Tag: Open Fund

Lammermuir Festival faces future challenge head-on as Creative Scotland turns it down for funding

Lammermuir Festival has been turned down by Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for funding towards this year’s festival.

Over a period of 40 weeks the festival lodged three applications having been strongly encouraged by Creative Scotland officials to re-apply twice. 

Each application was strongly recommended for funding by the Music Department at Creative Scotland, particularly as a key part of a network of festivals across the country including East Neuk, Paxton, Cumnock Tryst and St Magnus.

Each application has been turned down by assessment panels, the last notification being on 22 August, just 16 days before the 2023 festival opened.

Statement on the future of the Lammermuir Festival from the Chair and Trustees:

The Chair and Trustees of the Lammermuir Festival are appalled and saddened at the lack of investment in the 2023 festival by Creative Scotland. The Times described the Lammermuir Festival as “an indispensable part of Scotland’s musical culture”.

It has indisputably been a huge success over the past 14 years, giving pleasure to audiences from East Lothian and further afield, transformative experiences for people young and old through our community engagement, and presenting Scottish and international performers with worldwide reputations in beautiful and intimate settings across the county. 

Presenting the Festival in its current form has relied on a strong, supportive audience; our loyal Friends, Benefactors, sponsors and other generous funders; and investment from public funds, mainly Creative Scotland but also contributions from EventScotland and East Lothian Council. 

In previous years ticket revenues, private sector funders and public support have contributed about one third each of the cost of the Festival enabling us to keep ticket prices at a level to allow the widest audience to attend the performances.

If Creative Scotland had invested the sum requested in 2023 it would have represented 23% of the Festival budget. This is crucial investment in an area of Scotland which does not have regular high-quality cultural events drawing audiences to the area. In 2022 the Lammermuir Festival generated £780,000 of economic benefit for East Lothian (Source: MKA Economics, November 2022).

Public support has in addition allowed children and young people from across the county to discover and develop musical skills and benefit socially from participation in music. Most recently this brought almost 700 people together in our community opera and engagement work, giving them the experience of every aspect of production as well as performing.

This year Creative Scotland has declined to support the festival despite having encouraged us to re-apply twice over the last nine months.

Reasons given were first: prioritising applications with activity earlier in the year; second: Fair Work; third: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This third application was refused on a criterion which the Music Department assessor judged to be fully met. We are urgently seeking clarification on how this could be. 

The artistic ambition and quality of the festival has been consistently recognised in Music Department assessments.

In particular there has been no recognition that what has emerged is effectively a decision by Creative Scotland to give no priority to a festival as significant as Lammermuir, despite its record of achievement and its obvious appeal to audiences and performers; and no attempt is made to justify this. 

This flies in the face of the expressions of support for culture in Scotland, and in particular for festivals, that have been made in recent days by the First Minister, Neil Gray and Angus Robertson.

To deliver this year’s Festival as planned – with what is already being acclaimed as an outstanding artistic programme – we shall be obliged to use a significant proportion of our reserves which we have judiciously built up over many years. 

Thankfully on this one occasion we were in a position to do this, allowing audiences to once again enjoy beautiful music in beautiful places as in previous festivals, and meet our commitment to artists.

Without Creative Scotland support the Lammermuir Festival’s future is under threat.

We urge Creative Scotland to reconsider their decision and secure the future of Lammermuir Festival. In order to make plans and commitments for 2024 and beyond we need the financial stability which Creative Scotland has provided over the past 13 years. 

We are determined to save the Lammermuir Festival for the future.

From the Chair and trustees of Lammermuir Festival

Art project inspired by wild swimming set to make a big splash

New artwork celebrates 50+ swimmers in Scotland’s East Coast communities

Fife-based artist Joanna van den Berg will embark upon a new two-year art project inspired by the lure of coastal swimming thanks to National Lottery Funding through Creative Scotland’s Open Fund.

A woman in silhouette walks out to sea in the sunlight

Developed in collaboration with swimmers, coastal artists and communities, Joanna will develop a series of mixed-media artworks, with a companion collection of writing and images.

This new project titled IMMERSE will take the form of a tribute, exploration and celebration of the growing numbers of ‘feisty 50+ers, women in particular’, whose lives, well-being and sense of solidarity have been galvanised through regular immersion in Scotland’s seas, lochs, rivers and reservoirs.

