Arts Council awards over £2m to support arts projects

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is investing £2,060,487 of Arts Council of Northern Ireland National Lottery funding to deliver a series of high-quality arts projects and events across the region.

73 organisations have been awarded grants, of between £5,000 and £54,500 each, from the Arts Council’s National Lottery Project Funding, to support the development and creation of year-round arts activities and events through festivals, literature, drama, visual arts, music and community programming.

14 of the 73 organisations to be offered funding are new to the National Lottery Project Funding portfolio this year. They are: Action Mental Health, Arlen House Ltd, Cappella Caeciliana, eduSOIL CIC, Fresh Minds Education Ltd, Glengormley School of Traditional Irish Music, Green Shoot Productions, Jazz Promotion Network, Newtownabbey Arts & Cultural Network, Northern Ireland,International Organ Competition, Poetry Ireland, Sailortown Regeneration, Sticky Fingers Arts, Wandsworth Community Association.

Among the local recipients was Abridged, who were awarded £21,900, an art and literature organisation based in Derry with international contributors and a growing profile in Northern Ireland and further afield. This funding will support the production and design of three issues of Abridged, that make up a trilogy reinterpreting Paradise Lost, exploring fear, exclusion, anger and pain. Each issue will be available on the Abridged website and free to read.

Abridged aims to commission and publish contemporary/experimental poetry that does not always fit into the more traditional editorial remits of other publications, plus contemporary art specially chosen for the magazine. Abridged in 2025 will go into its 21st year and has established itself as an innovative and imaginative part of Northern Ireland’s arts landscape.

This year, the Arts Council encouraged applications in a number of key areas and these have been reflected in the awards made. This included applications which encouraged the involvement of under-represented artists and groups such as those from minority ethnic communities, programmes which involved children and young people, older people, or people with disabilities, and applications that promoted innovative, original work by Northern Ireland artists.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented: “For 30 years National Lottery funding has supported arts initiatives across Northern Ireland. That investment has been a game changer for so many, helping individuals and communities connect with the arts. Today we are pleased to announced details of a further investment of £2.06million which will assist the development and roll out of 73 arts projects.

“This funding will support our core infrastructure of artists and arts organisations, in line with the  Arts Council’s 10 Year Strategic Plan, as we strive forwards with them in our ambition to  deepen, widen and diversify audiences and participation to make the arts accessible to all.”