Creative folk - don's miss once per year VACMA funding!

Artists and crafters – don’t miss this once a year funding from Creative Scotland.

The Visual Artists and Craft Makers (VACMA) fund is now open for applications – and in a change from previous years there will be just one round for the grant this financial year which will close in early February 2024.

Supported by Creative Scotland through funding from the National Lottery in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Orkney Islands Council, the 2023-24 scheme - now in its tenth year - offers two levels of bursaries:

• Bursaries of £750 (For applicants that have been practicing for over 5 years, regardless of whether they have gone through formal education or not).
• Early-career bursaries of £500 (For applicants that have less than 5 years’ experience outside of education/training, graduated in 2018 or later, or who have not studied art formally but have been practising as an artist for up to 5 years).

Funding can be used to support developmental research, skills training, studio work, exhibitions and mentoring.

The Council's Arts Officer, Emma Gee, said: “VACMA funding is an important part of enriching the Orkney arts scene by supporting new and established artists to try new approaches.

“February is coming in quickly – so now is the time for our creatives to look more closely at the grant criteria, get in contact to chat through any ideas, and start developing an application.”

A total of £7.5k is available for distribution to local artists in the 2023-24 round of the grant.

One local artist who has benefitted previously from the VACMA scheme is Louise Barrington, who applied for a grant to improve her studio space at WASPS in Stromness to enable her to work more efficiently on large scale tapestries and other artworks:

"It’s meant I no longer have to work in my Mums garage where no amount of sweeping can clear the dust, and it can be extremely cold. I’ve been able to experiment with different tapestry techniques, without having to be concerned about keeping the textiles clean and able to spend more time weaving because I’m in my studio and it’s warm.

“For future projects this allows me a lot more options within techniques and materials I can use.

“The improvement to my studio ultimately meant I was able to create artwork that toured with Applied Arts Scotland, which I was very excited to achieve.”

Find out more about Louise’s work at www.louisebarrington.com

The deadline for applications to the VACMA scheme is 5pm, Tuesday 6 February 2024.

More information, application packs and case studies can be found on the Council website www.orkney.gov.uk/vacma

If you would like to receive Arts funding and opportunity updates direct from the Council’s Arts Development team, email Emma Gee, Arts Officer.