Arts Council England – Creative People and Places Fund 2019-2023

The new £24 million Creative People and Places fund is provided and administered by Arts Council England and will cover the years 2019 to 2023. It is open to new places across England.

Arts Council England’s vision for Creative People and Places is to support the public in shaping local arts and cultural provision and, in so doing, to increase attendance and participation in excellent art and culture. This investment will encourage long-term collaborations between local communities, arts organisations, museums, libraries, amateur groups, the voluntary sector and others. It aims to support new and different approaches to developing cultural programmes that deliver excellent experiences, genuinely engage people in shaping provision provision and involve a variety of partners.

The new programme is aimed at places that are identified as the ‘least engaged’ in arts and culture across England, where people’s involvement in arts and culture is in the bottom third of engagement according to the Active Lives Survey, and which are not currently covered by a Creative People and Places programme.

The funding is intended for consortia in eligible places to develop a programme of cultural activity and engagement over four years but with a 10-year vision.

The central aims of the fund are:

Communities are empowered to take the lead in shaping local cultural provision.
More people from the identified places of least engagement experience, create and are inspired by arts and culture, and become regularly engaged as audiences or participants
The aspiration for excellence is central to the activity we will support – this covers both excellence of art and culture and excellence of the process of engaging communities.
To learn from past experiences (including learning from the current Creative People and Places programme) and create an environment where the arts and cultural sector can experiment with innovative approaches to engaging communities.
To learn more about how to establish sustainable arts and cultural opportunities and make this learning freely available across the cultural sector.
To encourage partnerships across the subsidised, amateur, voluntary, and commercial sectors.
Through these projects, Arts Council England will demonstrate the power of arts and culture to enrich the lives of individuals and make positive changes in communities.
Activity will be radically different from what has happened before in the eligible places prior to the Creative People and Places programme.
To maximise opportunities for collaborations across arts organisations, museums and libraries where possible.
Where possible and appropriate, to maximise digital opportunities for cultural engagement and empowering the public.

The new Creative People and Places programme is open for applications with a deadline of 21 March 2019 (12pm).

Full details…