The Australian Government has given AUD115,000 (€75,972) to nine regional Western Australian artists and organisations. Eight of the awards are for community based programmes that develop skills and cultural networks. The recipients are Vancouver Arts Centre, Southern Forest Arts, Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation Ltd, artist Louise Allerton, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Theatre Kimberley Inc, Tjuma Pulka Media Aboriginal Corporation, Kalgoorlie Science Teacher’s Network and South West Opera Company Inc. The money comes from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund and is managed by Country Arts WA.
Arts Council England has launched four new funds for projects that encourage diversity in the arts. A total of GBP8.6m (€11.9m) has been made available for Elevate (GBP2.1m), Unlimited (GBP1.8m), The Sustained Theatre Fund (GBP2m) and Change Makers (GBP2.6m). Elevate’s goal is to increase the diversity of people applying for ACE funding, Unlimited supports deaf and disabled artists, The Sustained Theatre Fund will work with Black and ethnic minority theatremakers and Change Makers will tackle the lack of diversity in arts leadership positions. More information on the four funds can be found out artscouncil.org.uk/creativecase.
A new fund for emerging music makers allows artists to get their music pressed on vinyl. PRS for Music Foundation and Modo are behind the project, which has been called Flash Funding because there is just a one-week turnaround time for application to approval. Each artist has the chance to win 500 12” LPs of their music, worth around GBP1,500 (€2,072). ‘Our Flash Funding initiative is an exciting new way for us to offer and deliver targeted support to music creators quickly and directly whilst maintaining our rigorous selection processes with expert advisors,’ said PRS executive director Vanessa Reed. The deadline for the first flash fund passed on 7 December, but PRS plan to launch more flash funds in the new year. Visit prsformusicfoundation.com to find out about future opportunities.