FUNDING APPLICATIONS WELCOMED TO DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY REGIONAL ARTS FUND

The fund is aimed at extending and increasing the impact of the arts across the Dumfries and Galloway region.

Dumfries and Galloway Council and Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of the Arts (DGU) are inviting funding applications from constituted community groups, registered charities and not-for-profit groups who meet the funding criteria. Individuals with project ideas are advised to work in partnership with a constituted group.

Funding will be distributed across two key areas, which have been identified as priorities for the arts sector by DGU and its Regional Arts Hub.

• Strand 1 – ‘Connecting’ supports projects that bring the arts into the region and/or take our arts out with Dumfries and Galloway.
• Strand 2 – ‘Creative collaborations’ encourages creative partnerships and support for individual practitioners and arts organisations to work with other organisations or individuals.

Exact allocations will depend on the quality of applications and how they score against the fund criteria, which also include fit with Council priorities of building the local economy, providing the best start in life for all our children, protecting our most vulnerable people and being an inclusive council.

Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Community and Customer Services Committee said: ‘This fund gives us the opportunity to support arts projects that will make an impact across our region and will contribute to meeting the council’s priorities of improving the region economically and ensuring better lives for our children and other vulnerable groups’.

Amanda Herries, Chair of DGU (Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of the Arts) said ‘I am delighted to see this investment in the arts and look forward to seeing innovative projects coming forward that will foster partnerships between artists, organisations and communities, and will help share the significant talent we have in Dumfries and Galloway with audiences across the region and beyond’.

Details of the fund and how to apply can be found at http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/artsfund and the deadline for submissions 5pm on Tuesday 1 December 2015 for consideration in early 2016.

Subject to available funding additional funding schemes aimed at supporting individual artists and small projects may become available after 1 April 2016.