As one of many who started wild swimming during the Covid pandemic, artist Joanna van den Berg has drawn inspiration from the physical and emotional impact of this directly immersive encounter with the landscape. In Joanna’s own words, ‘the act of transitioning from land to water; the shock, the fear, the exhilaration.’

IMMERSE will host a series of exhibition/gathering events in coastal venues, aiming to produce a companion publication/anthology of text and images for wider distribution by December 2024. News on these, along with call-outs for contributors and regular updates on the project, will be available on an IMMERSE Instagram/Facebook channel from January 2023.

Artist Joanna van den Berg says: “I’m delighted to have been awarded Open Project funding for IMMERSE, a project to create visual narrative for the emotional and physical lure of wild, coastal and tidal pool swimming.

“I’ll be developing work that draws directly from the stories and experiences of swimmers in Scotland’s East Coast communities.

“Much of my work is bound in transitions between land and water, lost and found, known and unknown, and is increasingly underpinned by my experience of aging.

“I am one of an armada of wild swimmers (many of whom are older women) with a newfound and directly immersive relationship with the landscape. I’m particularly interested in the correlation of wild swimming with age-related changes to our bodies, lifestyle and social autonomy.”

The project is one of 69 projects receiving a total of £1,197,933 National Lottery funding in this latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards.

At a glance, projects include:

  • Ullapool Book Festival’s 19th annual festival to be held on 5 and 6 May 2023.
  • A new album from acclaimed Glasgow-based folk band Gnoss.
  • Look To the Rainbow – the first biography of the Scots-born singer, actress and entertainer Ella Logan from Alison Kerr.
  • A new duo album fromLouise Dodds and Elchin Shirinov comprised of traditional Scottish Folk Songs and interwoven with influences of both jazz and Azerbaijani folk music.
  • The Party Shrimp – an interactive, outdoor, visual walkabout performance for children (5+), families from Adrenalism.
  • A Scotland-wide series of exhibitions, talks and workshops engaging audiences in the story of Bernat Klein, a Serbian born designer whose career based in the Scottish Borders spanned six decades.

Paul Burns, Interim Deputy Director of Arts & Engagement at Creative Scotland said: “As the year draws to a close, we are once again inspired by the range of exciting new projects that have received Open Fund support.

“The diversity and scope of these projects is reflective of our society as a whole, and we hope that these projects will continue to enrich the lives of people of all ages in Scotland in 2023 and beyond.”

Active travel projects to benefit from up to £100,000 with the Open Fund

SCOTLAND’s walking charity, Paths for All has increased the maximum amount of its active travel Open Fund available to public, community and third-sector organisations who can now apply for grants up to £100,000.

Supported by Transport Scotland, the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) Open Fund doubled from £2.5 million to £5 million earlier this year as it aims to help cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve air quality by supporting people across Scotland to travel in more active and sustainable ways.

Projects will be able to apply for between £5,000 and now up to £100,000 – which is a 50% increase from previous years.

The extension aims to create new opportunities for organisations and projects to extend their ambition to adopt active and sustainable travel in order to reduce the reliance on cars.

Initiatives will be focused on encouraging more people to change their everyday travel behaviours and help provide opportunities to drive less and to walk or cycle as part of their everyday short journeys or to use public transport for longer journeys.

Graham McQueen, SCSP Manager at Paths for All, said: “With the continued support of Transport Scotland, we are delighted to be able to increase the maximum amount of grant available through the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund to community groups and charities across Scotland.

“This increase recognises the importance of encouraging people to drive less and to travel in a more sustainable manner. We are facing an immediate climate crisis and we need to act now.

“With these larger grants, applicants can extend their reach to more people and can be more effective in reducing the number of car journeys being made on our roads.”

A total of £13.5 million has been awarded to 542 projects across Scotland after the Open Fund was first launched in 2017.

Kevin Lafferty, CEO of Paths for All, said: “Being able to announce that Paths for All’s funding programme to help Scotland choose smarter ways to travel has increased its fund ceiling from £50k to £100k for the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund is fantastic news.

