Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation opens applications for £150,000 Award for Civic Arts Organisations
Cultural organisations across the United Kingdom have been invited to apply for the £150,000 Award for Civic Arts Organisations, run by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
This year’s award is themed around ‘Co-Creating the Future’. It spotlights organisations that are helping to transform communities, even in the most challenging of contexts – whether by igniting joy, hope, compassion and energy, improving wellbeing, forging new connections, or developing solutions.
The Award for Civic Arts Organisations began in 2020, as a response to the Covid19 pandemic. This year, many arts organisations still face difficulties: according to Arts Council Wales, the costs of staging cultural activities have risen by as much as 40 per cent. The Award offers prize funding of £150,000, one of the largest amounts for an award in the arts.
Louisa Hooper, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), said: “The Award for Civic Arts Organisations is designed to support cultural projects that put community at their hearts. In difficult times, it’s more important than ever that art and culture are available to everyone.
“By prioritising co-creation, this year we’re looking to recognise organisations that create lasting change by working with and in communities to address their needs and concerns, deepen relationships, and use arts and creativity to enable positive change.”
Previous recipients of the award include The Art House in Wakefield, which created the first studio sanctuary for asylum seekers in the UK, Project Art Works, a collective of neurodivergent artists and activists based in Hastings, and Heart n Soul and the Museum of Homelessness, both based in London.
Baroness Bull, chair of the Award panel, said: “The Award for Civic Arts Organisations is vitally important in encouraging and rewarding genuine engagement and co-creation with local communities.
“In the years since the award was founded, we’ve seen hundreds of entries from organisations across the UK demonstrating a commitment to changing lives through art.”
Sydney Thornbury, CEO of The Art House in Wakefield, highlights the impact the award can have for organisations themselves: “The stability the Award provided combined with these new funding opportunities has deepened the work we were already doing and has opened up new opportunities for how we can further extend our civic impact.”
The independent panel of judges are Darren Ferguson, CEO/Founder, Beyond Skin; Ica Headlam, Founder, We Are Here Scotland; Philipp Dietachmair, Head of Programmes, European Cultural Foundation; Rachel Noel, Head of Programmes and Partnerships, Tate; Rhiannon White, Co-Artistic Director, Common Wealth Theatre; Saad Eddine Said, CEO/Artistic Director, New Art Exchange; and Sydney Thornbury, CEO/Artistic Director, The Art House (main recipient of 2022 Award).
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Branch, founded in 1956, was one of the earliest champions of community engagement in the arts.
In 1959, it published the seminal report Help For The Arts, which pioneered ideas including artists and writers in residence in non-artistic institutions, and arguing for more focused and sustained funding for arts organisations outside London and the major cities.
‘Perfect storm’ of financial pressure facing Scotland’s cultural sector
A ‘perfect storm’ of financial pressure is being faced by Scotland’s cultural sector. This is the warning from the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.
In a report published this week, Holyrood’s Committee looks ahead to the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 budget and the impact of budgetary decisions on Scotland’s culture sector. It calls on increased urgency to address budget pressures through innovative approaches to funding.
The report underlines recommendations made by the Committee during previous budget scrutiny. It calls for these innovate approaches to be accelerated in order to address the difficulties being faced.
During its consideration, the Committee heard the challenges facing that sector have become more acute as it struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and further compounded by the cost of living crisis following on from longer term budget pressures. The Committee has recommended taking an innovative approach to budgeting including greater use of public and private investment as well as multiyear funding.
The Committee also repeats its call from last year for the mainstreaming of the culture budget. It also asks the Scottish Government for updates on embedding culture more broadly as part its plans for a wellbeing economy. This would take into account the contribution which preventative spend in areas like the arts and other cultural activities makes towards health and wellbeing.
Speaking as the report launched, the Committee Convener Clare Adamson MSP said: “Scotland’s cultural sector plays a vital role in Scottish life. But we heard blunt warnings from those within the sector that stark choices lie ahead.
“Increased operating costs come at a time when most cultural venues are still struggling to recover from the pandemic, and without truly innovative approaches to funding, there is a real danger that Scotland’s skilled cultural workforce will be lost along with some of our best loved cultural icons.
“There are no doubt considerable pressures across all areas of the Scottish Government budget, and there are no easy choices. But the current situation provides an opportunity to accelerate these innovative solutions. The Scottish Government must take action to protect this fundamental part of our society.”