£1m Programme to Help Scottish Artists Team Up With the Wider Creative Industries

New Competition To Spark Scottish Creatives

Set to launch on 14 September, the Vital Spark Awards will be the first project to be financed by the £5 million Innovation Fund established by Creative Scotland, the new body set up to nurture the nation’s cultural and artistic talents.

Funding ranging from £20,000 to £100,000 will be made available to support work that “goes beyond the boundaries” of creative disciplines and encourages collaborations between artists and other sectors, including the creative industries, science and education.

Ewan Brown, chairman of Creative Scotland’s 2009 Board, claimed the awards were an “exciting opportunity” to develop innovative collaborations and support work that has an “international dimension”.

He said: “These awards are about radical new work, different approaches to creativity and putting our investment directly into the hands of artists.”

Culture Minister Michael Russell added: “As Creative Scotland’s first initiative, Vital Spark mirrors the unrivalled ambition and innovative approach that will lie at the very heart of this new organisation. I am looking forward to seeing the multi-disciplinary work that will grow from these awards and the international collaboration that will further demonstrate the well known talent of Scotland’s creative practitioners.”

Creative Scotland will officially begin work during 2010 and will see the merger of current arts support organisations Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council into a single body.