“The grant fund is available to support public, third and community sector organisations in Scotland to deliver innovative behaviour change projects that promote active and sustainable travel.

“The fund is helping cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve our air quality by encouraging people to use public transport or other sustainable options such as buses and community car clubs for longer journeys, walking and cycling for short journeys.

“This means the potential average award can now increase and we would like to thank Transport Scotland for their continued support for the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund which has left us over the moon.”

Applications for this round of funding are welcome until 31 March 2023 and will be awarded for a period of 12 months. To apply or to find out more, please visit https://www.pathsforall.org.uk/open-fund or take a look at our guidance.

Supported by Transport Scotland, Smarter Choices, Smarter Places is Paths for All’s funding programme that exists to encourage people to choose smarter ways to travel. The programme supports public, third and community-sector organisations across the country to deliver active and sustainable projects, as well as supporting every local authority in Scotland to encourage more journeys by foot, bike and public transport.

To read inspiring examples of how funding has been used to further active travel in Scotland, please visit: 

https://www.pathsforall.org.uk/active-travel/at-success-stories

£5M fund to boost sustainable travel in Scotland now open

A multi-million pound grant fund has opened to support people across Scotland to travel in more active and sustainable ways.

Community, public and third sector organisations can now apply to the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund which has £5 million worth of grants available this year alone – double the amount available previously.

Now in its fifth year, the fund has already awarded over £9.3million to hundreds of projects across Scotland that aim to get people out their cars and walk, wheel or cycle for short journeys or use public or sustainable travel for longer trips.

The launch of this year’s grant fund has been welcomed by Scotland’s Active Travel Minister Patrick Harvie MSP. He said: “I’m delighted we have been able to double this year’s Open Fund to £5 million – reflecting both the popularity of the fund and the effectiveness of giving community groups the flexibility to draw down funding and spend as they see fit to deliver initiatives that provide the best value for money in the communities they serve. 

“This increase is part of our record funding for active travel this year and another step in our commitment to make walking, wheeling and cycling the natural choice for our daily short journeys in Scotland, and I commend Paths for All for their excellent stewardship of the Open Fund.”

Managed by national walking charity Paths for All and supported by Transport Scotland, the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) Open Fund aims to encourage people to change their behaviour and to walk, wheel or cycle for short, everyday journeys.

It also encourages people to use sustainable travel choices, including buses, trams, trains for longer journeys to help cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve air quality.

Since 2018, the SCSP Open Fund has supported charities, colleges and universities, social enterprises, third sector organisations, community groups and health and social care partnerships to realise their active travel ambitions.

It’s funded dozens of new active travel jobs and has boosted hundreds of initiatives to get people moving as part of their daily journeys, funding everything from information apps to active travel hubs.

Kevin Lafferty, Chief Executive Officer at Paths for All said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to offer £5million in grants this year to support more people to travel in ways that benefit their health and wellbeing and that helps protect our environment too.

“It’s been incredible to see what has been achieved so far, and we are looking forward to this seeing more projects coming forward with new and creative ways to make walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport the natural choice when getting from A to B.

“I’d encourage anyone with an active travel idea to get in touch with us and find out how we can help get projects off the ground. Together we can work towards creating a happier, healthier and greener Scotland.”

STIRLING, SCOTLAND – NOVEMBER 20: A Paths For All workplace walking project is pictured at Kintail House, on November 20, in Stirling, Scotland (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

For information on how to apply for a Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund grant of between £5000 and £50,000, visit Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund | Paths for All

To read inspiring examples of how our funding has been used to further active travel, visit https://www.pathsforall.org.uk/active-travel/at-success-stories

New creative projects helping mental health and wellbeing

The positive role that art and creativity plays in enhancing our mental health and well-being is at the heart of activity taking place in communities across Scotland and backed by £800,000 of National Lottery and Scottish Government support in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards.

Forging connection through music making and storytelling is central to Acorn Shed Music’s approach. In their latest project with partners Ceartas Advocacy and The Village Storytelling Centre, Songs from Here will bring together people living with dementia in East Dunbartonshire to create songs and stories based on lived experience.

Set up in 2017 with the aim of finding ways to use group songwriting to explore difficult conversations, Acord Shed Music’s Co-Founder, Carol Beckwith said: “Writing songs that emerge from individual and shared stories provides opportunities to take a more creative approach to exploring the experience of dementia and dementia care.

