Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “Creative Scotland notes the intention to review the way the sector is supported, as announced by the First Minister in the Programme for Government, and we look forward to hearing more details.
"We welcome the continued commitment to provide an additional £100m in funding for Culture and will work with the Scottish Government on the effective allocation of that funding, to the benefit of culture and creativity in Scotland.
"We also welcome today’s confirmation of £6.6m, originally committed to Creative Scotland by the Scottish Government at the start of this financial year, reinstating budget removed in the previous year.
"We continue to see unprecedented levels of demand for the Open Fund for Individuals and will process the high volume of applications we have received. With the budget now confirmed, we will work to re-open this fund.
"We are sure today’s confirmation of the release of this funding will be welcomed by the creative community of Scotland."
Background
Creative Scotland received 819 applications, with a total ask of £11,893,366, between announcing the closure of the Open Fund for Individuals on Monday 19 August and its closure on Friday 30 August. This is equivalent to the number of applications received in the previous six months. In total, there are currently 965 Open Fund for Individuals applications pending, with an ask £15,197,390. We will now consider the practicalities of handling this volume of applications, alongside re-opening the fund.
The Open Fund for Individuals is one of Creative Scotland’s key funding programmes, supporting the wide range of activity initiated by artists, writers, producers and other creative practitioners in Scotland.
The £6m fund is designed to support creative activity such as specific projects, productions or periods of research and development for up to 24 months.
Full details about the Open Fund for Individuals and our other funds are available on Creative Scotland’s website.