The Town Centre’s Initiative was announced by Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government and Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, on 14 April. It is a government initiative to help reinvigorate ailing town centre’s by enabling vacant retail space to be put to alternative uses.
Hundreds of arts organisations across the country are already doing a lot of this, for example the Turner Contemporary in Margate, Shops Upfront in Liverpool and Bedford Creative Arts, and we hope this new fund will enable many more such schemes to happen. It’s good for the artists and it’s good for the towns.
The Arts Council has set aside £500,000 of our lottery income as a fund to which artists will be able to apply for grants of £1,000 to £10,000 to help them carry out artistic activities in empty shops made available to them through the scheme.
To qualify for an Arts Council town centre’s grant, the activity must be art based. The precise criteria are still being finalised but it is likely they will be very similar to those for Grants for the arts. It’s important that the Arts Council can ensure that the art funded is of the highest standard. Any artist or arts organisation can apply. It is more likely to be individual artists due to the smaller size of the grants available through the scheme.We are now talking to the various government departments involved to determine the best way for the scheme to be administered, and so that we ensure the quality of the art that is funded.
We will post more information on our web site as soon as details are available. Go to www.artscouncil.org.uk/actiononrecession to check for updates on the application process.I Hope you will find this information helpful
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