Ikigai Journal #003
30th June 2020
As I am sure you are aware, a lot of getting funding for your best ideas is a solitary journey but a big part of the journey is collaborative. Whilst researching the guidelines and criteria for the funding opportunities, it’s a great time to reach out to your community and develop the details of your project for your application.
Try not to ignore funders’ advice and follow their guidance closely. The majority of grant-giving organisations issue clear guidance on their websites and some employ staff who can help with advice and information. If you find that you are struggling to meet guidelines or are tempted to ignore advice, it is a sign that this funder is not a good match to your project. Pay particular attention to funding deadlines and try to avoid last-minute submissions.
This newsletter is made to empower you with choices, this week we have found some exciting opportunities that we hope fill you with excitement as you realise what is possible.
Speak to you again next week, stay safe and stay inspired
-Solomon. O - Editor
Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022 by Jerwood Arts and Film and Video Umbrella
Deadline – 20th July
Funding range – £25,000 (£6,000 artist fee and £19,000 production budget)
Notable awardees -
Guy Oliver (2020 recipient): His project is a multi-chapter rumination on the cultural dilemma of the disgraced popular icon.
Reman Sadani (2020 recipient): Part physical theatre, part workshop polemic, Sadani’s film dramatises the emotions and tensions of what comes to be recognised as an unmistakably pivotal moment, where power is broken down, and allegiances start to shift.
The Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022 is a major opportunity for UK-based moving-image artists in the first five years of developing their professional practice. Two proposals will be selected to receive £25,000, alongside full production support from FVU across fourteen months including a dedicated Producer and a premiere exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery in January 2022 and an exhibition at Jerwood Arts, London in April 2022.
POV Call for Entries by POV
Deadline – 31st July
Funding range – N/A (award is to showcase in POV’s annual PBS series)
And She Could Be Next (POV Season 33): follows a defiant movement led by women of color as they fight for a truly reflective democracy and transform politics from the ground up.
Advocate (POV Season 33): Meet Lea Tsemel, a Jewish lawyer who defends Palestinians accused of resisting occupation.
POV, public television's premier showcase for independent, nonfiction film seeks programs from all perspectives to showcase in its annual PBS series. POV accepts films in three different categories: Standard (completed films & fine cuts), Early Introduction (films still in production or development), Short: (if your film is 35 minutes or less).
Visions sud est by the Foundation trigon-film Baden and the Fribourg Film Festival
Deadline – 30th July
Funding range – Not specified (NB: funder only accepts projects that have already acquired at least 30% of their financing)
Notable awardees – Not made public
The fund supports film productions from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, aims at making them visible worldwide and guarantees their distribution in Switzerland.
Young Audiences Content Fund – Production Funding by the British Film Institute
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – Up to 50% of the production budget
Notable awardees – Not made public
The Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF) supports the creation of distinctive, high-quality content for audiences up to the age of 18. Production awards will contribute to the funding of programmes, shown on television and online platforms, that have public service broadcasting values in live-action and animation and across all genres. Projects must have secured a broadcast commitment from a free-to-access, Ofcom regulated service with significant UK-wide audience reach.
Open Fund for Music Creators by the PRS Foundation
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – £5,000
Notable awardees – Not made public
The following are considered by PRS Foundation to be Music Creators: songwriters, composers & artists, bands, producers and performers who are involved in the composition/writing process. Funding includes the support of Creation of new music; Time to create; Touring and live performances; Recording and release; Creative residency costs; Fees to creative collaborators; Promotion and marketing (when there is also an element of creation and/or performance). Funded projects must comply with the latest UK Government advice, lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures.
MOBO Help Musicians Fund by Help Musicians
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – £3,000, 1:1 business advice sessions and 1:1 health consultation
Afro Sam (2018): hip hop artist
Amahla (2018): soul singer
Seraphina (2018): alternative singer
You can be a solo artist, producer, songwriter or group working within any genres of music of black origin. This year, the fund has expanded in investment and enhanced its support package, aiming to empower musicians to drive forward their businesses at a crucial time.
Cherubim Music Trust
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – N/A (depends on instrument)
Notable awardees –
Gabriella Jones (violin)
Cherubim exists to give talented young musicians access to instruments that match their performance needs.
Call for performers by the Youth Music Awards
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – N/A
Notable awardees: Not made public
Looking for performers to open and close the Youth Music Awards. These acts must have taken part in a Youth Music project within the past five years. Performers will need to be available to be at the Youth Music Awards in London on Wednesday 19 May 2021, and comfortable with performing in front of an audience of up to 700 people. For the opening and closing acts, they are looking for something special and unusual. This could be a whole-group performance, a one-off piece, or an exciting new collaboration.
Post Covid-19 Revival Fund by the Edge Foundation
Deadline – 9th July
Funding range – £10,000 - £50,000
Notable awardees – N/A (new fund)
The purpose of the fund is to address the educational challenges arising from the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis. The fund will be a responsive programme of grant funding, open to institutions and not-for-profit organisations working in the educational sector to support the development of projects and initiatives to revive education and support the sector to build back better.
Independent Age Grants Fund by Independent Age
Deadline – 27th July
Funding range – £15,000
Notable awardees – N/A (new fund)
Coronavirus has changed the lives of everyone in the UK, but this is particularly true for our older generation who remain amongst the most affected. Our trustees have released £2 million from Independent Age’s funds to help smaller organisations across the UK working with older people hardest hit by the virus.
