On Tuesday 19 August 2024, Creative Scotland announced the closure of the Open Fund for Individuals.
The decision was taken after £6.6 million in Grant in Aid funding from the Scottish Government which had previously been promised has not yet been delivered. This is the main fund through which independent artists in Scotland can access subsidy for the development and creation of artistic projects, and for any professional training, research or development. The closure of this fund will have a devastating impact on Scottish artists, who were already in an extremely precarious position following years of funding decline.
In light of this news, Manipulate Arts has been working directly with our community of artists to support individual funding applications before the fund closure deadline, and to discuss new project strategies in light of this change. We have also collaborated with a large number of peer organisations on an open letter to the Scottish Government illustrating the devastating impact of this on the whole Scottish Arts ecology and particularly on its community of freelance artists. It is critical that this decision is understood in the context of an already unmanageably strained sector which is daily losing talent both to beyond our borders and to other industries.
Visual performance and puppetry are particularly vulnerable art forms due to the lack of alternative commissioning strands for this work on Scottish stages – most major commissioners in the country produce predominantly text-based work. Therefore, a removal of the Open Fund means no new visual performance or puppetry being produced in Scotland. Manipulate Arts is deeply concerned about this development and will be working with individual artists and peer organisations across the sector to continue to explore advocacy options moving forward.
Read the Open Letter in full below.
You can help demonstrate the devastating impact of this choice by signing this petition led by Campaign for the Arts.
Main Image: Lyth Arts Puppetry Workshop with Fergus Dunnet, photo credit : Claire Hughes