Innovative arts project is a winning proposal
24/07/08
Arts Extreme, an innovative project proposed by Aberdeen City Council’s arts education team in partnership with extreme sports centre Transition Extreme Ltd has been shortlisted for funding from the Scottish Arts Council’s Inspire Fund.
Arts Extreme will draw together an inspiring team which will consist of a creative producer, professional choreographer, theatre director and music principal. They will work closely with the council’s arts education team to generate hubs of creative activity in schools and communities across Aberdeen.
Each hub will work towards a large public spectacle inspired by the creative fusion of ideas and experiences from the parallel worlds of extreme sport and art. It will be showcased in and around Transition Extreme and will involve young people, community groups and local and national professional artists.
The project will engage new audiences by celebrating the arts with young people and their communities as both participant and audience.
Launched in February, the Inspire fund was developed to encourage the development of exciting, innovative projects to inspire and encourage the people of Scotland to take part in the arts, as part of the Scottish Arts Council's commitment to increasing participation.
Thirteen applications totalling over £3.7m have been shortlisted for development funding based on their innovative ideas to provide more, wider and better engagement with the arts, and their potential to meet the aims and visions of Inspire which include: extending the reach and nature of engagement with the arts; ensuring quality artistic engagement; creating potential for new, creative cross sector partnerships; and demonstrating lasting outcomes to inspire arts, practice and people.
Aberdeen City Council’s arts education co-ordinator Annette Murray said: “Working in partnership with Transition Extreme we hope to create a long lasting partnership that will help increase participation in the arts.
“The aim of the project is to engage people in the arts using participation in extreme sports as the catalyst and transform opinions about the arts in the minds of people who face barriers to access and participation.”
The Scottish Arts Council will work closely with the shortlisted applicants to develop their project ideas which we hope will provide even more opportunities to encourage the people of Scotland to participate in the arts and meet our vision of becoming creative, imaginative members of a confident, cultured nation.
While funding for shortlisted applications has been ringfenced, the process is still competitive and funding for projects will be dependent on a successful application at Stage 2, the result of which will be announced in February 2009.
If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.
