A new development programme to make sure that the best artists in Wales have a fair opportunity to create, develop and share their work is launched today by the Arts Council of Wales.
Creative Steps is all about valuing and celebrating the richness of all the cultures and people of contemporary Wales and through this we will:
•Get a wider range of high quality artistic work created and presented in Wales, by a wider range of people.
•Make sure more people can experience and enjoy the range and quality of work that is being created.
We will do this by . . .Supporting artists and arts organisations from a range of backgrounds to develop their work further.
Supporting artists and organisations to make links with venues and other people who can help get their work shown in public spaces.
We have a vision of Wales as a country in which people from all walks of life can enjoy the arts as audiences, participants and artists. This includes a broad range of artists having opportunities to create a variety of work that is relevant to all kinds of people and communities.
Artists working in Wales have the potential to bring a new dimension to the work the Arts Council supports. Creative Steps recognises that some artists have faced barriers to developing their work. We want these artists to use the Creative Steps Development Programme to break down those barriers.
Creative Steps is open to all artists, organisations or groups based in Wales. But the programme is all about expanding the range of artists and organisations that our funding reaches. So we are looking for artists and organisations that are already producing interesting work but have not regularly received money from us before.
The Creative Steps Development Programme will be set up in two stages. Creative Steps 1 is now open and gives artists and organisations the opportunity to talk to us about their creative ideas and how they want to develop them. Creative Steps 1 could provide money, advice and guidance to help artists and organisations to:
•Develop their creative ideas
•Develop the business side of their work
•Link in to new networks and/or develop partnerships
•Find suitable platforms through which to present their work
Exactly how they do this will depend on what they need to do to build a solid foundation for their creative idea. Creative Steps is a flexible programme.
We will publish how Creative Steps 2 will work in our Lottery Guidelines in February 2012.
For full details of the development programme, please read the document: Creative Steps