Communities Across Scotland Inspired By The Arts

National Lottery funding of over £2.5 million will be used to inspire thousands of people in communities across Scotland to participate in the arts.

The Scottish Arts Council’s Inspiring Communities fund has today (5 November 2009) confirmed funding for seven projects that will create festivals, tour music, create new opportunities in dance, and allow children to interact with writers through a series of webcast authors’ events.

Samaagam, Carnival and Lightnight are three new festivals which will be created by three thousand young people as part of Perth’s 800th anniversary celebrations, while internationally renowned choreographer Matthew Bourne will work with young people from West Dunbartonshire to create a dance performance for Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.

‘Love Music’ will mix multi-cultural music touring with workshops to bring exotic new sounds to young audiences across the country and the Scottish Book Trust will broadcast 15 authors directly to young readers using the power of the internet to reach 300 schools across Scotland. 

The Ignite project will create an opportunity for boys and young men to tour a dance production, drawing performers from workshops held across Scotland, while in Edinburgh, ‘Working on a Dream’ will bring looked-after children into the city’s arts venues to work with established artists, providing tailored opportunities for the young people to take part in dance, theatre and the visual arts, alongside exploring the city’s historical sites. 

Motherwell College will lead a unique and pioneering partnership between several of Scotland’s outstanding centres of artistic excellence  - National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, National Youth Choir of Scotland, Citizens Theatre and Traverse Theatre – working with the Scottish Prison Service to introduce 1,000 prisoners across five prisons to a range of hands-on artistic experiences. 

Iain Munro, Co-Director Arts, Scottish Arts Council congratulated the successful projects and said:

‘Inspiring Communities focuses on projects which connect people and their communities through the arts and encourages long-lasting links between people, places and ideas.

‘Each of these projects gives people who have had few opportunities to experience the arts authentic and meaningful ways to explore and enjoy a creative life   Scotland’s cultural landscape is rich and I delighted that many more people will have the chance to enjoy experiences of the highest quality.’

A further round of Inspiring Communities awards will be made in January 2010.

The successful projects are detailed below: 

1. 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 £480,500.
2. Motherwell Colleges: A multi-artform programme of arts activity for prisoners in five pilot prisons. Project partners are Motherwell College, the Scottish Prison Service, the National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Opera, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, National Youth Choir of Scotland, the Citizens Theatre and the Traverse Theatre.  This project has been awarded £300,000.
3. Glasgow Theatres Ltd (Glasgow): An audio-visual dance project which will be produced in association with choreographer Matthew Bourne aimed at young men aged 12 to 25 from West Dunbartonshire.  The final work will be premiered at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.  Glasgow Theatres have been awarded £265,905.
4. 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 £221,250.
5. Horsecross Arts (Perth): Home and Away is a series of culturally diverse residencies aimed at young and hard to reach people 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 £216,000.
6. Smallpetitklein Dance Company Limited and Scottish Youth Dance (Nationwide):  Ignite will inspire boys and young men to engage with dance through a series of workshops, leading to an all-male professional production which will tour the country. A total of £200,000 has been awarded.
7. Scottish Book Trust (Nationwide): This project will bring the best children’s authors to a bigger audience filmed and broadcast live over the Internet which will offer thousands of children and young people across Scotland the chance to see, hear, and interact with writers through a series of webcast authors’ events.   The Scottish Book Trust has been awarded £73,306.

Notes to editors

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.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council