Sixteen Inspiring Communities

Sixteen very different projects will see a children’s world music festival touring Scotland, an internationally-renowned choreographer working with young men in West Dunbrartonshire and a programme building on the legacy of Japanese sculptor Hideo Futura’s work with the community in Creetown. 

The Scottish Arts Council’s Inspiring Communities fund will support the development of projects that will put art at the heart of a housing co-operative, produce a new film drawing on the memories of a mining community during the 1926 Strike and celebrate ‘cinema birthdays’ for children aged 8½ years-old.

In one unique and inspiring collaboration, five of Scotland’s iconic arts organisations (National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Citizen’s Theatre and Traverse Theatre) will work with the Scottish Prison Service and Motherwell and Carnegie Colleges to develop a multi-disciplinary arts programme in five Scottish prisons.

Inspiring Communities was developed from the Inspire Fund, using National Lottery investment, to allow communities whose ambitious ideas met the aims of Inspire but where further detail was needed to ensure that communities were genuinely involved in creating lasting connections to the arts.  More than 170 projects applied and these final 16 projects complete the Inspire programme.

In 2008, the Scottish Arts Council launched the Inspire Fund to encourage long-lasting links between people, places and ideas and provide more, wider, better participation in the arts.  Thirteen significant projects are currently in development (see Notes to Editors).

Today a total of £141,792 has been awarded in development funding with a further £3.1 million ring-fenced for the projects on successful completion of the development phase.

Iain Munro, Co-Director of Arts and Head of Lottery, Scottish Arts Council, said: ‘Inspiring Communities reinforces our use of National Lottery funding to focus on projects which connect people and their communities through the arts and encourages long-lasting links between people, places and ideas.   The breadth and range of creativity shown in today’s successful projects reinforces our view that Scotland remains an exciting place for the arts.’

The successful projects are detailed below:

1. Theatre Workshop Ltd (Fife): This project entitled ‘Once upon a time in Fife’ will be a community feature film exploring the political ideals and identity of the Fife mining community during the 1926 general strike. The film will work with and draw on the experience and memories of the Fife’s mining communities. Theatre Workshop has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £661,308 ringfenced for the full project.
    
2. Music At The Brewhouse (nationwide): A landmark festival of international live music for children aged five to 16 years old, presenting a culturally diverse programme featuring everything from Bhangra and Bluegrass to Mbalax and Mariachi and touring nationally throughout Scotland.  Music At The Brewhouse has been awarded £9,600 in development funding with £480,500 ringfenced for the full project.
    
3. Motherwell and Carnegie Colleges: A multi-artform programme of arts activity for prisoners in five pilot prisons. Project partners are Motherwell and Carnegie Colleges, the Scottish Prison Service, the National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Opera, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Citizens Theatre and the Traverse Theatre. The programme will also look at the impact of the arts on literacy levels and engagement with learning.  This project has been awarded £7,755 in development funding with £300,000 ringfenced for the full project.
    
4. Glasgow Theatres Ltd (Glasgow): An audio-visual dance project which will be produced in association with a world-renowned choreographer aimed at young men aged 12 to 25.  The project will have a specific focus on working with young men from West Dunbartonshire.  The final work will be premiered at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.  Glasgow Theatres have been awarded £9,490 in development funding with £265,905 ringfenced for the full project.
    
5. Seven Doors (Edinburgh): This project will offer looked after children the opportunity to work with leading artists to develop and exhibit their own unique creativity. Based in Edinburgh, the children will have in-depth opportunities with arts and heritage venues across the city.  Seven Doors has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £221,250 ringfenced for the full project.
    
6. Horsecross Arts (Perth): A series of international multi-artform residencies in underrepresented communities across Perthshire as part of the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city of Perth. Horsecross has been awarded £7687 for development funding with £216,000 ringfenced for the full project.
    
7. Smallpetitklein Dance Company Limited (Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross) and Scottish Youth Dance (nationwide): these two projects both proposed inspiring boys and young men to engage with dance through a series of workshops.  Both organisations will be awarded development funding to look at ways the project can be rolled out collaboratively and nationally.  Smallpetitklein has been awarded £4500 and Scottish Youth Dance has been awarded £6,450 in development funding. A total of £200,000 has been ringfenced for a single national project.
    
8. Invergordon Off The Wall (Highland): ‘Evolution’ will be a community-led public art project, with the aim of commissioning new work for the Invergordon community to inspire everyone to talk about art. Invergordon Off the Wall (Highland) has been awarded £9,960 in development funding with £199,370 ring fenced for the full project. 
     
