Arts funding set to bring city’s bright ideas to life

Imaginative arts organisations in Leeds will have the chance to bring more of their creative ideas to life through a dedicated funding scheme.

The Leeds City Council-led arts@leeds project will officially launch this month, with the first in a series of events designed to give groups more information about how to apply for all-important funding.

With the city’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023 putting culture at the heart of life in Leeds like never before, the grant investment is aimed at giving innovative arts projects of all sizes the support they need to grow and develop between now and 2022.

The council’s executive board also recently approved the new Leeds Culture Strategy 2017-2030, setting out how culture will be a cornerstone of the city’s future major policy decisions.

The strategy has been built on the foundations of hundreds of city-wide conversations, which took in the views of a huge spectrum of communities, businesses, cultural organisations and individuals.

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “This is a time of unprecedented excitement and anticipation around culture in Leeds and there is a real buzz about what the future holds and what we can accomplish together as a city.

“The hugely-talented network of arts organisations working across our communities play a massive role in firing all our imaginations and it is their creativity and invention which has helped to create some of the many breath-taking cultural spectacles our city has seen in recent years.

“Through the catalyst of our European Capital of Culture 2023 bid, our ambition is for Leeds to be one of Europe’s foremost cultural destinations and for that to happen, it’s vital that arts organisations of all sizes have the opportunity access to the financial support they need to continue to grow, flourish and make their amazing creative visions a reality.”

The first arts@Leeds briefing, for small to medium sized organisations applying for funding of between £4,000 and £50,000 per year, will take place at Leeds Town Hall on August 16 at 4.45pm.

The second also takes place at the Town Hall on Aug 17 at 4.45pm and is for larger, Leeds-based organisations which can support the city’s wider cultural ambitions and raise Leeds’s international profile. They will be applying for funding of between £50,000 and £600,000 per year.

Finally an event will be held at The Carriageworks on Millennium Square on November 6 and 4.45pm. The event is aimed at emerging artists and organisations.

Available funding is limited and a large number of applications are expected, so organisations will be shortlisted before being notified if they have been successful in February 2018.

More information of the arts@Leeds scheme and how to book attendance at any of the events can be found at www.leeds.gov.uk/leisure/Pages/Arts-Development.aspx

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:

Stuart Robinson

Communications Officer

Leeds City Council

Tel: 0113 378 9182 (please note my new number)

Email: stuart.robinson@leeds.gov.uk

www.leeds.gov.uk