Nineteen professional artists from across the arts disciplines have received Creative Wales Awards from The Arts Council of Wales. Funded through the National Lottery, the Creative Wales Awards are an investment in individual artists living and working in Wales and aim to develop excellence and to build sustainability in the arts by supporting artists in creating new, experimental and innovative work. The 19 artists share in £300,000 from The Arts Council of Wales in the form of individual Creative Wales Awards of up to £25,000. David Alston, Arts Director of The Arts Council of Wales, said that “The panel faced a really difficult task this year owing to the strength of the submissions. However, each of the Award recipients has something special which gave them an edge in the final round.” While Professor Dai Smith, Chairman of ACW, congratulated this year’s successful Creative Wales artists, saying "The Creative Wales Award is a vitally important investment in the future success of the arts in Wales”. The recipients of the major awards of £20,000 - £25,000 are: Applied Arts and Crafts: Michael Flynn, Catrin Howell Visual Arts: Michael Cousin Music: Simon Thorne Drama: Jill Greenhalgh Literature: James Hawes, Gwyneth Lewis and Manon Rhys Recipients of Creative Wales Awards are: Applied Arts and Crafts: Virginia Graham, Phil Rogers, Laura Thomas Visual Arts: Mike Brookes, Neale Howells Music: Sioned Jones, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones Dance: Belinda Neave, Tanja Råman Drama: Sarah Argent, Phillip Mackenzie As part of this year’s event, and with support from the British Council in Wales, ACW has commissioned a short documentary film from Jon Gower and Boomerang presenting the work and ambitions of the Major Creative Wales artists. For more information, CLICK HERE