The National Lottery Coronavirus Community Support by the National Lottery Community Fund
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – Up to £10,000 and over £10,000
Notable awardees – N/A (new fund)
The funder will fund activities supporting people and communities affected by COVID-19. They will also help organisations overcome any acute financial difficulties they’re facing because of the pandemic (grant must be spent within 6 months). Organisations of the following are prioritised: working with people and communities experiencing disproportionate challenge and difficulty; providing services and support for vulnerable people, for which there will be increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to COVID-19.
Tesco Bags of Help COVID-19 Communities Fund by Tesco
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – £500
Ability North London: stimulating activities to help young adults with special needs to learn executive functioning life skills and independence.
Health and Local Food for Families: helping people, especially those who are vulnerable, disadvantaged and isolated to cook delicious healthy food for themselves and their families.
Call for artwork: an exhibition of young artists exploring mental health by City Arts and the Institute of Mental Health
Deadline – 10th July
Funding range – N/A (NB: winners will have the option to sell their art at the exhibition in September)
Notable awardees – N/A (new fund)
For young people aged 13-25 years old (2 categories: 13-17 and 18-25). The artwork must relate to relate to mental health in some way. It can be about your own experiences, or something about how young people are affected by mental health issues. You can submit 2D artworks – paintings, drawings, photography, flat textile artworks, digitally created artworks and mixed media artworks.
To enquire about applying for funding, please contact: robin@blickrothenberg.com (the Trust does not have a website or application form, and is administered by Blick Rothenberg LLP).
Common Ground Commission by Season for Change
Deadline – 30th July
Funding range – Up to $10,000
Notable awardees – N/A (new fund)
Common Ground is a programme of four £10,000 commissions and an accompanying professional development programme for UK-based artists, makers or creators. Common Ground focuses on creative climate leadership, justice and equitable participation within the climate movement.
Woon Foundation Painting & Sculpture Prize 2020 by Northumbria University and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Deadline – 31st July
Funding range – £20,000 fellowship with a 12-month studio space in the Woon Tai Jee studio at BALTIC 39 in Newcastle’s city centre (First Prize); £9,000 (Second Prize); £6,000 (Third Prize).
Kara Chin (2018 winner): Kara works across a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, amateur robotics, animation, sound, and horticulture, often combined in large scale, multi-sensory installations.
Kimberley Cookey-Gam (2018 finalist): Using crochet as a communicative medium with aspects of video, performance, sound and heat, Kimberley explores topics ranging from solitude to tradition in African cultures.
The Prize is open to all UK undergraduate Fine Art students who are in their final year of study, graduating in summer 2020. The year-long fellowship includes mentoring from staff from both institutions and a final exhibition with catalogue at the end of the Fellowship. Entries are limited to painting and sculpture
Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes by the Waterfront Gallery and Welsh Government
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – Various prizes totalling £12,000
Notable awardees – Not made public
An international open competition that invites artists to submit work that is ‘Inspired by Wales’ i.e. by its ancient history, its art history, its heritage, its landscape (rural, urban or political) and its contemporary culture. Artists can submit 2D or 3D artworks in any medium (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) excluding photography and film,
2020 Open Call by MAIDEN LA
Deadline – 15th July (free submission) or 30th July ($15 application fee)
Funding range – £5,000
Notable awardees –
Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum (2018): Be transported by the sights, sounds and smells of Haiti right in your own backyard
Sarana Mehra & Amanda Maciel Antunes: Open Studios and Performances (2018): An evening of performance and music, including a performance by Maciel Antunes herself
MAIDEN LA is an inclusive and expansive survey of Los Angeles art happenings taking place September 1 - 20, 2020. It considers the city as a platform for generative discourse and exchange and aims to dissolve hierarchies by connecting artists, collectives, curators, galleries, museums, et cetera. MAIDEN LA is a call to assemble and host open studios, group shows, performances, web-based works, or any variety of self-initiated projects in both traditional and unconventional spaces.
ARC Getaways by ARC (Stockholm Arts Centre)
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – N/A (provision of free accommodation and workspace for 1 week)
Notable awardees – Not made public
ARC, Stockton Arts Centre can offer performance based artists or companies, whose work or practice is aligned with ARC’s overall artistic policy or to their Cultural Shift artistic policy, free accommodation and workspace for one week. ARC Getaways can be used for research and development processes, rehearsals, writing or thinking time.
Bursaries by the National Youth Theatre Trust
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – £1,000
Notable awardees – Not made public
We grant music bursaries, dance bursaries and drama bursaries, up to £1,000 each, to talented young people aged 12-25 who can’t afford to access opportunities in the arts. A bursary typically pays for a year’s part time dance, music or drama classes, and it can be used to cover some other expenses and costs too, including tuition fees at drama school.
Schroder Charity Trust
Deadline – Rolling basis
Funding range – £5,000
Bristol Old Vic - £3,000 and Old Vic Theatre Trust - £4,000 (projects not specified)
The Schroder Charity Trust will consider applications from charities registered in England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The Trust supports various areas, including Arts & Culture.
I remain humbled and grateful to be part of a community of creators actively trying to build their boldest visions, always ready to solve problems and deliver urgent works of creativity. If you ever want to talk through your project or need any further assistance don't hesitate to get in touch
- Solomon O