Tag: youth arts

Youth arts and creativity to be celebrated in virtual festival

UNCON 3.0 is the third iteration of a biannual festival, designed for and by young people, celebrating the best in youth arts and creativity in Scotland.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an enormous impact on every aspect of children and young people’s lives, including on art provision, and their opportunities to participate and progress within the arts, screen and creative industries.

During the virtual UNCON on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 January 2021, partners from across the youth arts sector will share reflections on the challenges of the past year and consider how children’s voices and aspirations can be heard in the recovery process.

The partner organisations are: Media Education, Intercultural Youth Scotland,  Collective, Arts End of Somewhere/PAMIS, Glasgow Connected Arts Network, Starcatchers, Fèis Rois/Highland Youth Arts Hub and CELCIS. 

The programme will feature a mix of pre-filmed and live performances, presentations and panel discussions, artwork and manifestos created by children and young people.

Children, young people, policy makers and anyone with an interest in children and young people’s rights are invited to join the conversation. The programme includes live events which are free to access. Full details of the programme and information about how to register is available on the Creative Scotland website. 

Fiona Dalgetty, Fèis Rois said: “Young people from Fèis Rois and the Highland Youth Arts Hub have taken part in every UNCON to date, and we are excited to participate online this year.

“Overcoming the challenging move to a digital event, the team at Creative Scotland have put together an ambitious programme and we are excited for the audience to see the video our young people have created.”

Katie Brennan, Collective said: “For this year’s UNCON, we’ve been working in partnership with Edinburgh Young Carers on a postal project, asking young people to reflect on their experiences of lockdown and hopes for the future through mail art.

“We look forward to UNCON as a space in which the hopes, concerns and priorities of young people from all backgrounds will be heard by organisations and policy makers.”

Paul Sullivan of CELCIS said “We know the importance of creativity in helping children and young people to develop new skills, express themselves and have fun. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on every aspect of children and young people’s lives, including their opportunities to access creativity.

“Our hope for UNCON is that through showcasing the creative skills of a number of talented care experienced young people and projects, we can further highlight the need for creative opportunities to be protected for children and young people all across Scotland.”

Sarah Mcadam, Time to Shine Manager, Creative Scotland said: “As with so many things, the lead in to this UNCON has felt very different to previous years. We know that the coronavirus will continue to have a significant impact on children and young people’s futures and it’s more important than ever to make sure we are listening to what is important to their lives.

“As this UNCON takes place at the beginning of a new decade, we look forward to working with a youth arts sector that meets these challenges head-on and continues to support Scotland’s children and young people to thrive in and through the arts and creativity.”

UNCON 3.0 is an outcome of Time to Shine – Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy. 

Emergency funds for youth arts in Edinburgh and Midlothian

Three youth arts and civil society organisations have received a total of £223,530 to help the recovery of youth arts provision across the city of Edinburgh, ensuring employment for youth arts practitioners and creative opportunities for children and young people continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Action for Children, Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival, North Edinburgh Arts, SambaYaBamba, Made in Midlothian CIC and Wheatley Foundation will use the funding to distribute grants of between £500-£5,000 directly to freelance artists/creative practitioners, across all artforms, for artist led youth arts activities. 

Minister for Children and Young People, Maree Todd said: “Youth music and youth arts organisations across Scotland are playing an important role in the lives of young people during these difficult times.

“This funding will widen access to high quality opportunities for young people, allowing them to participate and engage with music and other art forms. It will also provide welcome employment opportunities to more than 200 youth arts practitioners, including freelance musicians, across Scotland.” 

Genevieve Kay-Gourlay, Depute to Director, North Edinburgh Arts said: “North Edinburgh Arts (NEA) is delighted to be awarded funding from Creative Scotland to deliver a youth arts residency programme, in partnership with Independent Arts Projects (IAP), for freelance artists and creative practitioners working across a range of artforms. 

 “The programme will empower freelance arts practitioners to take the lead in the design and delivery of accessible creative opportunities for children and young people living in Muirhouse and North Edinburgh.

“Artists will be supported through mentoring, advice and training, and will have access to a regular peer forum; trying out ideas as part of new or longer-term piece of research and development, whilst strengthening and broadening longer-term connections with the individuals and organisations involved.” 

Paul Carberry, Director for Scotland, Action for Children said: “We are very pleased to have secured funding from Creative Scotland to undertake youth arts projects within our services in Scotland.

“This money will allow our services to deliver a range of arts projects, with the young people themselves deciding the arts they want to explore.  

“This fund will also enable us to work collaboratively with a range of artists across the country, allowing the children and young people we work with to benefit from a rich and diverse creative experience to support them.” 

The organisations will open for individual grant applications early in the new year.  

Gaynor Milne, SambaYaBamba said: “SambaYaBamba are delighted to be involved in this exciting new way of distributing funds from Creative Scotland directly to practitioners in the street band network.

“This will open up opportunities for freelancers to create their own youth projects, with support from our organisation. We’re really excited to welcome applications from individuals in early 2021, and look forward to seeing the new projects that emerge from this process.” 

Giles Agis, Carnival and Community Manager, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival said: “Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival’s Small Grants Fund project ‘Routes to Roots’ will see a diverse range of freelance musicians, dancers, circus artists, spoken word performers, street theatre artists and carnival costume makers re-imagine Edinburgh Festival Carnival 2021 through ‘artists led’ projects. 

“The selected artists will work with children and young people across Edinburgh’s diverse communities, creating new mobile performance work which will animate our annual carnival parade, or static work which will be performed in Princes Gardens after the carnival has finished.” 

