Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards: Aberdeen City in partnership with Creative Scotland
#VACMAScotland
VACMA Bursaries for 2023/2024
The Visual Artist and Craft Makers Awards (VACMA) scheme offers small grants to visual artists and craft makers for their creative development at all stages of their career. These awards are supported by Creative Scotland through funding from the National Lottery in partnership with Aberdeen City Council.
The Aberdeen scheme is open to visual artists and craft makers who can demonstrate a commitment to developing their creative practice and who are living in Aberdeen City.
This year we continue to offer fixed bursaries for individual artists and makers. The VACMA scheme offers two levels of bursaries, apply for the one that best suits your situation.
Please read VACMA guidance for applicants
Funds available
Bursaries of £750 - (For applicants that have been practising for over 5 years, regardless of whether they have gone through formal education or not).
Early-career bursaries of £500 - (For applicants that have less than 5 years’ experience outside of education/training (graduated in 2018 or later) or that have not studied art formally but have been practising as an artist for up to 5 years).
Winter deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 6 February 2024
Please send your complete VACMA Application before the deadline to VACMA@aberdeencity.gov.uk
Examples of things that have been funded
- Researching a new body of work
- Experimenting with new materials
- Skills development and courses
- Artistic mentoring
- Masterclasses
- Residencies that have a clear selection and support structure
- Additional support for making new work for exhibition.
- Equipment where there is a clear rational for how it will develop your practice and support experimentation.
You can read more about how the VACMA scheme has benefitted individual artists and makers in Aberdeen from a few case studies below.
What we’re looking for (criteria)
We want to hear about your work, your ideas and your experience. VACMA will give priority to applications that clearly show:
Commitment to practice - your application material demonstrates an ongoing commitment to the development of your visual arts or craft practice.
Creative Development your application clearly describes the opportunity for development and how the bursary will specifically enable you to experiment and develop the critical and technical aspects of your work.
Clear project plan - Your application material shows that there are clear and appropriate plans in place to deliver the activity proposed.
How to apply
Please download and read through the VACMA guidance for applicants and artist checklist to assist you in your application.
You can also view the VACMA Bursaries FAQs and further information on the wider scheme by visiting the Creative Scotland website.
To make an informal enquiry or to book a one-to-one online advice session with Creative Learning please email: VACMA@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
Once you are ready to proceed, please download the VACMA application form and save it to your desktop before completion and submission via e-mail in advance of the set deadline.
In addition to your completed application there is a requirement to send through supporting materials including an up to date CV and strong images of your work.
We also request all applicants submit a completed Equalities Monitoring Form this is to give us essential statistical information this will be processed anonymously and does not impact on your application.