Jerwood Arts has committed more than £1 million in funding to 19 UK arts organisations in order to support specialist early career artist development programmes. The funding will be awarded via the Jerwood Development Programme Fund.
£150,000 will also be awarded by the Jerwood New Work Fund to artists, artistic groups and artist-led organisations to research, develop and create new work. A further £60,000 will be distributed by Jerwood Bursaries to individual artists, curators and producers to undertake professional development or kick-start new ideas.
Discussing Jerwood Arts’ 2020 funding plans, the organisation’s director, Lilli Geissendorfer, said: “We have spent the past year piloting new funds, making over 100 grants and listening to feedback from the individuals we support and our partners throughout the country to understand how our programmes need to evolve.
“Our response is a focus on supporting specialist artist development programmes, continuing our dedicated funds to directly support outstanding individual artists, artist groups and collectives, and working together with funders, partners and organisations to remodel our nation-wide initiative to create better conditions for early-career artists, curators, producers and creatives of all backgrounds to thrive.”
Further, a remodelled Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries 2020-2022 programme is now open for applications from potential Host organisations. The UK-wide programme is seeking 50 leading arts or cultural Host organisations to take action on socio-economic diversity and inclusion in the arts, including through the creation of 50 paid, year-long creative Fellowships.
Building on the success and learnings from the three previous editions of the programme, the 2020-22 scheme will, for the first time, focus on organisational change within Host organisations.
“Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries has always been about levelling the playing field across the highly competitive early-career entry points for outstanding artists, curators, producers and creatives, and ensures those with talent, but without financial backing, are given the opportunity to succeed,” Geissendorfer added.
“The 110 Hosts and 125 Fellows from past editions have shown us the way, and we are excited to get started on this next edition to support organisations to discover a new generation of potential arts and cultural leaders and become powerful advocates and role models for the cultural change needed to achieve the diversity, inclusion and representation the arts and cultural sectors need.”
