17th September 2020, Two Scottish arts funds, worth over £76,000, are now open and accepting applications in a bid to help Scottish artists and organisations to continue to deliver creative projects, after many of them have been severely affected financially by Covid-19.
Being delivered by Gaelic arts organisation, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, on behalf of Creative Scotland, the funds aim to provide support for individuals and organisations to continue delivering projects in their communities and sustain creativity for musicians and artists at this time.
Maoin nan Ealan Gàidhlig (Gaelic Arts Fund) has been designed to assist the delivery of Gaelic arts projects, by both organisations and individuals. Throughout 2020 and 2021, £45,000 will be available, with priority being given to applications for projects which are delivered through the medium of Gaelic; sustain artistic practice throughout the Covid-19 pandemic; from individual artists to create work or address personal development needs; with international partnerships; that will develop business skills for individual artists or arts organisations as a means to creating a market, increasing audience numbers or strengthening stability; or which propose online delivery of arts activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mairi Kidd, Head of Literature, Languages & Publishing, Creative Scotland, said: “In the present challenging circumstances the work of artists and cultural organisations is more important than ever and we very much hope that Maoin nan Ealan Gàidhlig will support Gaelic speaking artists and audiences to continue creating and connecting.”
There are two deadlines for applications for Maoin nan Ealan Gàidhlig – Friday 19th October 2020 and Friday 22nd January 2021.
Tasgadh (meaning investment in Gaelic), is designed to provide support for individual artists and organisations to create, perform, tour and showcase work. The fund, which has an allocation of £31,500, is open to those with a proven track record in Scottish traditional dance, Scottish storytelling or Scottish traditional music. Awards of between £250 and £1,000 are available and past successful projects supported by Tasgadh include weekly music classes and workshops, music videos, dance development and collaborations, composition of new music, tours, personal development and research projects, internships and festivals.
Arthur Cormack, Chief Executive, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, commented: “The Tasgadh fund has been very successful in enabling traditional arts projects over the past few years and Fèisean nan Gàidheal is very happy to collaborate with Creative Scotland again in disbursing funds from both schemes. A great many traditional artists contributed to the general wellbeing of people during the Covid-19 lockdown and, at this particular time, it is important for them to get working and generate an income. We hope these funds will help facilitate that.”
There will be two funding rounds for Tasgadh in 2020-21 with the following deadlines for applications: 23 October 2020 and 29 January 2021.
For more information about Tasgadh and details of how to apply, please visit https://www.feisean.org/en/tasgadh/. To find out more about Maoin nan Ealan Gàidhlig, please visit https://www.feisean.org/en/meg-en/.
