Six arts projects in Scotland have been awarded Scottish Arts Council National Lottery funding to help develop their plans. Shetland Arts Trust, Peacock Visual Arts, Greenock Arts Guild, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Scottish Ballet and Stevenson College have all received Scottish Arts Council capital development funding for major artistic and cultural centres that aim to transform and inspire local people and contribute to Scotland’s artistic excellence. The latest awards will contribute to the development costs of the projects, allowing each organisation to develop rigorous and tested business plans, building designs, project plans as well as employing any consultancy and management support required to help ensure that these projects will succeed in having a profound impact on Scotland’s artistic infrastructure. The projects, which include a centre for public participation in contemporary art in Aberdeen; a state of the art cinema and music venue for the Shetland Isles; and a purpose built facility for sculpture and contemporary visual arts in Edinburgh, come from a diverse range of geographic locations. The Scottish Arts Council capital department will now work alongside the organisations and other partners to help further develop their plans, in preparation of their Stage 2 application for National Lottery funding. Iain Munro, Head of Capital at the Scottish Arts Council, says, ‘All of these projects represent a really exciting opportunity for these organisations to create a facility or venue that will have a profound and positive impact on arts provision in their local area while also contributing to the artistic excellence of Scotland as a whole. ‘When we decided to consolidate our funding for the next three years into one funding round, we wanted to support exciting and ambitious projects that will contribute to the development of Scottish artistic and public life for many years to come,’ he said. For further information, CLICK HERE