Untitled by Vicken Parsons Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London

Grants for the artsIndividuals and organisations

17/10/2007

Susana Lages Pina, Assistant Officer, Resource Development

Huttson Lo, Officer, Diversity

Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts. We believe in the transforming power of the arts to change the lives of people throughout the country.

We invest in the arts through Grants for the arts, which was launched in April 2003.

Grants for the arts aims

Our ambition for 2006-8 is to put the arts at the heart of national life and people at the heart of the arts.

Grants for the arts will help us achieve this ambition. The aims for the programme are to:

help more people take part in the arts

provide creative opportunities for children and young people

help the development of artists, arts organisations and the creative economy

 

Grants for the arts aims

involve the arts and artists in creating vibrant communities

allow artists from this country to work internationally, international artists to work in England, and artists from here and abroad to work with each other

create opportunities and celebrate diversity

improve the performance and productivity of arts organisations and the arts sector

 

Who can apply?

Our grants are for individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work. They are for time limited activities that benefit people in England or that help artists and arts organisations in England to carry out their work.

What you can apply forThe types of activity we fund

We have designed Grants for the arts to encourage you to develop ideas, linked to your artistic needs and future plans. Activities that we can fund include:

• Projects and events

• Commissions and productions

• Research and development

• Activities for people to take part in

• Audience development

• Buying assets

• Education activities

• Marketing activities

• Refurbishing, improving and buying buildings to be used for the arts

• Training and professional development

• Organisation development

• Touring

• National activities

• Doing feasibility studies

• Public art

What you can apply forNational Activities

National touring projects

Important large-scale national events such as conferences, presentations or exhibitions

Activities which take place in more then one region and develop good relationships in each region

Activities that are the result of joint working between artists and arts organisations from across England

Grants normally range from £5,000 up to a maximum of £200,000

The average grant for a national activity in 2005/06 was £41,150

How we assess your applicationThe five assessment criteria

the artistic quality of the activity or its on-going effect on artistic practice (or both)

how the activity will be managed and its on-going effect on you

how realistic the activity is financially, and its future effect

how the public will benefit from the activity, immediately or in the longer term, and

the contribution of the activity to meeting our ambitions for the arts

Your proposal (headings)

1.You and your work

2.Making it happen

3.Your budget

4.Benefit to you and the public

5.Meeting our aims for Grants for the arts

6.Evaluation

Other income for your activity

We want to make our funding go further and expect you to make the most of other sources of funding available to you. We expect you to find at least 10% of the total cost of your activity from other income sources.

In special circumstances we can provide a grant for the total cost. If you apply to us for the total cost of the activity you must tell us in your written proposal what your special circumstances are.

 

How we assess your applicationPriorities

There is a high demand for our grants and we do have to make difficult choices about which applicants to support. We use priorities to help us make decisions:

is the application from an individual or organisation that has not received funding from us before?

will the application:

− develop the arts in areas with limited arts facilities and activities or limited

opportunities for artists and arts organisations?− benefit areas of the country and increase participation and attendance by

communities which face social or economic problems, benefit communities

at risk of 'social exclusion'? − will help people to use the arts in new places, contexts and formats?

is the activity of strategic importance?

 

Awards for All

If you have a general enquiry or want an application form, please contact them on one of the following:

Telephone - 0845 600 2040

Website - www.awardsforall.org.uk

Email: general.enquiries@awardsforall.org.uk

 

www.lotteryfunding.org.uk

Youth Music

- www.youthmusic.org.uk

Big Lottery Fund

- www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Heritage Lottery Fund

- www.hlf.org.uk

NESTA

- www.nesta.org.uk

UK Film Council

- www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

Sport England and UK Sport

Other lottery funders

Getting advice

Website www.artscouncil.org.uk

− Information sheets

− Download the application pack

− FAQs

Enquiries team

− e-mail enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk

− phone 0845 300 6200

− Textphone 020 7973 6564

Staff at Arts Council England, East

Local authorities

Business Link

− e-mail www.businesslinkeast.org.uk

− phone 08457 17 16 15

The Moving Figure, Holme Hall Primary School, Derbyshire Credit: Artworks