From jamie.goodwin@hullcc.gov.uk | Tuesday 19 February 2019
Art and culture projects throughout the Humber region invited to apply for funding.
Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce has launched the second round of a fund to support art and culture in the region - and is urging businesses to pledge their backing for the scheme.
The Chamber Culture Fund will invite bids for cash from individuals and organisations working on art and culture projects throughout the Humber region, the area covered by the Chamber and its membership of around 1,300 businesses.
Money will be generated from the Chamber’s own investments, and the hope is that businesses will make donations to top-up the fund.
Former Chamber President Phil Ascough said there may also be opportunities for businesses to adopt art and culture projects which apply for support.
He said: “The Chamber Culture Fund was launched to commemorate the Chamber’s 180th anniversary and Hull’s status as 2017 UK City of Culture. We made the first award in 2018 and were not surprised to find that demand far exceeded supply.
“It’s clear there are many people and organisations working on some wonderful art and culture projects in the Hull and Humber region. We’ll do what we can to support them and it would be great to see individual businesses getting involved as well.
“We want to help bring businesses together with the arts and culture community throughout the Humber region and make cash awards to support the development of art and culture projects. We can also help businesses identify projects that they could adopt and develop themselves.”
Guidance notes and application forms for funding are available from the Chamber and must be returned by midday on Monday 18 March. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed on Thursday 4 April and will be informed of the outcome by Tuesday 9 April.
In 2018, the Chamber Culture Fund awarded £3,000 to the E52 theatre company for Pale Blue Dot, which combined live performance, original music by The Broken Orchestra, animation and graphic novel artwork.
Evaluation compiled by E52 showed that the project provided 110 days of work for a total of 10 local artists and creatives. The eight performance days included two free shows for secondary school audiences and one at the Hull and East Yorkshire Centre for the Deaf. The live audiences totalled nearly 800, with nearly 50,000 people engaging with the performance through broadcast, online and in writing.
To request the Chamber Culture Fund documents, email President@hull-humber-chamber.co.uk
