WIREDGOV

Arts Council England has made a third round of awards from its £40 million Sustain fund for organisations under pressure as a result of the recession.

The awards announced today are worth around £6.2 million over two years and will help a further 18 arts organisations maintain artistic excellence during the economic downturn.

The successful applicants are combined arts, dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts in London, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire. The awards are:

• Yorkshire Sculpture Park - £1,453,000
• Halle Concerts Society, Manchester – £800,000
• London Philharmonic Orchestra - £556,500
• Oldham Coliseum Theatre - £459,800
• Chichester Festival Theatre - £427,000
• De La Warr Pavillion, East Sussex- £370,000
• Tricycle Theatre, London - £361,000
• Apples and Snakes, London - £267,750
• Birmingham Royal Ballet - £250,000
• Lighthouse, Poole - £185,000
• Square Chapel, Halifax - £182,200
• The English Concert, London - £180,000
• Manchester Camerata - £163,000
• Greenwich and Docklands Festivals - £150,000
• The Arvon Foundation, London - £110,000
• Cheltenham Festivals - £100,000
• St Pauls Carnival, Bristol - £98,000
• Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall - £92,650

Further details of the awards made and declined are published on the Arts Council England web site here.

A total of 136 applications have been received to date and applications requesting £31 million are still under consideration. Further awards will be announced by early October. All awards from the Sustain fund are one-off and are made to cover the period 2009 – 2011.

Althea Efunshile, Chief Operating Officer, Arts Council England said; “This latest round of Sustain awards show the wide variety of applications the fund has received - from organisations of all sizes and all artforms, across the country.

“It is good to see Sustain beginning to fulfil its purpose of helping arts organisations to continue producing innovative work and attract audiences despite the difficult economic climate.”

Sustain is one of a number of measures Arts Council England is taking to help artists and arts organisations continue to produce the exciting and innovative work despite the economic downturn. Find out more here.

1. In addition to the awards listed above, Sustain applications from the following organisations were declined:
• Museums Sheffield, Yorkshire
• Tindal Street Press, West Midlands
• Spike Island, South West
• Royal School of Church Music, South West
• Wren Music, South West
• Henley Festival, South East
• Brighton Festival Fringe, South East
• Mslexia Publications Ltd, North East
• Southbank Sinfonia, London
• Youth Music Theatre, London

2. For more information on Arts Council England’s action on the recession, including Sustain, go to http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/actiononrecession

3. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives.

As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts.

Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better.

Between 2008 and 2011, we will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk