VACMA grant deadline approaching

Orkney’s visual arts and craft makers community is being reminded the closing date for the current rounds of VACMA grants is 2 February.

Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award (VACMA) awards are supported by Orkney Islands Council and Creative Scotland through funding from the National Lottery in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and offers small grants to visual artists and craft makers for their creative development at all stages of their career.

Local animation artist Martin Laird is one of several artists who received a grant in 2020. He says it has helped him take advantage of recent advances in computer animation.

“While I have done sound recording and audio editing on video projects in the past, the equipment and training I purchased with the VACMA award has enabled me to take this in a new creative direction and work on animation and sound design in tandem in a way not previously possible to me.

“I now feel more confident about trying something more complex in the future. Animation is a challenging art form limited only by imagination, and there is much to learn.”

Emma Gee is Orkney Islands Council’s Arts Development Officer and helps administer the grants in Orkney: “VACMA demonstrates a continued commitment to seed-fund the creative development of Orkney artists and artisans. Small grants enable early and established artists and craft makers to research, train and take risks that develop their work. This in turn enables Orkney to retain its status as a creative hub, helping artists punch way above their weight on the national and international stage.”

Martin is in the final stages of editing a new animation, the Fairy Dance, which draws on the wealth of history and folklore contained within traditional Scottish fiddle music including Orcadian legends about fiddlers playing for the 'fairy folk' - “I’m really looking forward to launching it, and hope it will be enjoyed by the Orkney public and wider audiences.”

You can view a teaser of the Fairy Dance here. 

To find out more about VACMA grants visit the Arts Development section of our website.