Regional Arts Fund Update

From Rebecca Coggins, Principal Officer Arts and Museums, Dumfries and Galloway Council

We’d like to thank all the 31 applicants from across the region who have put in bids to Dumfries and Galloway’s £100,000 Regional Arts Fund. The Council’s External Funding Team is processing them and it appears that the total applications add up to around £260,000. This is around two-and-a-half times what is available so the job of deciding which will be funded is clearly going to be a tough one. It will be all the more challenging because they seem to be impressive, imaginative and ambitious in range.

Artists on tour...
Funding was available through six strands, including touring

Inevitably some people will be disappointed, but we hope to support a series of projects that fit the priorities for investment identified by the arts sector through DG Unlimited and the priorities of the Council and Creative Scotland. Applications will be assessed against the fund criteria during early January by a panel convened by DGU (including Regional Arts Hub and Creative Scotland representation). Recommendations will then be made to the Council for awards to be granted under the powers delegated to the Head of Resource Planning and Community Services for the commissioning of strategic arts projects.

Notes
There is an allocation of just over £100,000 available to support projects through the Regional Arts Fund.

Funding is available under six Strands:

• Art and Place
• Youth Arts/Early Career Development
• Touring
• Supporting Practice Next Stages
• International Ambition - Reaching Out and Bringing In
• and Programme Enhancement and Audience Development.