Announcing the second round of grantholders from our Arts Fund

Tara, Grants Manager: ​“It was strongly evident in our conversation with the team that Arts and Homelessness International are living the conditions they see as necessary for change, embedding lived experience and rejecting traditional power structures.” 

Tara, Grants Manager:​“Creating the infrastructure for a more equitable cultural sector has always been a strength of Arts at the Old Fire Station. Their approach has evolved to explore of the interconnections between systemic challenges such as climate, homelessness and mental health across their programme.”

Shuet-Kei, Grants Manager: ​“Comics Youth supports the creative and cultural ambitions of the young people they work with by developing and brokering mechanisms that enable them to platform their work, ideas, voices, and perspectives. As a natural evolution of their offer, they wish to extend their impact into the UK comics sector through independent publishing, supporting young people to take on leadership roles in running a publishing house, and creating a publishing space that centres on and meets the needs of marginalised young people.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“Common/​Wealth lead by example, presenting a different model of arts practice and focusing their energy on developing impressive, community-embedded political work. Their work embodies the values of the Arts Fund and serves as a strong reflection of our mission.”

Sonia, Grants Manager:​“This is an organisation with deep significance to its community and with national impact, working across arts practices, building capacity for others and influencing change within the cultural sector and beyond. Our support will help them create and further foster a more socially just arts sector in the Migration space.”

Tara, Grants Manager: ​“Over the last two years, Cubitt Artists have deepened their civic responsibility to the Islington borough, building trusting and reciprocal relationships with residents, and establishing Cubitt as a physical civic community hub. We recognise them as leading the way in developing alternative infrastructure that supports local communities to play a central role in creating culture.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“We were really impressed by the responsibility Edinburgh Art Festival takes to be an organisation that can speak to the lives of contemporary Edinburgh residents amid overtourism and growing inequality. We can clearly see how they leverage their position within the city’s cultural infrastructure for the benefit of the wider arts ecology.”

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“In our meeting with Glasgow Sculpture Studios, it was clear how attentive they are to the impact that they have at both the regional and national level. Alongside their current strands of work, they are proposing a new programme which is key to unlocking the wider impact the organisation can have by creating more dedicated resources for their action-research learning approach, sharing more sector-leading best practice and consolidating their training resources and opportunities for visual arts and community development.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“What stood out to us from our conversation with Global Grooves is their deep understanding of the cultural landscape of Greater Manchester and their commitment to leveraging their position for civic influence and advocacy. They are working to highlight Tameside’s needs within policy and funding discussions, providing a ground up view and advocating for co-created strategies that centre community agency, diverse thought and intersectional practice.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts:​“Hajar Press refuses to flatten the richness and complexity of the writers they commission, and the content and form of the literature produced. Rather, they prioritise and enable true artistic freedom for writers whose stories, experiences and lives are often tokenised by the publishing industry.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“Since joining the PHF portfolio, we have seen Intoart go from strength to strength, demonstrating best practice in accessibility and foregrounding lived experience. Their impact has grown exponentially, but despite the significant growth of their programming and public profile, Intoart remain dedicated to their trust-based practice and bespoke support for artists.”

Shuet-Kei, Grants Manager: ​“Kayd articulates the full nuance of contemporary Somali identity in diaspora and how it can intersect with creative practices to uncover untold stories and new perspectives. Their work is not isolated in focus, also exploring how cross-cultural conviviality between Somalis and non-Somalis can be nurtured.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“This is an organisation demonstrating leadership at all levels. Their work is a great example of how artists can make expansive and ambitious work grounded in lived experiences and make meaningful change to the national cultural landscape.”

Shuet-Kei, Grants Manager: ​“The Midi Music Company have considerable influence through a range of partnerships within the music industry and on a local level within the community. As they go into their 30th anniversary, they look to capitalise on their operations, partnerships and community offer, and ensure it is fit for purpose and meets the needs of stakeholders.” 

Sonia, Grants Manager: ​“Museum of Homelessness work closely with the homeless community and respond to the intersectionality of that community with agility and care to both the immediate needs concerning housing, wellbeing and safeguarding as well as collaborating with them to create the conditions for joy, creativity, safety and stability.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“We continue to be impressed with Multi Story Orchestra’s development and commitment to meaningful collaboration between young people and artists, and they consistently produce high-quality works that amplify youth experiences whilst redefining what an orchestra can be. They are evidently thinking infrastructurally, seeking to share their methodology and grow their consultancy work to impact change in the sector and beyond.” 

