Tag: Vision Mechanics

Culture organisations set to benefit as unique funding opportunity reopens

A fund that connects visionary culture organisations with business sponsorship opportunities will open for its seventh round of applications this month.  

Managed by the charity Culture & Business Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government, the fund will provide backing of up to £12,000 each to as many creative organisations as possible ranging from grassroots initiatives to established cultural events.  

When distributing funds, Culture & Business Scotland also account for an organisation’s ethical and environmental credentials, with a focus on supporting organisations which have implemented Fair Work policies, incorporated carbon neutral plans and embedded equality, diversity, and inclusion into their activities.  

Many organisations and businesses have benefited from this fund in the past. A significant beneficiary of the Culture & Business Scotland fund is Edinburgh-based theatre company Vision Mechanics, which used that investment to lever funds from A.T. Best Handlers Ltd in 2019, enabling the creation of Scotland’s largest puppet.

Made from recycled materials, the puppet, known as ‘Storm’, undertook a tour of the country to raise awareness of marine pollution and the urgency of caring for the environment.

The project culminated in the appearance of Storm at Cop26. As well as this, the project addressed community and social empowerment and equalities, diversity and inclusion and also generated significant local cultural tourism benefits.  

For the business, it met a number of external facing business needs, such as image enhancement, business and brand awareness, marketing, but also addressed internal business aspirations, including staff relations and development and creative development. 

Tommy McCormick, Culture & Business Scotland Fund Manager, said: “Since its launch, the Culture & Business Fund has helped to forge impactful relationships between culture organisations and businesses, with powerful and innovative results.

“We are delighted to reopen the fund for a seventh year, extending opportunities to a wider range of organisations and providing creatives with the resources to bring their artistic visions to life.” 

Vision Mechanics, the organisation behind the Storm puppet, added: “We could not have made Storm without this sponsorship. It was a nail-biting budget and this deal made it possible. 

“The additional funding from CBFS was essential. If it had not been available, we might have had a telehandler, but perhaps not been able to build the puppet.” 

Since its inauguration in 2017, the fund has enabled over 200 projects across Scotland to transform their artistic and creative visions into reality.

Over £1.2 million of funding has been awarded so far to creative projects across the country, from Grampian Art Hospital Trust in the north to Dumfries and Galloway Art Festival in the south. 

The fund serves Culture & Business Scotland’s commitment to facilitating meaningful connections between the culture and business sectors, creating the possibility for businesses to sponsor creative projects with vision and scope.  

Vision Mechanics received thousands and thousands of positive comments that can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/VisionMechanicsLeith.  

Applications are open from 17th May, and organisations interested in applying to the fund can do so here: https://www.culturebusinessfund.scot

Events line-up to enrich climate conference

A 10 metre tall puppet, STORM, will make an appearance in Glasgow and many projects are already well underway in the run up to the climate conference, including the launch of Climate Beacon hubs in seven locations across Scotland.

STORM is a huge sea-goddess puppet made entirely out of recycled materials with oyster shells for eyes and kelp for hair and is created by Vision Mechanics. She is due to walk in Govan on 10 November.

Led by Creative Carbon Scotland, the Climate Beacons project is a collaboration between climate change, environmental, arts, heritage and cultural organisations to stimulate long-term public engagement in climate change. The hubs throughout Scotland, including Argyll, Caithness and East Sutherland, Fife and Inverclyde, will provide information about climate change in each local area.

The hubs will be run as sustainably as possible with many of the projects and activities using recycled materials.

For instance the Message in a Bottle project in the Outer Hebrides will send messages to people at COP26 in plastic bottles washed up on the beach and the Midlothian hub at the National Mining Museum Scotland will feature outdoor clay sculpture that will eventually degrade back into the earth.

Creative Carbon Scotland’s film, Climate Action Needs Culture, made in collaboration with national cultural and heritage organisations, will be shown to a variety of cultural leaders and policymakers on November 5 as a virtual event.

Scotland’s five national performing arts companies, each receiving regular support from the Scottish Government, are among the many cultural organisations across Scotland organising events around COP26.

On 31 October, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra will premiere Symbiosis, a new commission for strings in a 20 minute video. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra will give a pop-up performance at ScotRail’s Haymarket Station on 1 November to welcome delegates to COP26 while the RSNO Junior Chorus will perform a selection of specially commissioned Green Songs in the official COP26 Green Zone the following day.

Scottish Opera have launched an intergalactic view of climate change in The Last Aliens, an opera for primary children. Schools can access the production online now with live tours planned next year.

Schools and communities across Scotland and India have created 100 shoes for a digital shoe shop as part of Millipede, the National Theatre of Scotland’s collaboration with ThinkArts, a Kolkata-based children’s organisation. Launching on 1 November, the interactive art installation will explore personal responses to climate change and carbon footprints through a range of creative activities.

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “With the world’s spotlight on Scotland, COP26 in Glasgow is a once in a lifetime event and our cultural organisations have risen to the occasion by programming an impressive line-up of live and online activities to engage audiences at home and abroad. 

“The Scottish Government is proud to support the cultural and heritage sectors as they have a major role to play in encouraging debate around environmental issues.

“Climate change affects us all and it’s heartening to see so many communities taking part in these projects to create a lasting legacy for future generations.”

A dedicated website, Culture at COP, for all cultural activities around COP26 has been set up by Museums and Galleries Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and the Climate Heritage Network.