“We anticipate that as people begin to reveal their creative identities in this way they begin to understand that ‘voice’ is more than just the words that we say.”

In Edinburgh, Artlink is about to roll out a new programme of workshops, discussions, performances, installations, exhibitions and artist placements for people with complex disabilities.

Jan-Bert van den Berg, Director at Artlink, said: “Over the last two years amazing new creative relationships have formed between people with complex disabilities, their supports, and artists.

“As we emerge into a post lockdown world, we want to make sure that those people who have been hardest hit are included in influencing and shaping the new cultural landscape.

“Being Human supports a programme of creative work that harnesses the strengths and passions of all involved to make the most of what has been learnt.”

Becoming a dynamic hub of creative activity, Glasgow’s Good Vibrations supports people through communal music making, with a focus on the gamelan and Indian tuned percussion orchestra.

Hekate Papadaki, Executive Director of Good Vibrations explains: “Through communal music-making and other creative activities we support people who may have more limited access to participating in arts and culture – those from deprived areas and those with disabilities and mental health needs – to develop personal, social and music skills, self-confidence and positive self-identities.”

Paul Burns, Interim Director, Arts and Engagement Creative Scotland said:  “The arts and creativity make an invaluable contribution to our health and wellbeing – both physically and mentally.

“Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise over £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and funding from the Scottish Government, these awards continue to address issues of mental and emotional wellbeing while also enriching the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.”

A full list of Open Fund recipient awards is available on the Creative Scotland website.

National Lottery funds support Edinburgh creative projects

Creative projects from Edinburgh artists and creative organisations are in motion thanks to National Lottery funding awarded through Creative Scotland’s Open Fund.

A new poetry project from Neu! Reekie!, a community arts project focusing on Edinburgh’s history and a 50th anniversary commission from Meadows Chamber Orchestra are among the 53 projects in total sharing in over £1.2million of National Lottery funding.

These funds aim to support creativity across Scotland for artists, organisations and creative groups as they seek to build sustainability while emerging from Covid-19 restrictions.

With new funding, independent publisher 404 Ink will be continuing their development of new and emerging Scottish voices, including new poetry, novels and memoirs.

Co-founder and Publishing Director Heather McDaid says: “As a small publisher trying to survive and thrive through the pandemic, this is an incredible opportunity to put real resources behind authors and titles we fully believe in, and create a large network of freelance opportunities, while also being able to develop our paid internship programme and look to 404 Ink’s long-term recovery and sustainability.”

Neu! Reekie!’s forthcoming The New Now! will draw focus on Scotland’s poets. From #NeuVoices publishing their first poem to Scotland’s new Makar making their mark, The New Now! will offer poets and audiences alike, a year-long series of live shows and broadcast-quality digital events.

Neu! Reekie! Co-founder Michael Pedersen says: “We’re elated to see this vital project taking flight — through it we hope to make sense of the last bewildering period and gather gusto for the future.”

ReDrawing Edinburgh is a community-led creative project from Edinburgh City Archives designed to commemorate the centennial of the 1920 Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act.

Activities around this project will include the projection a short, commissioned archive multi-media installation onto five buildings in the five boundary extension areas, on five evenings during September 2021.

Henry Sullivan, Information Asset Manager says: “The heritage of each community will be displayed to local audiences in their own community spaces in an innovative and engaging fashion.

“The hope is that this will be a model for future collaboration between content custodians, community organisations and local artists.”

Meadows Chamber Orchestra will celebrate its 50th anniversary with the commission and Scottish premiere of an exciting new orchestral symphony by renowned composer Eleanor Alberga.

Principal conductor and musical advisor, Peter Evans says: “As the Meadows Chamber Orchestra prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in June 2022, the ensemble is particularly delighted to receive financial support from Creative Scotland for the commission of a new symphony from the Jamaican -born British composer, Eleanor Alberga. The new piece will be a joint commission with the Bristol-based Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra.”

INTO THE ALTERED STATES is a year-long project by artist Benjamin Owen celebrating voices across Scotland and bringing together an intergenerational group of musicians alongside the voices of elderly individuals.

