£1.95million invested in ambitious arts projects across England

28 Nov 2016 01:51 PM

An international centre for contemporary art, a company pioneering outdoor projects for curious audiences and a world renowned touring ballet company are the latest organisations to receive funding through our Ambition for Excellence programme.

Site Gallery in Sheffield, Capsule in Birmingham and Northern Ballet in Leeds will use their funding to create ambitious projects that develop creative talent in the cities, build strong partnerships and showcase the arts on an international stage.

Alison Clark, National Director, Combined Arts & Programme Lead, Ambition for Excellence, Arts Council England, said: “The latest round of Ambition for Excellence projects illustrate the range of programmes that can benefit from investment through this fund. And while each project is very different - from a new kind of urban planning, to an exploration of one of the most passionately supported forms of music and the creation of a new infrastructure for dance in the north - they all have one thing in common; an ambitious creative idea with long lasting impacts at its core.”

The projects:

Capsule

Capsule will receive £450,000 to produce Home of Metal. This three-year international programme will engage fans around the world to tell the story of Black Sabbath, and how four working-class lads from Birmingham changed the face of music.

Lisa Meyer, Artistic Director, Capsule said: "This support from Arts Council England will enable Capsule to develop the next ambitious phase of Home of Metal and take the project to a global audience, we will be celebrating what is at the heart of the genre, the fans and putting them centre stage.”

Site Gallery

Site Gallery has been awarded a grant of £750,000 for City of Ideas, a major programme that connects communities, artists, young people, technologists and academics and helps them develop new approaches to art and culture in public spaces.

Laura Sillars, Artistic Director, Site Gallery said: “City of Ideas embraces the power of art to connect people and to shine a light on the extraordinary creative and energetic city of Sheffield. We're working with an incredible team of passionate, brilliant people to make this urban realm project take shape, and we are all over the moon at yesterday's news.”

Northern Ballet

Northern Ballet has been awarded £750,000 to support the creation of the Leeds Dance Partnership. The partnership will bring together a group of organisations to raise the profile of the exceptional dance offer in the city.

Read more about all of the projects and other rounds of Ambition for Excellence here.

Ambition for Excellence is a rolling programme and our expectation is that 80-90 per cent of this fund will be committed outside London, to support our target that a minimum of 75 per cent of Lottery funding is committed outside the capital by 2018.

Find out more about Ambition for Excellence and other successful applicants