Revenue grants of between £90,000 and £300,000 over 3 years are available to UK charitable organisations and social enterprises that recognise and act on the potential of the arts to achieve personal, cultural and social transformation.
The aims are to:
- Build capacity and resources for culture within historically underfunded communities.
- Explore the role that artists can play in addressing issues of social justice, and
- Create the infrastructure for a more equitable cultural sector.
It is looking to work with organisations for whom these aspirations are central to their vision and mission. The Arts Fund supports the long-term development and transformation of these organisations as a route towards social justice and sustainability.
The Paul Hamlyn Arts Fund is focused on supporting organisations to become more sustainable and to deepen the impact of their work.This can include:
- Support for specific posts.
- Skills development.
- Underpinning of the strategy or business model, and
- Project delivery which is central to an organisation’s mission and vision.
The Foundation’s definition of ‘arts’ includes crafts, creative writing (including poetry), dance, design, film, music, opera, photography, digital arts and media, theatre and drama, the visual arts and cross-arts practices.
The Arts Fund will support eligible organisations that:
- Use their creative practice to help us engage with the complexity of the world around us.
- Centre the lived experience of those affected by injustice in their programmes, leadership and governance.
- Are exploring how values of care, equity and justice can be embedded in their own organisational culture.
- Have a clear sense of their own role in supporting change as part of a wider ecosystem.
- Are generous with their learning and working with other organisations towards mutual aims, and
- Use their creative practice to challenge traditional cultural hierarchies of genre and art form.
As well as the grants, a bursary of up to £500 is available to help organisations apply to the Fund. Grants can cover up to 50% of an organisation’s annual turnover over 3 years, based on their last published audited accounts.
This is a second application window for the Arts Fund for 2024. It opens on Wednesday 14 August and closes on Monday 14 October 2024.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply to the Fund is available on the Foundation’s website.