Benjamin explained: “This funding is a vital opportunity for me to develop as a participatory artist after a twenty-year career in arts education.

“It allows me to integrate all sorts of skills and experiences gathered in teaching into a more experimental and flexible environment.”

Joan Parr, Creative Scotland’s Interim Director of Arts and Engagement, said: “Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, these vital funds are helping artists to continue to develop and present their work and to bring extraordinary creative experiences to life within our communities.”

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website.

Edinburgh projects share over £145,000 for creative development

Nine Edinburgh-based projects are sharing over £145,000 Scottish Government and National Lottery funds through Creative Scotland in the latest round of Open Fund awards.  

A digital drag show from Edinburgh drag queen, Mystika Glamoor; an exciting wave of music making focused on the arrival of COP26 on our shores from Oi Musica; a new writer mentoring programme from Wildfire Theatre;and new music from traditional music ensemble, The Whistlebinkies are among 45 projects across the country to be awarded over £732,000 last month.  

These funds are supporting a diverse range creative people, projects and organisations across Scotland to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances brought about by Covid-19 and helping to sustain creative development at this challenging time. 

Featuring a variety of experimental local drag performers and LGBT+ performance art, GLAMOOR, THE KWEER KABARET which originated at Edinburgh’s The Street bar is moving online.  

Oskar Kirk Hansen, who will be hosting as his alter ego Mystika Glamoor, said: “This funding from Creative Scotland allows me to support myself as a full-time artist, and most importantly to give back to the wider community of LGBT artists in the line-ups of my shows throughout the rest of the year. 

“I truly hope this is part of a turning point in Scottish drag that will make our community stand up for what it’s worth, so we can truly start to see ourselves as professionals.” 

Building on work in 2020 with musicians including Karine Polwart and Heather Macleod, Let it Grow is a new musical response to COP26 from Edinburgh-based artist-led music organisation Oi Musica. 

Oli Furness, Co-Director of Oi Musica said: “We are particularly excited about supporting youth creativity, about building connections across communities and creating a focus for grassroots and lifelong learning projects as they emerge from lockdowns and COVID restrictions.” 

New Voices from Wildfire Theatre is a digital project that will see the professional performance of up to ten pieces of new writing from new writers who will receive professional mentoring.  

Director Pauline Lockhart says: “This project will encourage untapped creativity and provide an exciting outlet for that talent. 

“It’s imperative that we give opportunity to these new voices and I’m really excited about the talent this project might uncover!” 

Unlocking John Cage’s Scottish Circus will see the world-premiere release in audio and video of American composer John Cage’s 1990 work Scottish Circus featuring the musicians of The Whistlebinkies for whom it was written.  

Whistlebinkies’ fiddle and concertina player Stuart Eydmann says: “It was an honour for the Whistlebinkies, and for Scottish music, when the distinguished 20th-century American composer John Cage created the work featured in this world-premiere DVD recording.”  

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “We are committed to supporting a diverse mix of artists and creative groups through the Open Fund, in communities throughout Scotland.

“Many of the projects supported will spark a timely discussion over issues such as climate change, as well as a commitment to greater inclusion of underrepresented groups in the arts.

“Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and funding from the Scottish Government, these awards play an important part in enriching the lives of people throughout Scotland.” 

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website. 

Open Fund awards support for creative Edinburgh-based projects

27 Edinburgh-based projects are sharing in over £607,000 of National Lottery and Scottish Government funding through Creative Scotland in the March and April rounds of Open Fund awards.

Designed to support creative people, projects and organisations across Scotland to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances brought about by Covid-19, awards made through the Open Fund are helping to sustain creative development at this challenging time.

Edinburgh-based artists and creative practitioners include:

The Cymera Festival – an annual celebration of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (SFFH) writing, bringing together writers and readers to share ideas, create stories and share insights.

Cymera is the first of its kind in the UK, and 2021 is its third instalment.  Due to the ongoing pandemic, the programme will once again be digital.

Festival organiser Ann Landmann said: “We are excited to return to the digital space from 3rd to 6th June 2021. Thanks to the funding from the Creative Scotland Open Fund, #Cymera21 is a jam-packed weekend and our most international programme yet, with speakers joining us from all around the world.

