The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) today June 13th 2017) announced annual funding of £13 million for 107 key arts organisations.
The Arts Council had hoped to maintain standstill funding for the majority of clients in receipt of Annual Funding in 2017/18 compared to 2016/17. However the Council had to apply a cut to exchequer funding following recent direction from the Department for Communities on its reduced indicative budget for the arts this year.
The good news is that the Arts Council was able to mitigate the effect of this cut to core organisational costs for the overwhelming number of Arts organisations. The Council has ensured that their programming funding is supported by the Arts Council’s National Lottery funds and therefore remains secure.
The Arts Council’s announcement includes, in total, exchequer grants for core costs of arts organisations totalling £8,369,796, while national lottery funding of £4,701,891 supports programming.
The Arts Council Chief Executive, Róisín McDonough, commented, “The financial awards that we are announcing today represent overall, a 2-4% cut in annual funding for the overwhelming number of our Arts organisations. In the context of an uncertain funding environment, this announcement of £13 million will support the valuable work our artists and arts organisations deliver for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland.
With the Arts Council’s National Lottery funding focused on arts programming costs, we can help protect elements of each art form, including theatre, dance, music, literature and more. On that note, our annually funded arts organisations are to be congratulated for proposing an inspirational range of arts events and activities for the year ahead, delivered to people right across Northern Ireland and beyond”.
Annual Funding Case Study:
One of the organisations in receipt of 2017/18 Annual Funding is the Oh Yeah Music Centre based in Belfast’s cultural hub of the Cathedral Quarter. The work of this organisation is central to the contemporary music sector in Northern Ireland, delivering an ambitious year-round programme of outreach and talent development.
The organisation provides innovative product development and programmes which truly reach into the heart of communities. Their programme Volume Control is an award winning youth events and industry enterprise mentoring programme which aims to inspire young people aged 14-19 to develop their own enterprise in the music and events industry.
Oh Yeah Music Centre also excels in partnership building across music organisations and cultural bodies and recently developed a number of international partnerships in Morocco, Berlin and New York. Their initiative, Northern Ireland Music Prize has also been a tremendous success, celebrating the home-grown talents of inspirational musicians such as The Divine Comedy, The Undertones, Ciaran Lavery, Soak, Foy Vance and Ash.
A list of arts organisations offered Annual Funding Awards for 2017/18 can be viewed below:
| Organisation | Total |
| PLACE Arts for All ArtsEkta Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich Down Community Arts Ltd Greater Shantallow Community Arts Community Arts Partnership Northern Visions Ltd. Partisan Productions Prison Arts Foundation Sole Purpose Productions Spanner in the Works Terra Nova Productions Craft and Design Collective Craft Northern Ireland Dance Resource Base (NI) Ltd DU Dance Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company Maiden Voyage (NI) Ltd Aisling Ghear Theatre Company Big Telly Theatre Company Bruiser Theatre Company Cahoots NI Ltd Kabosh Theatre Ltd Prime Cut Productions Ltd Replay Productions Limited The Lyric Theatre (NI) TheatreNI Tinderbox Theatre Company Belfast International Arts Festival Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival EastSide Arts Feile an Phobail Arts & Disability Forum Arts Care Drake Music Project Northern Ireland Open Arts Voluntary Arts Network Irish Pages Ltd. Poetry Ireland The John Hewitt Society Ulster-Scots Community Network Verbal Arts Centre NI Limited Belfast Music Society Camerata Ireland Dumbworld Ltd Moving on Music Oh Yeah Music Centre Panarts The Contemporary Music Centre Ltd The Nerve Centre Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd Ulster Youth Choir Ulster Youth Orchestra Walled City Music Trust NI Opera Arts & Business Northern Ireland Audiences Northern Ireland Tyrone Guthrie Centre All Set Cross Cultural Project An Droichead An Gaelaras Ltd Andersonstown Traditional & Contemporary Music School BelfastTrad Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Dun Uladh Ltd Irish Traditional Music Archive Northern Ireland Piping & Drumming School Open House Traditional Arts Festival Ltd The Armagh Rhymers The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Crescent Arts Centre Derry Theatre Trust Glasgowbury The Playhouse, Derry The Black Box Trust The Grand Opera House Trust The MAC Waterside Theatre Company Ltd Belfast Exposed Photography Catalyst Arts Ltd Centre for Contemporary Art Digital Arts Studios Golden Thread Gallery Portadown 2000 (MCAC) Photo Works North / Source Magazine Seacourt Print Workshop Limited Visual Artists Ireland The Void Art Centre Array Studios Belfast Print Workshop Creative Exchange Flaxart Studios Paragon Studios QSS @ Bedford Street Beat Carnival Belfast Community Circus School In Your Space (NI) Ltd Kids in Control New Lodge Arts Play Resource Warehouse Sticky Fingers Arts Streetwise Community Circus Workshops Wheelworks Young at Art Youth Action Northern Ireland |
87,193 54,060 54,152 165,768 51,588 99,067 179,533 93,399 36,250 47,550 33,839 34,798 19,890 19,000 122,567 38,099 44,519 52,482 106,409 88,714 74,131 145,642 104,071 118,012 57,900 150,362 143,844 968,550 73,221 114,655 218,293 122,002 90,867 137,599 104,496 85,003 51,280 94,846 54,580 28,300 41,048 29,514 32,632 217,893 41,883 96,425 79,005 107,035 53,075 32,405 22,764 48,564 1,709,121 48,411 34,528 110,895 544,251 362,636 185,142 78,614 26,363 45,912 150,183 50,400 31,924 32,875 25,626 30,000 37,446 50,800 56,340 34,579 219,202 97,013 37,044 240,712 24,300 480,880 922,500 126,566 138,714 39,318 108,037 54,858 174,452 39,703 46,557 60,266 64,818 196,130 7,548 47,500 12,635 51,477 19,352 30,026 140,124 151,597 42,045 49,219 71,107 95,830 105,063 73,175 79,103 161,504 48,500 |
http://artscouncil-ni.org/news/arts-council-announces-annual-funding-decisions