9. Calman Trust Ltd (Highland):  Building on the Calman Trusts’ successful work with young people at risk of homelessness, this project will provide structured access to arts activities as a creative way of developing young people’s skills at the beginning of their working life.  Calman Trust Ltd  has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £117,466 ringfenced for the full project
    
10. 4 Way Pictures Scotland Ltd (Nairn and nationwide): ‘The 8½ Foundation’ will establish a ‘cinema birthday’ for Scotland’s young at the most open moment of imagination.  The project has links to film organisations from across the world and aims to provide free access to the best of international children’s cinema. Tilda Swinton and former Edinburgh Film Festival Director Mark Cousins have already established a successful children’s film festival in Nairn.  4 Way Pictures Scotland Ltd has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £110,000 ringfenced for the full project.
     
11. Scottish Book Trust (Nationwide): Building on the success of Scottish Book Trust’s existing children’s book tours, this project will bring the best children’s authors to a bigger audience through the medium of virtual events featuring world-class authors, filmed and broadcast live over the Internet which will offer thousands of children and young people across Scotland the chance to hear writers talking about their work.   The Scottish Book Trust has been awarded £7,800 in development funding with £75,206 ringfenced for the full project.
     
12. Scots Music Group (Edinburgh):  Homeless and isolated people in the Edinburgh area will have new opportunities to take part in Scotland’s living traditions. Working with a range of Scotland’s singers, musicians and dancers the project will provide hands-on workshops for new learners.  Scots Music Group has been awarded £6,000 in development funding with £68,250 ringfenced for the full project.
     
13. Tenants First Housing Co-operative (Aberdeenshire): This project will involve artists working with tenants in Roanheads village in Aberdeenshire to create public art which reflects the history and heritage of their local area and enhances the community’s shared outdoor space.  Tenants First Housing Co-operative has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £60,000 ringfenced for the full project.
     
14. Big Issue Foundation Scotland (Glasgow): Using writing, drawing, music and film-making, this integrated arts programme will offer homeless people creative tools for emotional expression. The Big Issue Foundation Scotland has been awarded £7,500 in development funding with £56,705 ringfenced for the full project.
     
15. Creetown Initiative Ltd (Dumfries and Galloway): This project entitled ‘Moments and Memories’ will use the design and ideas of Adamson Square, created by the late Japanese Sculpture Hideo Furuta, as an inspirational springboard for a 12-month programme of themed events, inspired by the past and present of the place and people of Creetown.  Creetown Initiative has been awarded £10,000 in development funding with £37,500 ringfenced for the full project.
     
16. Forth & District Millennium Wall Hanging Group (South Lanarkshire): This project seeks to interpret the changes in the rural landscape around the village of Forth, connecting  the community with its natural environment through an integration of digital imaging techniques and traditional visual art forms.  Forth & District Millennium Wall Hanging Group has been awarded £5,000 in development funding with £30,000 ringfenced for the full project.
    

Notes to editors

1. Announced in February 2008, the Inspire fund aims to increase participation in the arts by providing more, wider, better participation with the arts:
   • More – increasing the number and range of people enjoying and taking part in the arts, particularly arts activity for and by children and young people
   • Wider – making the arts available to those who have had little opportunity to participate in the past; ensuring a fair geographic spread of activities; and supporting projects across artforms and technologies.
   • Better – increasing further the quality of arts activities by supporting creative, ambitious projects. www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1005210.aspx 
2. Thirteen Inspire development grants were awarded in August 2008: www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1005676.aspx  Successful Inspire projects will be announced shortly.
3. Inspiring Communities was developed during Summer 2008 : http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1005844.aspx  Almost 300 applicants seeking over £51 million in support were offered the opportunity to be reconsidered against the Inspiring Communities criteria of connecting people and their communities through the arts and encouraging long-lasting links between people, places and ideas
4. The outcomes of the Inspiring Communities development process will be announced in late Autumn 2009.
5. The Scottish Arts Council is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which was established by Royal Charter in 1994 and is also a Lottery distributor. The organisation serves the people of Scotland by fostering arts of excellence through investment, development, research and advocacy. Our corporate aims are: to support artists to fulfil their creative and business potential; to increase participation in the arts; and to place the arts, culture and creativity at the heart of learning. We invest £60m each year, including £15 million of National Lottery funding. For more information visit: www.scottisharts.org.uk

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council