“From internationally bestselling authors to Scottish debuts, our programme is a smorgasbord of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writers to suit all tastes.”

The Dance Audition! is a new interactive online performance piece. Inspired by A Chorus Line, the 1985 American musical drama film, The Dance Audition! will be choreographed by Dance Ihayami’s Artistic Director, Priya Shrikumar using popular Indian dance forms.

Audience members will be encouraged to follow the journey of performers, learn the choreography and participate as a judge to identify the dancers for the final 5-minute dance creation, choreographed by Priya.

Choreographer, Priya Shrikumar (top) said: “Now is the best and in a way a positive time for this form (Indian dance) to be viewed and enjoyed by a larger audience – something accessible and enjoyable.

“It will bring colour and wonder to a world which is a bit colourless at the moment, due to the pandemic.”

Re·creation: A Creative Opportunity for Queer Poets is a new work from Edinburgh-based writers Éadaoín Lynch and Alycia Pirmohamed, with independent publisher Stewed Rhubarb Press.

This project will identify and commission Covid-affected queer creatives to write poems, develop their craft, build a community of poets, and be published in a landmark poetry collection.

The project leads are also the co-editors of the anthology, planned for publication in summer 2022. Éadaoín Lynch is an early career researcher with a PhD in poetry from the University of St Andrews; Alycia Pirmohamed is co-founder of the Scottish BAME Writers Network, and winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2020.

The collection is planned to include 30 poets: 10 commissions, and 20 selections from an open call for submissions. Workshops, 1-to-1 mentorship, and a round-table feedback session will be provided as part of the project. More information can be found on the website here: https://recreation-anthology.co.uk/ 

Project lead, Éadaoín Lynch says: “The project title has its roots in play, refreshment, recovery, restoration, invigoration, and creating, all of which are long overdue in a Covid-affected world, particularly for those in the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Funding has also been awarded to Edinburgh-based visual artist Alison Grant for a period of research to develop a new body of work looking at coastal communities across the 11,000 miles of Scotland’s shores.

From Viking graffiti artists who anchored in the best fishing areas to the contemporary work of today’s Blue Carbon visionaries, the project will look at best practice from the past to inform how we consider our coastlines in the future.

Visual artist Alison Grant says: “I am delighted to have received funding from Creative Scotland for 11000 Miles, a project conceived during lockdown this winter.

“It is important at this time of climate crisis to look locally to our own coastline for sustainable solutions to some of the problems we have created. I want to engage with these issues to use my creativity to communicate ideas, not just to as wide an audience as possible but also to our local communities, to look anew at our relationship with the sea.”

Strategy: Get Arts. 35 Artists Who Broke the Rules is a new work from Studies in Photography (part of the Scottish Society for the History of Photography).

Edited by Christian Weikop, Senior Lecturer, Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), this book will be the first print publication to consider the formation of the ground-breaking exhibition Strategy: Get Arts (SGA), staged at ECA in 1970, when thirty-five German post-war artists (including Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Klaus Rinke, and Günther Uecker) staged a provocative takeover of ECA, transforming the college into a ‘total work of art’ through their ‘actions’ and installations.

Featuring essays by academics, senior National Galleries of Scotland staff, and those involved in curating the exhibition, the publication will include photographs by Monika Baumgartl, George Oliver, and Richard Demarco, many never seen before.

Alex Hamilton says: “As Chair and Co-Editor of Studies in Photography, I am delighted to be able to publish this book. The exhibition held for me, particular importance as one of the gallery assistants.

“It changed many people’s lives… After 50 years and during the anniversary of the birth of Joseph Beuys we are delighted that the amazing stories behind this ground-breaking event can finally be revealed.”

The work is due to be published later in 2021.

These examples are some of the 105 projects in total that have been awarded over £2.3million of National Lottery and Scottish Government funding through Creative Scotland in the latest rounds of Open Fund awards. 

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website.

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, alongside equally welcome funding from the Scottish Government, these Open Fund awards are helping artists, creative organisations and communities to develop and share their work, and to keep culture and creativity at the heart of people’s lives as we look to recover from the challenges of the pandemic.”  

14 Edinburgh-based projects receive funding in latest round of Open Fund awards

14 projects based in Edinburgh have received funding in the latest round of Open Fund awards from Creative Scotland.

