highland Culture Strategic Board is the successor to the partnership that was established to direct Highland 2007, Scotland’s Year of Highland Culture. The Board comprises representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Highland Council, Scottish Government, Scottish Art Council / Creative Scotland, and EventScotland.
The Board has been established for the purpose of supporting the development of the cultural sector in The Highland Council area by promoting better co-ordination of existing funding streams and to increase collaborative working and research across an agreed set of cultural themes.
The Board meets quarterly to direct and oversee this process and provides strategic direction and leadership to develop a cultural development plan that will aim to create a sustainable infrastructure to support social and economic growth of the cultural sector.
7. For further information about Creative Scotland, please visit: www.creativescotland.com