Partners, the Scottish Arts Council’s artists-in-residence initiative, has today (Monday 3 October 2005) awarded over £750,000 to 27 creative projects across Scotland.

Artists will be working with children in Durness, prisoners in Glenochil and people with dementia in West Lothian, as well as a pioneering Pathways initiative in Inverurie, where GPs will be working with a visual artist to improve the health of a range of patients. A full summary of awards is attached.

Every genre of the arts will be represented, from film-makers to performing artists, writers to crafts makers working with glass. The Partners initiative supports the Scottish Arts Council’s aim of ‘increasing participation’ by involving artists to work with groups who may have had few opportunities to experience the arts.

Jim Tough: ‘The Partners initiative has clearly fired imaginations across Scotland judging by the exciting proposals we have received for this round. Especially welcome are the applications received from communities and organisations who are not working in a traditional ‘arts’ environment; this demonstrates the increasing recognition that the arts can touch people’s lives in different ways and in different settings.’

This recent suite of awards represents the second round of Partners funding. The first round of Partners funding established 16 new residencies in communities around Scotland. As well as providing a range of audiences with the opportunity to learn how artists work, Partners will also support artists by providing a period of reasonable financial stability.

Priority has been given to proposals which involve people in the arts who have few opportunities to take part; provide evidence that the target groups have been consulted and that the proposal has been developed with their co-operation; demonstrates a lively and exciting approach; offers longer-term benefits e.g developing the confidence of the host organisations in planning and developing future projects, and encourages participants to develop their skills and confidence to a point where they may engage in the arts independently.

The 27 new residencies are:

Edinburgh University Settlement: to employ a film maker to work with people with mental health issues (£39,070 awarded),
North Lands Creative Glass: residencies in glass, visual arts and literature working collaboratively to create works around local heritage in Caithness (£40,000),
An Lanntair: a digital artist will work with adults with special needs at the Griannan Centre in Stornoway (£35,500),
Aberdeen City Council: a residency with six schools aiming to be ‘beacons’ for their communities (£40,000),
Deveron Arts: ‘An Artist for All Seasons’ working with the community of Huntly to develop traditional and present-day festivities in the town (£22,140),
Art in Hospital (Glasgow): using the mediums of sound, sculpture and interactivity an artist will work with frail, elderly people to create artworks based on their stories of everyday life (£11,262),
North Edinburgh Arts: residencies in collaboration with a nursery pre-5 group and a children’s community theatre (£35,000),
Scottish Sculpture Workshop Ltd: four visual arts residencies established in partnership with Aberdeenshire’s Cultural Co-Ordinators programme (£25,760),
An Tuireann Arts Centre Ltd: a visual arts residency, exploring the relationship between the Gaelic language and contemporary visual culture (£14,300),
Sense Scotland: working with 15 disabled individuals in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, a visual artist will develop new projects (£26,300),
Highland Print Studio: four schools in the seaboard villages of Easter Ross will work with a visual artist (£31,689),
West Lothian Council: a film maker will work with people with dementia to make video portraits of their lives (£9,618),
Inverurie Medical Group: ‘Pathways’ is a GP referral service exploring the role of the visual arts in primary healthcare (£20,255),
Durness Development Group Ltd: this residency will use sites of historical and scientific interest to develop projects accessible to the local community (£35,806),
Falkirk College of Further and Higher Education: a residency to develop a site-specific artwork for Donaldson’s College (£25,000),
Greater Easterhouse Arts Team: a visual artist residency for the new arts complex ‘The Bridge’ (£35,840),
Brunton Theatre Trust: the Curve Foundation Dance Company will create and present new work (£23,200),
Inverclyde Council: a writer-in-residence will work with 8 groups of children and their parents (£10,500)
East Lothian Council: the Prestongrange Heritage Museum will host a resident craftsperson in glass or ceramics (£20,710),
Oriental Culture Education and Arts Network: an artist will work with the East Asian community and partnership organisations (£40,000),
Project Ability: will host an artist working in three communication disorder specialist primary schools in Glasgow (£17,531),
Orkney Islands Council: a visual artist will work with children in Kirkwall during the refurbishment of their school (£28,600),
Argyll and Bute Council: two residencies in disadvantaged areas on the Isle of Bute (£40,000),
South Lanarkshire Council: ‘Resume’ will be a short residency programme offering visual artists a development opportunity (£30,000),
Dumfries and Galloway Council: a dance artist in residence will create a programme of contemporary dance in rural communities (£40,000),
Imaginate: a performing arts residency for young children in north Edinburgh (£20,189),
Scottish Book Trust: a writer-in-residence will work with all sections of the prison community at HMP Glenochil (£34,337).