They are among 58 projects across Scotland which are sharing over £1.6 million of National Lottery and Scottish Government funding.

These funds are supporting creative people, projects and organisations across Scotland to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances brought about by Covid-19 and helping to sustain creative development at this challenging time.

Among the work supported in Edinburgh is Building Bridges, a major new programme from Artlink Edinburgh and the Lothians that will make connections with and for people with complex disabilities, addressing their experience of isolation and marginalisation, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis.  

The programme will be centred on art reaching people in their homes and communities as part of newly established creative networks, with cultural productions that create exciting challenges for a diverse group of artists. 

Jan-Bert van den Berg, Director, Artlink Edinburgh and the Lothians, said: “Artlink are very pleased to receive this major support from Creative Scotland at such a challenging time.

“The experience of the pandemic has had a devastating impact on people with complex disabilities and their carers. The Building Bridges programme will continue to build on the incredibly inventive work that artists have supported over the last 11 months and strengthen the growth of creative community involvement.”

Edinburgh-based Neo Productions will develop a new play with music, written by Neo Vilakazi, about black American anti-slavery hero, Frederick Douglass.  

Born in 1818, Douglass became an eminent human rights leader and the first Black citizen to hold high rank in the U.S. government. To an American audience, Douglass is perhaps the most famous fugitive from slavery, but in Britain and Scotland in particular, he is less well known, despite the fact he achieved great celebrity status in the mid-19th century, including while on a two year speaking tour of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Neo Vilakazi said: “I’m delighted to be given the opportunity by Creative Scotland to bring to life the story of Frederick Douglass’ time in Scotland, at a point where Scottish history is being closely re-examined to find BAME voices that have been suppressed in the past.  

“We hope that telling this story will shine a light not only on Mr Douglass’s time in Scotland but will contribute to making Scotland a much more tolerant place for all who live in it.”

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “As we face ongoing challenges resulting from Covid-19, the Open Fund supports Scotland’s arts and creative community to continue to innovate and engage with people across the country.

“These awards also help enable individual artists, creative practitioners and organisations to develop and present new work, and sustain creative development.

“Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and funding from the Scottish Government, these awards are helping to sustain the great value that creativity brings to our lives.”

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website.


The fund has no deadlines, and full eligibility criteria and application guidance can be found on the Creative Scotland website.

Image credit: Work from the Art Games project Artlink Edinburgh and the Lothians have been running in St John’s Hospital, Livingston with artist Vanessa Lawrence and The Collective Matter range produced by KMAdotcom.

Open Fund: Edinburgh creative projects share in over £820K

A debut poetry collection, a collaborative funk and soul album, and the publication of four new books by female authors are among the Edinburgh-based creative projects and research and development initiatives sharing in over £820K of National Lottery and Scottish Government funding through Creative Scotland in the latest round of Open Fund awards.

Award-winning poet Sam Buchan-Watts has received funding towards debut collection Path Through Woods, which draws on the writer’s experience of working with asylum seekers and oral histories. The funds will also support Sam to widen the audience for his work by building on relationships with small publishers.

Sam Buchan-Watts said: “This funding has made possible the development and completion of my first book-length poetry collection, centred on the means of listening to vulnerable subjects.

“I am enormously grateful for the work Creative Scotland does to make writers and artists feel valued – especially in a time when many struggle to stay buoyant, spiritually and materially.”

Funk and soul band James Brown is Annie have also received funds to create a collaborative album with award-winning jazz and folk artists.

Featuring eight original tracks written during lockdown, the album will be produced by platinum-selling Scottish musician Hamish Stuart. Hamish is best known as the frontman of Average White Band and has previously worked with artists including Sir Paul McCartney and Aretha Franklin.

Polygon have also been awarded funds to publish four new works from female authors at various stages of their careers.

Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “The Open Fund is enabling creative people and organisations to explore ways of working that is helping them to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances brought about as a result of Covid-19.

“From researching and developing new work and practices, to exploring safe ways to reach and engage audiences, these projects reflect the resilience, innovation and determination of Scotland’s creative community in the face of extremely challenging circumstances.

“Made possible by the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and the Scottish Government, these awards are helping to sustain the immense value that creativity adds to our lives.”