Shuet-Kei, Grants Manager: ​“The staff team’s wide-ranging experience of museum practice both in the UK and internationally, their bold thinking around anti-racism and decolonialism, and solidarity with other Cornish museums and institutions, made for a strong application. Our overall sense was of an expansive generosity and abundance mindset where knowledge, skills and experience were openly shared to the greater benefit of all.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“Meeting the team at their studio, we had an informative in-depth conversation on how they plan to best serve the needs of their community whilst also honouring the history of those who came before them. Their cooperative model is a practical and values-led approach to building a self-sustaining model for cultural production for queer and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) film makers.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“QUEERCIRCLE broaden our understanding of the ways in which art can impact social change by adopting a holistic, cross-sector approach that recognises how inequitable systems are intertwined and need to be disrupted both from within and from outside. Our support is especially crucial right now in light of the current political climate and the impact of increasing transphobia on the LGBTQ+ community.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“Revoluton seeks to elevate their social change impact through continued investment in creative talent from historically disadvantaged communities and deeper connection with national place-based organisations to share insight, drive broader change and progress towards collaborative working. The organisation has a strong culture of learning and reflection, and plan to implement a theory of change and develop an evaluation model based on social impact. Revoluton will be a valuable addition to the place-based organisations in our portfolio.” 

Shuet-Kei, Grants Manager: ​“Shubbak works inclusively with the full breadth of cultures from the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region, creating space for these communities to find joy and healing as well as challenge and dialogue. Their youth programme provides a space for the next generation of SWANA cultural workers to find voice and community, and our support will allow them to extend and deepen their work and address intersecting barriers of race and class.” 

Tara, Grants Manager: ​“Slung Low has an embedded, strong approach to working with historically marginalised communities. It was clear from our conversation that the team understands the structural and historical disparities that span many intersections of communities facing barriers.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“Over the last three years, Something To Aim For have evolved their organisation from a collection of projects and threads of work into something more focused and substantial – describing themselves as a creative structure support organisation, we have begun to learn through our relationship with them how alternative forms of infrastructure take shape when artists and creative leaders are in the lead.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“What stood out to us was the wealth of knowledge and expertise that the team holds of the sector. They characterise the inequity of the sector as ​“an environment” that is often unable to accommodate alternative, non-western forms of artistic production and engagement, and the resulting burnout that is inevitable from working within these constraints. Studio Gaylene Gould marks a shift from cultural reform towards a socially engaged practice that centres restorative care and interdisciplinarity with the aim of creating new spaces with people often located at the margins of the arts.” 

Sonia, Grants Manager: ​“We particularly appreciated TACO’s innate understanding that to change systems, they sometimes need to work with and navigate those same systems, within structures that run counter to their communities’ demands for change. Their work with developers and civic bodies is grounded in the shared objective of ​‘placemaking’ and they approach these partnerships in an informed way where they can foreground local voices and push for change.” 

Sonia, Grants Manager: ​“The Art House nurture, support, and develop artists over a long period of time, drawing from the existing arts pool and those who come to them via their referred community programme, and move on into creative and artistic endeavours. Their work is built on trust and a trauma-informed approach, but they are clear that they are not trauma sensationalist, ensuring that artists come to their practice on their own terms and are met where they are in their experiences.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“The Work Room are an exciting infrastructural organisation with a real sense of who they serve and clarity as to how they go about their work. Supporting them to develop their capacity and capabilities would help them meet the opportunity that their expanded membership offers and build further strength and resilience within their community of dance practitioners.” 

Emma, Grants Manager: ​“Theatre Peckham have consistently demonstrated strong place-based practice; they acknowledge the increasing gentrification of the surrounding area and embrace their role as a conduit for new communities to connect with existing communities whilst centring the history, culture and energy that is unique to Peckham. They intentionally develop programming that responds to social issues encountered by their community, empowering young people and artists to be agents of change.” 

Shoubhik, Head of Programme – Arts: ​“When meeting with Turf Projects, we could clearly see their importance in their local area, as they have fostered a supportive creative community in an area where civic life is being squeezed out, building relationships with so many different people and communities in Croydon with care and dedication. Their approach to curation holds Croydon’s reality lightly and creates touchpoints for artists to respond without becoming overwhelming or distracting.”