Grants database

The British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) develops, sustains and expands innovative ceramics practice and improves lives by delivering an engaging year-round programme of artists’ commissions, education and community projects which feed into a festival of contemporary ceramics that takes place in Stoke-on-Trent. This grant funds BCB to work with Year 7 students from two Stoke-on-Trent secondary schools to develop their skills in working collaboratively with their peers to make and discuss art and creative concepts, using clay as an agent for learning, wellbeing and empowerment.

Birmingham Open Media (BOM) is a not-for-profit gallery and collaborative workspace for art, technology and science based in Birmingham. Working in three Birmingham primary schools and one secondary, BOM will use a digital arts approach to explore anti-racist pedagogy, diversify the curriculum and reduce intersectional barriers to Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics learning.

Stanley Arts is a radically inclusive arts and performance venue seeking to foreground under-represented voices, providing artists of colour and LGBTQ+ creatives with a platform to reach out to audiences across South London and beyond. Stanley Arts is one of a number of partners involved in the delivery of Croydon Borough of Culture 2023 programme. This grant will contribute to Arcadia, a youth-led festival themed around the climate emergency; the development of youth training and leadership offers at Stanley Arts aligned to the year of culture; and to support the Cultural Steering Group and associated groups to develop suitable infrastructure to enable continuing joined-up sector leadership to support legacy outcomes.

Something To Aim For (STAF) is a creative structure support organisation committed to bringing about change by authentically reflecting marginalised and under-represented artists and people in mainstream UK culture. This grant provides core funding to allow STAF to safeguard cultural access and participation among the doubly disadvantaged marginalised/under-represented artists and communities who are at risk of drop out due to Covid-19 and the current cost of living/​energy crises.

Oxygen Arts are a creative production agency that specialises in targeting and working with diverse communities. This grant will fund the Black British Ballet project, which aims to fundamentally change the way that ballet is perceived and operates in Britain. The project will create a website, film and a range of activities comprising an event series, training programme, mentoring scheme and book tour to allow the hidden stories of Black dancers in British Ballet who performed at the highest level in discriminative environments to have their stories heard by dancers of colour who may be considering a career in the industry.

Manchester Street Poem (MSP) uses storytelling to challenge prevailing narratives and change public perceptions of homelessness and marginalisation. This grant will contribute to MSP’s existing Project Manager’s salary, increasing their capacity to strengthen and consolidate the organisation. It will also fund overheads and core activities including an annual writing retreat, enabling MSP to test new income streams including a merchandise offer and embed new structures around learning and evaluation.

Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art is the largest contemporary visual arts event in the UK. This grant will support Liverpool Biennial to establish a programme with and for disabled practitioners and audiences to enable them to sustain multi-year work with disabled artists, partners and participants beyond the length of one Biennial, confronting and mitigating the challenges a usual two-year cycle presents.

Kakilang is an East and South East Asian (ESEA) combined-arts charity who bring contemporary Chinese arts to the public and aim to improve East Asian representation in the arts. This funding will allow Kakilang to expand their reach outside London and develop more impactful relationships with East and South East Asian communities in London and across the UK. They will partner with regional theatres, arts and community organisations to work initially with East and South East Asian communities in Cambridge, York and Oxford through workshops, projects and leading into performances.

Jazz re:freshed is one of the UK’s most influential promoters in the British jazz scene. This grant will support an exploratory project to create and test a range of new audience development and engagement approaches for young, Black audiences. This work will support their mission to develop culturally diverse audiences and deliver work in new regions, as well aiming to encourage Black audiences back to live performances following the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on this community.

Heart of Glass delivers socially engaged contemporary arts programmes in St Helens, Merseyside. This grant will support them to deliver ​‘Speculative Futures’, a multi-year programme of socially engaged work co-created with young people. Taking an intersectional approach and working in collaboration with artists and cross-sector partners, the programme will explore themes identified by young people, resulting in enquiry-based commissions, public programming and bespoke sector resources.

Global Grooves are a Carnival arts organisation based in Tameside. This grant will support them in engaging with local communities to shape programming at their venue The Vale. Over two years they will work with communities to explore how the organisation and venue can play a role in supporting their creative ambitions through a series of co-created and co-programmed events across multiple artforms.

City Arts develops arts opportunities in Nottingham and beyond that bring people together, stimulate change and create stronger, healthier communities. This grant will fund core costs, to enable City Arts to deliver an new programme of work to develop and refine their community-led approaches and to embed these organisationally. They aim to co-create an exciting programme of arts activity that is inclusive and relevant. As they continue to pilot and grow their work, they will capture the learning and will develop a toolkit for sharing with networks locally, regionally and nationally.