Breakthrough Background
The Breakthrough Fund
A successful arts economy requires not only great artists, but also talented and visionary people who can enable these artists to make great things happen. Paul Hamlyn Foundation has committed £4.5m over the three years from 2008 to the Breakthrough Fund, a Special Initiative that exclusively supports exceptional cultural entrepreneurs.
Cultural entrepreneurs may appear in a range of roles and with various titles producers, artistic or executive directors, curators, chief executives but they each possess a pressing and persuasive vision, a drive and a strong track record of making things happen. The Breakthrough Fund aims to support these individuals in their determination to make a difference to the cultural landscape in which they work.
Through the Fund, PHF aims to identify exceptional individuals at a critical point in their development whether they are an emerging talent, reaching full stride in their work or at a later turning point in their career to provide support that will make a significant difference to them and to the organisations in which they work.
Existing funding approaches, including the PHF Arts programme's Open Grants scheme, require applicants to have fully formed proposals that can detail activities, outcomes, costings, confirmed income and delivery plans. This type of funding does not always match what is required to realise a vision, where activities and outcomes are often fundamentally shaped by processes of understanding, defining and planning not just delivery.
Funders are rarely willing to commit at the stage where a vision exists but is not yet clear in terms of deliverable activities, resourcing and risk however compelling it may be. Through the Breakthrough Fund, PHF is able to commit earlier in the cycle of making important things happen in the arts. Trusting that grantees, as they progress, will identify and realise their plans and the outcomes of the Fund's support, lies at the heart of this commitment.
The Breakthrough Fund demonstrates a new kind of risk through this approach, based on a judgement that the selected individuals, and the structures through which they work, will prove to have what it takes to succeed in what they are proposing to do.
Nominations Process
The Breakthrough Fund proactively identifies potential applicants through a process of confidential nomination, asking a range of nominators to help spot talent and share their intelligence across regions and art forms. Whilst art form and regional spread are not criteria for support, it is hoped that a balance will emerge over the three years for which the Fund is currently committed.
In the second year of the Fund, 14 nominators were chosen for their expertise and experience. They gave their personal recommendations without the nominees' knowledge. Over 40 nominees were put forward and invited to enter the application process.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation gratefully acknowledges the invaluable contribution of the nominators for the 2009 Breakthrough Fund:
- Iwona Blazwick (Director, Whitechapel Art Gallery)
- Marc Boothe (Director, B3 Media)
- Ruth Borthwick (Director, Arvon Foundation)
- Simon Clugston (Performance Programme Director, The Sage Gateshead)
- Marcus Davey (Chief Executive & Artistic Director, The Roundhouse)
- Siobhan Davies (Artistic Director, Siobhan Davies Dance Company)
- Richard Hogger (Director, Creu Cymru)
- Tessa Jackson (CEO & Artistic Director, Artes Mundi)
- David Lan (CEO, Young Vic Theatre)
- Declan McGonagle (Director, National College of Art & Design, Dublin)
- Alice Rawsthorn (Freelance writer and journalist)
- Alastair Spalding (CEO, Sadler's Wells)
- Virginia Tandy (Director, Art Galleries & Museums Manchester)
- Tom Trevor (Director, Arnolfini)
2009 Breakthrough Fund recipients
Natalie Abrahami & Carrie Cracknell/The Gate Theatre
To enable the recruitment of a fixed-term Associate Producer and Assistant Producer with a view to developing stronger relationships with regional and international co-producers and to increase the reach of the work initiated at the Gate through touring, revivals, co-productions and more site-specific productions beyond the boundaries of the existing theatre space.
Tony Butler/Museum of East Anglian Life
To develop HaHA (Happiness in Heritage and Arts) to help put the achievement of happiness at the core of the value systems and programming of a network of cultural organisations. This programme of work will result in a participative programme, research, advocacy, consultancy and a strong network of like-minded partners.
Tom Chivers, Sam Hawkins & Marie McPartlin/London Word Festival
To give the Festival a more solid and sustainable footing on which to develop creative cross-genre programming and engage with new audiences. Our support will also give the three founders and co-directors a guaranteed income over three years.
Helen Cole/Inbetween Time Productions
To enable Helen Cole to set up an independent producing structure that will produce the Inbetween Time Festivals, as well as a series of other projects throughout the year. The grant will give her the means to recruit a small team, initiate projects and have personal financial stability.
Claire Doherty/Situations
Having largely relied on funding on a project-by-project basis, this Breakthrough Fund grant will enable Claire Doherty to recruit a part-time Project Manager and to initiate and develop a series of commissions around the theme of 'interruption'.
Criteria for grant-giving decisions
- Is the individual outstanding?
- Is their vision compelling?
- Are they at a breakthrough, defining moment in their career?
- Is PHF support at the level they request likely to have a transforming impact on the individual and the organisation concerned?
- Do they need the particular characteristics of Breakthrough Fund support to achieve what they are proposing?
- Do they and the organisation have a track record that suggests they are capable of realising what they propose?
- Do they have a realistic, insightful assessment of the possible challenges along the way and the questions of capacity they will face?
- Are they likely to be able to plot a path through these issues?
- What will be the implications for support from the Foundation to help them with this?
What's next?
We will approach nominators for the 2010 Breakthrough Fund in the summer of 2009, inviting nominees to submit their application before Christmas. Selection and decisions will be made in the first few months of 2010.