Lorraine McLaren, Director, Wheatley Foundation said: “Many people in our communities just don’t have the opportunity or the means to access the arts.  We’re always keen to find new ways to support tenants and their families to take part in art, drama or music and this tranche of funding will enable us to do exactly that.

“We’re looking forward to working with Creative Scotland and artists to bring some great projects to our communities right across central and the south of Scotland.” 

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “These vital emergency funds being delivered by Creative Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government are ensuring that creative opportunities continue to exist for young people and across Scotland at this critical time and provide important work for freelance artists whose opportunities have been so severely impacted by Covid-19.” 

Action for Children has received £50,000, Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival £30,000, North Edinburgh Arts £36,025, SambaYaBamba £27,505 and Wheatley Foundation £50,000. 

These organisations are five of 18 across Scotland to have received a share of share in over £690K funding. 

The full list of recipients is: 

Organisation (Trading name) Local Authority Area Funding Amount 
Aberdeen City Council, Creative Learning Aberdeen £50,000 
Action for Children Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Clackmannanshire £50,000 
Angus Council Angus £30,000 
Dundee Rep & Scottish Dance Theatre Limited Dundee £40,625 
East Ayrshire Council East Ayrshire £35,000 
Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival Edinburgh £30,000 
Fèis Rois Highland, Moray, Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway £48,000 
Fife Cultural Trust Fife £50,000 
Findhorn Bay Arts Moray £50,000 
Glasgow Connected Arts Network Glasgow £25,000 
Made in Midlothian CIC Midlothian £30,000 
North Edinburgh Arts Edinburgh £36,025 
PACE Theatre Company Renfrewshire £20,000 
SambaYaBamba Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Edinburgh £27,505 
Scottish Borders Council Scottish Borders £50,000 
Shetland Arts Development Agency Shetland £39,150 
The Pier Arts Centre Orkney £29,058 
Wheatley Foundation Glasgow, Edinburgh, National £50,000 

The Small Grants Scheme is the second strand of funding to be announced as part of the Scottish Government’s £3million funding package for Youth Arts, being delivered through Creative Scotland.  At least £1.2million has already been distributed through the Youth Arts Targeted Fund and £50,000 assigned to the Nurturing Talent: New Routes Fund. 

Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on this website and publicised through media and social media communications. 

Image: Zoo Arts participants, project led by Alice Betts at North Edinburgh Arts

Youth Arts: Emergency funding details announced

Details have been announced of the first two funds of a £3million Scottish Government emergency funding package designed to ensure creative opportunities for children and young people continue across Scotland in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of at least £1.2million in now available through the Access to Youth Arts Fund. Building on the successful Youth Music Initiative (YMI) Access to Music Making Fund, this is designed to support an increased range of music-making projects, as well as introducing projects delivering across wider art-form areas.

Fund guidelines including eligibility criteria and application forms can be accessed on the Creative Scotland website.

The roll out of the Youth Arts funds will continue on Thursday 24 September with the launch of a £700,000 Small Grants Scheme which will be open to organisations and local authorities and will provide funding directly to freelance artists to undertake artist led youth arts activities within communities. Full details will be announced on Thursday.

A further £50,000 is being assigned to the Time to Shine Nurturing Talent Fund which provides direct support to young people to develop and produce their own creative projects.

In addition, £1,050,000 is being allocated to support a number of targeted national and local area youth music and wider youth arts organisations with established track records and existing relationships with freelancers working with the fund’s priority groups to support the recovery and renewal of youth arts provision.

These organisations will be invited to apply for the Youth Arts Targeted Fund by Tuesday 13 October.

Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop said: “We are determined that our children and young people will not miss out on creative opportunities a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Art and music in particular have helped many people during lockdown, so the launch of these funds is very welcome. Our musicians, artists and other practitioners working in the youth arts sector are also highly skilled and often highly specialised, and this funding will provide jobs and opportunities within the sector.”

Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “I’m pleased to be able to announce today the roll out of additional funding support for Youth Arts, a vital part of Scotland’s cultural sector and an important part of the emergency funding package announced a few weeks ago by the First Minister.

“It’s right that part of that overall emergency package supports artists, freelancers and organisations working with young people and that creative opportunities for young people continue despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Youth Arts funds are the latest of five new emergency funds from Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, announced by the First Minister on Friday 28 August, as follows:

  • The £15million Culture Organisation and Venues Recovery Fund, which has opened for application today, Thursday 17 September, with a deadline of Thursday 24 September.
  • The £3.5million Independent Cinemas Recovery and Resilience Fund, which opened for applications on Monday 14 September with a deadline of Monday 5 October.
  • The £5million Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund for which we issued an open call for partner organisations to help us distribute this fund on Friday 11 September with a deadline of Friday 25 September. We aim to be able to distribute funds from October. The Screen element of these Hardship Funds will open for application on Tuesday 22 September.
  • The £5million Sustaining Creative Practice Fund includes £1.5million for the Culture Collective programme, mentioned in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, supporting organisations employing freelance artists to work in and with communities across Scotland. The remaining £3.5million has been added to Creative Scotland’s existing open fund which is open for applications from individuals now.

Previously announced, the £2.2million Grassroots Music Venue Sustainability Fund closed for applications on Thursday 3 September. The fund has received 97 applications and awards will be announced on Tuesday (22 September).

And the £5million open call element of the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund closed for applications on Thursday 27 August. The fund received 42 applications and awards will be announced by Thursday (24 September).

Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications.