Regional Arts Fund Supports Local Organisations to Deliver Arts Activities and Events Across Dumfries and Galloway
Wednesday, 24 April 2024 14:31
Dumfries and Galloway Council in partnership with DG Unlimited has made grant awards totalling £50,000 from the Dumfries and Galloway Regional Arts Fund 2024/25.
Thirteen local groups across the region are benefiting from the fund this year, which among other projects is seeing Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival work with venues, promoters and performing artists across the region to present high quality theatre, music, dance, film, comedy and spoken word performances throughout the year, and Dumfries Music Conference CIC’s DMC ON TOUR! is working with young people across the region to create a live music tour aimed at encouraging the next generation of young creatives to build their own D.I.Y. music scene.
The Stove Network’s HearIHear project will be a collaboration with Fair Scotland (Trust advocating for the rights of Scotland’s Travelling Showpeople) highlighting the past contributions and future potential of the Showpeople community for Dumfries, while in Whithorn Building Futures Galloway Ltd will be bringing leading boat builder Gail McGarva and her Story Boat on wheels to local primary schools with storytelling, object handling and performance. Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival will host acclaimed young photographer and disability advocate Dylan Lombard as artist-in-residence. During the Festival Dylan will photograph scenes in Kirkcudbright and present a photographic exhibition in Kirkcudbright Galleries.
Councillor Ian Blake, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Communities Committee said: "It’s exciting to see such a range of projects being supported across the region, and good to see so many opportunities for young people to get involved in creative activity."
Councillor Jackie McCamon, Vice Chair of Communities Committee said:
"It’s great to see how these projects are giving our region’s artists and creative freelancers opportunities to connect with audiences across our region and beyond."
Frank Hayes, Chair of DG Unlimited, the independent charity that champions the region’s arts, said:"DG Unlimited is proud to work with Dumfries and Galloway Council in support of the Regional Arts Fund which directly benefits the creative and culture sector. This year’s awards are for projects which cover the length and breadth of the region, showcasing all types of artistic endeavour including dance, theatre, performance, music, literature, visual art and crafts. It is particularly heartening to see so many projects embracing diversity, equality, and sustainability in their activities. DG Unlimited wishes all the recipients every success with their projects. We will be featuring them in forthcoming issues of our digital magazine, FOCUS and look forward to the fruits of their labours."
Awards are as follows:
Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival: £7,500 for Performing Arts Live 2024–2025
Through our Performing Arts Live programmes we work with our regional network of venues, promoters, creative practitioners, as well as nationally based artists, to present high quality theatre, music, dance, film, comedy and spoken word performances and events which inspire and connect with audiences throughout Dumfries andGalloway, stimulate meaningful community participation and engagement, and celebrate the transformative power of performing arts.
Wigtown Festival Company: £7,250 for Change the Stories
We need new ways to talk about the climate emergency. Wigtown Book Festival’s Change The Stories brings four fresh commissions about the way our environment is changing, inspired by four Dumfries and Galloway locations – Wigtown’s Community Shop, Logan Botanic Gardens, Tongland Power Station and the Whitesands. Global warming has never felt so local.
Cairn Chorus: £6,750 for Galloway Sang Streams – songs to link life, land and legacy
Tapping into the rich cultural heritage and vibrant artistic performers of this area, local choir Cairn Chorus and guest collaborators have created an exciting multi-media project for 2024, featuring music, words, soundscapes and images inspired by our environment and including new commissions from Emily Smith, Jamie McClennan and Hugh McMillan.
Dumfries Music Conference CIC: £6,000 for DMC on Tour!
DMC ON TOUR! is a live music tour across four regional venues and partners. DMC ON TOUR! will engage with local 14–25 year olds, to find the next generation of young creatives, and encourage them to participate in a gig, to inspire and empower them to localise their own D.I.Y. music scene.
The Stove Network: £5,500 for Hear|Here
'Hear|Here,' is project of national significance produced by the Stove Network in collaboration with Fair Scotland (Trust advocating for the rights of Scotland’s Travelling Showpeople). A programme of original public works, events and exhibition highlighting the past contributions and future potential of the Showpeople community for Dumfries.
Oceanallover: £3,000 for Kroovan Wings
Kroovan Wings is a homage to trees. Gaelic craobh (pronounced kroov) means 'tree'. It is a celebration of two magnificent trees in particular that stand at the gateway to the Galloway Forest Park and at a meeting point on the Southern Upland Way below Culmark Hill.
Bunbury Banter CIC: £3,000 for Whisper In The Woods
A spine-tingling outdoor production that blurs the boundaries between reality and the supernatural, Whisper in the Woods weaves together immersive storytelling, evocative design, and cutting-edge audio technology to draw audiences into a world where the everyday and the mysterious converge.
Building Futures Galloway Ltd: £2,000 for The Story Boat
Leading boatbuilder, Gail McGarva, will bring her unique Story Boat on wheels to provide residencies for local Primary schools with storytelling, object handling and performance : children will learn about maritime heritage and the craft of traditional boats. The residency culminates in a Story Boat parade of parents and children.
Absolute Classics SCIO: £2,000 for Absolute My Music
The Absolute My Music project is powered by Absolute Classics and is a project that will support young people of all skill levels to locally access music making activities, which also bring demonstrated social, personal and academic benefits.
Shambellie House Trust: £2,000 for Artists of Shambellie House – Affordable Art Workshops
This project will promote a series of visual art workshops by our collaborative group ‘Artists of Shambellie House’, making art accessible for all.
Cample Line: £2,000 for creative participatory workshops led by three visiting artists relating to our exhibitions programme 2024
A series of creative workshops and activities led by three visiting artists that take inspiration from our exhibitions programme in 2024, providing opportunities to participate in and explore processes and materials used by artists Claire Barclay, Asli Çavusoglu, and Chiara Camoni, including macramé, textile printing, natural dye-making and using local clay and botanical materials. The workshops and activities will also engage with our green space and immediate surroundings, reflecting upon seasonality, locality and biodiversity.
Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival: £1,537 for Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival’s Pauline Saul Artistic Residency: Dylan Lombard, Photographer and Disability Rights Advocate
Dylan Lombard will photograph scenes in Kirkcudbright for a photographic exhibition that will run in Kirkcudbright Art Galleries during, and after, Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival in September 2024. Dylan – acclaimed young photographer and disability advocate from Glasgow – is autistic, deaf and one of 13 people worldwide with MDP Syndrome.
The Bakehouse Community Arts £1,463 for BIG LIT: The Stewartry Book Festival
Big Lit: The Stewartry Book Festival will include schools events in June and public access events over three days in July '24 in venues in Gatehouse of Fleet. It will comprise 12 events for the general public plus four events for primary schools and will include opportunities for creative work through workshops and opportunities for local writers to read from their recent publications.
ENDS
Thirteen local groups across the region are benefiting from the fund this year, which among other projects is seeing Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival work with venues, promoters and performing artists across the region to present high quality theatre, music, dance, film, comedy and spoken word performances throughout the year, and Dumfries Music Conference CIC’s DMC ON TOUR! is working with young people across the region to create a live music tour aimed at encouraging the next generation of young creatives to build their own D.I.Y. music scene.
The Stove Network’s HearIHear project will be a collaboration with Fair Scotland (Trust advocating for the rights of Scotland’s Travelling Showpeople) highlighting the past contributions and future potential of the Showpeople community for Dumfries, while in Whithorn Building Futures Galloway Ltd will be bringing leading boat builder Gail McGarva and her Story Boat on wheels to local primary schools with storytelling, object handling and performance. Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival will host acclaimed young photographer and disability advocate Dylan Lombard as artist-in-residence. During the Festival Dylan will photograph scenes in Kirkcudbright and present a photographic exhibition in Kirkcudbright Galleries.
Councillor Ian Blake, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Communities Committee said: "It’s exciting to see such a range of projects being supported across the region, and good to see so many opportunities for young people to get involved in creative activity."
Councillor Jackie McCamon, Vice Chair of Communities Committee said:
"It’s great to see how these projects are giving our region’s artists and creative freelancers opportunities to connect with audiences across our region and beyond."
Frank Hayes, Chair of DG Unlimited, the independent charity that champions the region’s arts, said:"DG Unlimited is proud to work with Dumfries and Galloway Council in support of the Regional Arts Fund which directly benefits the creative and culture sector. This year’s awards are for projects which cover the length and breadth of the region, showcasing all types of artistic endeavour including dance, theatre, performance, music, literature, visual art and crafts. It is particularly heartening to see so many projects embracing diversity, equality, and sustainability in their activities. DG Unlimited wishes all the recipients every success with their projects. We will be featuring them in forthcoming issues of our digital magazine, FOCUS and look forward to the fruits of their labours."
Awards are as follows:
Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival: £7,500 for Performing Arts Live 2024–2025
Through our Performing Arts Live programmes we work with our regional network of venues, promoters, creative practitioners, as well as nationally based artists, to present high quality theatre, music, dance, film, comedy and spoken word performances and events which inspire and connect with audiences throughout Dumfries andGalloway, stimulate meaningful community participation and engagement, and celebrate the transformative power of performing arts.
Wigtown Festival Company: £7,250 for Change the Stories
We need new ways to talk about the climate emergency. Wigtown Book Festival’s Change The Stories brings four fresh commissions about the way our environment is changing, inspired by four Dumfries and Galloway locations – Wigtown’s Community Shop, Logan Botanic Gardens, Tongland Power Station and the Whitesands. Global warming has never felt so local.
Cairn Chorus: £6,750 for Galloway Sang Streams – songs to link life, land and legacy
Tapping into the rich cultural heritage and vibrant artistic performers of this area, local choir Cairn Chorus and guest collaborators have created an exciting multi-media project for 2024, featuring music, words, soundscapes and images inspired by our environment and including new commissions from Emily Smith, Jamie McClennan and Hugh McMillan.
Dumfries Music Conference CIC: £6,000 for DMC on Tour!
DMC ON TOUR! is a live music tour across four regional venues and partners. DMC ON TOUR! will engage with local 14–25 year olds, to find the next generation of young creatives, and encourage them to participate in a gig, to inspire and empower them to localise their own D.I.Y. music scene.
The Stove Network: £5,500 for Hear|Here
'Hear|Here,' is project of national significance produced by the Stove Network in collaboration with Fair Scotland (Trust advocating for the rights of Scotland’s Travelling Showpeople). A programme of original public works, events and exhibition highlighting the past contributions and future potential of the Showpeople community for Dumfries.
Oceanallover: £3,000 for Kroovan Wings
Kroovan Wings is a homage to trees. Gaelic craobh (pronounced kroov) means 'tree'. It is a celebration of two magnificent trees in particular that stand at the gateway to the Galloway Forest Park and at a meeting point on the Southern Upland Way below Culmark Hill.
Bunbury Banter CIC: £3,000 for Whisper In The Woods
A spine-tingling outdoor production that blurs the boundaries between reality and the supernatural, Whisper in the Woods weaves together immersive storytelling, evocative design, and cutting-edge audio technology to draw audiences into a world where the everyday and the mysterious converge.
Building Futures Galloway Ltd: £2,000 for The Story Boat
Leading boatbuilder, Gail McGarva, will bring her unique Story Boat on wheels to provide residencies for local Primary schools with storytelling, object handling and performance : children will learn about maritime heritage and the craft of traditional boats. The residency culminates in a Story Boat parade of parents and children.
Absolute Classics SCIO: £2,000 for Absolute My Music
The Absolute My Music project is powered by Absolute Classics and is a project that will support young people of all skill levels to locally access music making activities, which also bring demonstrated social, personal and academic benefits.
Shambellie House Trust: £2,000 for Artists of Shambellie House – Affordable Art Workshops
This project will promote a series of visual art workshops by our collaborative group ‘Artists of Shambellie House’, making art accessible for all.
Cample Line: £2,000 for creative participatory workshops led by three visiting artists relating to our exhibitions programme 2024
A series of creative workshops and activities led by three visiting artists that take inspiration from our exhibitions programme in 2024, providing opportunities to participate in and explore processes and materials used by artists Claire Barclay, Asli Çavusoglu, and Chiara Camoni, including macramé, textile printing, natural dye-making and using local clay and botanical materials. The workshops and activities will also engage with our green space and immediate surroundings, reflecting upon seasonality, locality and biodiversity.
Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival: £1,537 for Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival’s Pauline Saul Artistic Residency: Dylan Lombard, Photographer and Disability Rights Advocate
Dylan Lombard will photograph scenes in Kirkcudbright for a photographic exhibition that will run in Kirkcudbright Art Galleries during, and after, Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival in September 2024. Dylan – acclaimed young photographer and disability advocate from Glasgow – is autistic, deaf and one of 13 people worldwide with MDP Syndrome.
The Bakehouse Community Arts £1,463 for BIG LIT: The Stewartry Book Festival
Big Lit: The Stewartry Book Festival will include schools events in June and public access events over three days in July '24 in venues in Gatehouse of Fleet. It will comprise 12 events for the general public plus four events for primary schools and will include opportunities for creative work through workshops and opportunities for local writers to read from their recent publications.
ENDS