Designed to support and encourage the development of collaborative proposals between organisations, individuals, and creative professionals, Connect and Flourish will offer grants of between £500 and £150,000. There will be a strong emphasis on projects and relationships between individual artists and non-arts groups and organisations, and filling gaps in the arts infrastructure that the current pandemic has exposed.
The new fund will help give unheard voices an opportunity and be a step towards making the arts in Wales more representative and accessible. The Arts Council are looking for ideas that show a real connection to local people and the diverse communities of Wales.
The plan is to begin the process of re-imagining how artists in all areas of creative life, from visual artists to lighting designers can sustain themselves and discover different ways of making art now that Covid 19 has had such a devastating effect on the sector.
The fund opens on 7th October. The closing date for submitting applications for the first round is 4th November. There will be a further round opening in late January so that projects can take the time to develop properly.
The budget for the first two rounds of Connect and Flourish is £4million and is made possible by funds distributed by the Arts Council of Wales from the proceeds of the National Lottery.
To support our new programme, we are inviting you to one of our virtual briefing sessions with our co-hosts Butetown Arts Centre, Neuadd Ogwen, Disability Arts Cymru and Taking Flight Theatre.
Click here to book your place on a Connect and Flourish Briefing.
Full details and guidelines will be available on our website from Monday October 5, 2020.