Ten Edinburgh arts organisations will get a share of £50,000 this year from the partnership launched in 2017 between The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and The City of Edinburgh Council.
The grants were made possible thanks to the support of the Tattoo which made a contribution to the Council’s pre-existing Fund as part of its £1M contribution to various Arts and Service charities. Since it began in 1950, the Tattoo has donated more than £10M to charitable causes.
The beneficiaries, announced today as part of the city’s Culture Fund, include Nutshell Theatre, Magnetic North, Drake Music Scotland, Creative Electric, Tin Crate, Tortoise in a Nutshell, DanceBase (National Centre for Dance), Curious Seed, Art Walk Porty and Imaginate.
The funding will support the costs of new work development during 2018.
Nutshell Theatre will receive a grant of £7,968 towards the creation of a new community theatre production, ‘Come Bowling’, developed by award-winning Edinburgh playwright Morna Pearson. Kate Nelson, Nutshell’s Artistic Director said: “We are absolutely delighted to be in receipt of this award and are also indebted to Summerhall for its support for the project. Working with Morna Pearson will be a real treat – she is an amazing playwright. We are also very excited to be creating a brand-new piece of theatre in and about our home city. We are looking forward to working with bowlers and young people to create something really special.”
Magnetic North has been granted £5,000 to develop ‘Lost in Music’, a new piece of music-theatre for family audiences in collaboration with North Edinburgh Arts Centre. Magnetic North’s Artistic Director, Nicholas Bone, said: “This project builds on our experience of creating new multi-art form performances over many years, but it will be the first time we have made work for a younger audience. We’re delighted to be collaborating with North Edinburgh Arts for the first time and the funding from City of Edinburgh Council and the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo will make a real difference.”
Rucelle Soutar, Head of Finance for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, said: “As we start fresh on a new and exciting year for the Tattoo, we are extremely proud to continue to feel the force of last year’s successes with our financial support for the Culture Fund. The organisations that will benefit from the funding set themselves apart as innovative and exciting projects and we’re delighted to help them on their journey, particularly as they reside in our home city.”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “It is no secret that local authorities are operating in a climate of reduced public funding, yet this unique partnership with the Tattoo has enabled us to boost the level of support on offer from the Council to the city’s emerging artists. We are very thankful for the Tattoo’s generous charitable support and excited to see such a vibrant range of artistic activity in the city.”
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